The Best Cycling Moments of 2017

CEBU, Philippines -  Today is the first day of 2018 and whatever dreams you have, chase them and chase them hard. In the meantime, I’d like to take you back in 2017, for what I consider as the best moments in our sport.

1- Coryn Rivera wins Tour of Flanders.

If I was a pro cyclist, I’d love to win either two races, Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders. I love them both but if a gun was pointed at my head, I’d grudgingly pick the Tour of Flanders. That’s why I believe that Coryn Rivera’s win was monumental for Filipino cycling. This diminutive 25yo Pinay, born and raised in the US, is not only the first Pinay to win a monument but also the first Asian to do so! Not even an American has ever won the Flanders. I wish our country can take notice of this milestone!

2- The Crash of the Year.

When you try to dive into a space that is not there during a sprint, a crash is a result. During stage 4 of last years Tour de France, Mark Cavendish crashed and broke his scapula when he tried to dive into a space that closed just as he got there. Unfortunately, initial video showed that Peter Sagan had elbowed Cavendish top prevent the Brit from passing him. This resulted in the disqualification of Sagan, which was fortunately overturned late last year. The elbow did come out after Cav started to go down, not before.

3- Sagan’s 3rd consecutive World Championship’s.

Not even the greatest cyclist ever achieved the trifecta. Eddy Merckx, cycling’s GOAT, won three WC’s, but not in consecutive years. Not only that, Sagan won with half a team (6 riders) compare to Belgium, Italy and Australia who had 14 riders per team. There is no argument that Sagan is cycling’s face and he will continue not only to win but also to entertain us. A fourth consecutive title is not farfetched.

4- Lance Armstrong back in Tour de France

Lance is in the Tour but not in any official capacity. This started in 2015 when Lance was invited by former England football great Geoff Thomas to rider with him a two days ahead with the Tour in 2015 to raise money for leukemia. Last July, Lance was part of a podcast, which was broadcasted “live” over FB, discussing the day’s stage. Of course, a lot of people were very happy and a lot of people were not happy. Well, that’s how Lance is. There is no fence-sitting when it comes to cycling’s fallen angel. But his commentaries were absolutely on point! I can’t wait to see him again this year!

5- Tom Dumoilin’s unscheduled toilet stop at the Giro d’Italia

You’ve seen cyclist/acrobats peeing on the bicycle at 40kph during a race but you’ve never seen a a cyclist, who was wearing the Pink Jersey as  the classification leader in the Giro d’Italia, stop by the roadside, undress and then take a poop. To make matter’s worse, his rivals didn’t even bothered to stop and wait, they attacked the Dutchman when he was at his lowest point literally! but the cycling gods smiled at Dumoilin, who won the Giro convincingly. (FREEMANNEWS)