Best of the rest

The ten Brits selected were not the only ones to impress during the UCI road season, with a number of others flying the flag on the big stage.

Pete Kennaugh (Team Sky)

Fresh from his Olympic team pursuit success last year, Manxman Pete Kennaugh enjoyed a breakthrough year on the road – earning widespread praise, including from Team Sky’s performance manager Rod Ellingworth. Kennaugh, who turned 24 this year, was among Chris Froome’s support riders at the Tour of Oman, Tirreno-Adriatico, Tour de Romandie and Criterium du Dauphine while he rode for Sir Bradley Wiggins at the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya and Giro del Trentino. His efforts earned him selection for his debut Tour de France and he went on to be a strong support rider for Froome to help his team leader secure a famous overall win.

Steve Cummings (BMC Racing)

A comparative veteran on the WorldTour scene when compared to some of his compatriots, 31-year-old Cummings rode his fourth Giro d’Italia – and seventh Grand Tour in total – as part of Cadel Evans’ support team at BMC Racing. Battling illness, which limited his riding in the early parts of the race, Cummings fought back to conquer the treacherous conditions in Italy and play his part in the Australian veteran’s third place overall.

David Millar (Garmin-Sharp)

With all the focus on Mark Cavendish’s bid for the yellow jersey in stage one, and Chris Froome’s overall, David Millar could have slipped under the radar in his 12th Tour de France. However, as chaos reigned on the opening day after the Orica-GreenEDGE bus got wedged under the finish line gantry, the 36-year-old Scot took advantage to claim an unexpected fourth place – marking him as a possible contender for the yellow jersey after stage two.

The following day Millar stayed in the main group as they pulled back the day’s breakaway before moving to the front as they approached the finish. However, Jan Bakelants’ daring lone attack proved decisive, and as the Radioshack-Leopard man crossed the finish line, the pursuing group – with Millar among them – were just metres behind to record a time one second slower for the stage, putting Bakelants in yellow, and narrowly denying Millar the maillot jaune 13 years after he had previously worn it.

Ian Stannard (Team Sky)

Team Sky rider Ian Stannard continued to impress in 2013, having won the national championships and ridden in support of Mark Cavendish at the Olympics in 2012.

‘Yogi’ produced strong support rides for Chris Froome at the Criterium du Dauphine and Tour de France – where he often led the bunch for long stints – and for Sir Bradley Wiggins at the Tour of Britain – including an impressive second place of his own in the individual time trial. Stannard also impressed in his own right, not least in the snow-disrupted Milan-San Remo, where he joined an elite group of escapees, including Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack-Leopard), Peter Sagan (Cannondale) and eventual winner Gerald Ciolek (MTN-Qhubeka). His efforts in the break ensured it stayed clear, and Stannard eventually came in sixth to underline his potential in the one-day Classics.