Moment of the Year
1. Chris Froome’s attack and victory on Mont Ventoux at the Tour de France
2. Track sprint between Fabian Cancellara and Sep Vanmarcke at Paris-Roubaix
3. Vincenzo Nibali riding through the snow to win stage 20 of the Giro d’Italia
Chris Froome’s attack on Mont Ventoux to win stage 15 of the Tour de France was the defining moment of a dominant performance – and your Moment of the Year.
Froome launched a double-pronged attack to become the first Briton to win on Mont Ventoux, first emerging from the wheel of lieutenant Riche Porte to distance Alberto Contador and reel in Nairo Quintana, who attacked early on the climb, before unleashing a second, brutal seated acceleration to leave the Colombian behind.
“I’ve been up Ventoux from that side and it brought back real memories from me,” wrote one reader. “I wasn’t as fast as Froome, though – that showed everybody just how good he was.”
Froome went on to win the stage by 29 seconds but Fabian Cancellara’s victory over Sep Vanmarcke at Paris-Roubaix came down to just hundreths of a second after 254km and nearly six hours of racing. The Roubaix Velodrome is one of cycling’s most iconic arenas and in 2013 it played host to a gripping track sprint to decide the winner of the Hell of the North.
“Nail biting,” wrote one voter. “A pity for Vanmarcke but great to see Fabian win it again all the same.”
Bad weather dominated the opening half of the season, with ice-clad riders fighting through the snow at Milan-San Remo, but it was Vincenzo Nibali’s emergence through a blizzard to win stage 20 of the Giro d’Italia on the Tre Cime di Lavaredo that earned third place in our final category.
That’s it for 2013 – and what a year it’s been! Happy New Year to you all.
