# Best "moment of truth" 2011 edition



## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

Cyclingnews usually has a best-of poll. But they don't have a best of for that one defining moment of a race.

Here's my nomination:

Gilbert, shaming the bros. Schleck into Liege.


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## Chainstay (Mar 13, 2004)

*Cavendish's run at the green jersey*

In stage 5 he beats Rojas and Gilbert on a "proper hard stage". This is a good example of Cav winning without the usual team lead-out. He opened his account of what would be five wins and proved to the doubters that his form was excellent.


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## moonmoth (Nov 8, 2008)

Leipheimer on his gritty Tour of Colorado ITT win on Vail Pass, after relinquishing the lead the day before. Nobody expected him to get back in yellow.


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## Cinelli 82220 (Dec 2, 2010)

*Paris Roubaix closing stages*

Cancellara, Ballan, Hushovd and the Garmin DS all yelling at each other.
Too bad we couldn't hear what they were saying.


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## davidka (Dec 12, 2001)

Final TdF TT when despite the hopes of Schleck fans(me among them), everyone turned in the ride that was realistically expected of them.


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## 32and3cross (Feb 28, 2005)

The TdF TT - clear to see who came to win the race and did the homework and who thought "things would just work out".


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## cda 455 (Aug 9, 2010)

Chainstay said:


> In stage 5 he beats Rojas and Gilbert on a "proper hard stage". This is a good example of Cav winning without the usual team lead-out He opened his account of what would be five wins and proved to the doubters that his form was excellent.



Good choice :thumbsup: !


Cav was on the outside right of the punch and *behind* Rojas and Gilbert a good bike length when he started his sprint.


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## Fignon's Barber (Mar 2, 2004)

The final hour of the Tour of Flanders. It had it all: brave attacks,tactics, and it went down to the last meter.


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## Ripton (Apr 21, 2011)

Chronos des Nations: Taking a man's title with style and grace...



David Millar said:


> Tony Martin actually apologised when he blew by me today. Time to hang the bike up for a little while. *hanging head in shame*


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## ZoSoSwiM (Mar 7, 2008)

Thor pulling out the stage 13 win this year.. A big sprinter winning a pretty tough stage with a nasty climb. I give him major props. Plus he's not as young as he used to be!


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## Dan Gerous (Mar 28, 2005)

Contador lost a Grand Tour this year!


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## kbwh (May 28, 2010)

Hushovd's request for a can of Coke at the worlds. (A close relative of Hushovd's little nap as Cancellara accelerated in the final ks of Paris-Roubaix.)


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## RRRoubaix (Aug 27, 2008)

ZoSoSwiM said:


> Thor pulling out the stage 13 win this year.. A big sprinter winning a pretty tough stage with a nasty climb. I give him major props. Plus he's not as young as he used to be!


That was pretty awesome!
Hmmm, dunno Creaky might still have the best one- I don't think anyone predicted Gilbert beating up the poor Schlecky's quite that badly. It was a thing of beauty.


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## jhamlin38 (Oct 29, 2005)

I'd give the edge to PG over Thor's amazing tour stage win since it was a classic vs a tour stage.


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## MG537 (Jul 25, 2006)

I think this was Leopard Trek's year of truth. A team so stacked that they were expected to win Flanders, Roubaix, possibly LBL and yes the TdF (given Contador's Giro participation). 

In the end, they came away with the Giro di Lombardia from a relatively unknown rider. Not bad, but far short of what was expected of them. I wonder if he's gonna be part of Shack-Nissan-Trek's lineup next year.


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## ukbloke (Sep 1, 2007)

Alpe d'Huez was the moment of truth in the TdF. Voeckler finally capitulates (e.g. Dutch Corner), Andy cannot make any time but gets the yellow, Contador can't make up anywhere near enough time but goes down fighting, Rolland gets a huge win, and Cadel Evans does enough to secure the overall GC.


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## Eric_H (Feb 5, 2004)

I'll give my top-3:

For me it the best "moment of truth" was Froome versus Cobo on Pena Cabarga, stage 17 of the Vuelta. I was on my feet screaming at the TV for Froome to take the jersey back that day. It was truly mano a mano racing with the entire GC on the line.

Runner-up was Cadel on the Galibier (this was where he won the Tour) riding on the front of the chase to bring back time on Andy and not looking at other riders to do it. The Cadel of 2008 would not have had the confidence to do this.

3rd would be any of Gilbert's many exploits, but probably the win in Stage 1 of the Tour on Mont des Alouettes stands out above all for me. To be such a massive favorite for any stage of the Tour, but especially the opening stage which was a road stage and not a prologue, and then pull off the W is amazing.


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## lastchild (Jul 4, 2009)

Eric_H said:


> I'll give my top-3:
> 
> For me it the best "moment of truth" was Froome versus Cobo on Pena Cabarga, stage 17 of the Vuelta. I was on my feet screaming at the TV for Froome to take the jersey back that day. It was truly mano a mano racing with the entire GC on the line.
> 
> ...


+1 for Froome vs Cobo as I too was _screaming_ at the TV. Best 20 minutes of cycling all year.

Gilbert too, he's an animal for sure. I just hope he keeps it up at BMC.


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## ukbloke (Sep 1, 2007)

lastchild said:


> +1 for Froome vs Cobo as I too was _screaming_ at the TV. Best 20 minutes of cycling all year.


Yeah, I'd forgotten about that. Even my 6 year old daughter was jumping up and down on the couch screaming at the TV.


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## OnTheRivet (Sep 3, 2004)

Froome/Cobo at the Vuelta. Why was everyone rooting for Froome? Cobo kicked ass.


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## 55x11 (Apr 24, 2006)

OnTheRivet said:


> Froome/Cobo at the Vuelta. Why was everyone rooting for Froome? Cobo kicked ass.


Because Froome could have won, easily, if he was the Sky team leader from day 1.

My thoughts: this was Gilbert and Cav's year. You can pick pretty much any race/stage they won and it would be a good candidate. Hushovd was impressive with two stages in TdF. Evans was great, but his win came from ITT, which is a "race of truth" but there is no "moment of truth". Voeckler, yeah yeah - the most underrated "nobody", let's see what he does with GC next year. Contador won Giro too easily. Cobo and Froome in stage 17 is the most amazing stage I have EVER seen - how many times did they traded lead? But they are both nobodies too so it has no chance to win. Spring classics were flukes (Nuyens, Summy) aside from PhilGil. Tony Martin had a good year, but not spectacular, similar to Hushovd. 

For me it's between Gilbert's LBL win over Schlecks vs. Cav's World Champs win. 
In the end, it is Cavendish, no doubt. So many haters, but "truth moment" doesn't lie.


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## cda 455 (Aug 9, 2010)

Eric_H said:


> For me it the best "moment of truth" was Froome versus Cobo on Pena Cabarga, stage 17 of the Vuelta. I was on my feet screaming at the TV for Froome to take the jersey back that day. It was truly mano a mano racing with the entire GC on the line.





lastchild said:


> +1 for Froome vs Cobo as I too was _screaming_ at the TV. Best 20 minutes of cycling all year.


Agree and agree.


I just finished watching the last three hours of stage 17 (Again).

I've forgotten about this one. Man, what a dogfight :eek6: !


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## cda 455 (Aug 9, 2010)

OnTheRivet said:


> Froome/Cobo at the Vuelta. Why was everyone rooting for Froome? Cobo kicked ass.


My W.A.G.:

There were rumor(s) during the later part of La Vuelta that Mr. Semi No-Body (Cobo) may have been doping. In addition, his history of previous associations (Who was in doping news during this season).


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## kbwh (May 28, 2010)

I have been thinking that Cobo's mental problems have had to do with all the doping around him. But then again I'm always thinking the best of people even when they're back with the old gang.


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## OnTheRivet (Sep 3, 2004)

55x11 said:


> Because Froome could have won, easily, if he was the Sky team leader from day 1.


Horseshit. Putting the pressure of team leader on him could have cracked Froome, it's done it to better riders than him.


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## harlond (May 30, 2005)

cda 455 said:


> My W.A.G.:
> 
> There were rumor(s) during the later part of La Vuelta that Mr. Semi No-Body (Cobo) may have been doping. In addition, his history of previous associations (Who was in doping news during this season).


You're probably right, but it's hard to see the sense of it. If Cobo is Mr. Semi No-Body, Froome is Mr. Total No-Body. Going into the Vuelta, Cobo had won Tour of the Basque Country, stages in the TdF and the Vuelta, stages in Castilla y Leon, and finished 10th overall in the Vuelta in 2009. Froome had won nothing in comparison. If the fans were going to doubt someone, logic says it should have been Froome, who with no record of significant success all of a sudden is dusting Wiggins in time trials and winning mountain stages. Yeah, I know, Cobo was on the same team as Ricco and Piepoli, but there's nobody in cycling free of that sort of association. At least Cobo had won something before. Makes no sense, but that doesn't mean it's wrong.


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

Riders who have won ProTour stage races and Grand Tour stages are not generally referred to as "nobody".


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## davidka (Dec 12, 2001)

Another moment of truth moment occured after a race was over. Cavendish had just won the final TdF stage on Champs Elysees and stood there with a couple of team mates stymied by the fact that not one media/reporter was approaching him, all were clamoring for a word with Cadel Evans. 

Realization: He could win every single field sprint of the Tour but it'll never stack up to a GC win. Despite being the bread winner of the winningest team in the sport, they still fold, unable to find adequate sponsorship support. Stapleton is wealthy enough to run that team for decades, not sure why he didn't prop them up for another year...


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## 55x11 (Apr 24, 2006)

OnTheRivet said:


> Horseshit. Putting the pressure of team leader on him could have cracked Froome, it's done it to better riders than him.


the way Froome was riding after it became clear he is the team leader there is nothing to support your "could have cracked" theory. He has done tons of work on the front for Wiggo, got dropped a few times as a result, and if instead Wiggo was working for Froome and that time wasn't deducted from him, he would have won Vuelta, no doubt about it.


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## OnTheRivet (Sep 3, 2004)

55x11 said:


> the way Froome was riding after it became clear he is the team leader there is nothing to support your "could have cracked" theory. He has done tons of work on the front for Wiggo, got dropped a few times as a result, and if instead Wiggo was working for Froome and that time wasn't deducted from him, he would have won Vuelta, no doubt about it.


Should have, would have, could have........but didn't. I was talking about being designated team leader months before the race, not with 2 days left, big difference.


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## locustfist (Feb 21, 2009)

My choice.

The A. Schleck/Leopard Trek move on TdF stage 18. Great tactic. Excellant execution. Heroic effort by Andy. 

Bummer he could couldn't hold on in the TT


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## den bakker (Nov 13, 2004)

deleted


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## Matt1986 (Mar 19, 2010)

locustfist said:


> My choice.
> 
> The A. Schleck/Leopard Trek move on TdF stage 18. Great tactic. Excellant execution. Heroic effort by Andy.
> 
> Bummer he could couldn't hold on in the TT


Agreed, best/boldest attack I've seen for a very long time


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## foto (Feb 7, 2005)

How about Andy Schleck complaining about getting attacked on descents? There was a lot of truth in those statements, like he feels as though he is entitled to win the tour because he is such a great climber.


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## Keski (Sep 25, 2004)




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## Keski (Sep 25, 2004)

The Cunego, Sagan, Stage 3 final descent at the tour de swiss....Sagan is to be feared everywhere and anywhere...


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## cda 455 (Aug 9, 2010)

Keski said:


>


Wow!

Great clip!


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## InfiniteLoop (Mar 20, 2010)

I'm going to kind of wimp out and simply say 2011. Best overall cycling season in years, maybe decades. Racers were actually racing and trying to beat each other. I actually wanted to watch every stage of TdF and other races. A great mix of domination (PG), macho (AC not giving up in TdF, and not whining about loosing), balls (Cadel chasing, Schlecks attacking), romance (Voeckler keeping the yellow, and keeping the yellow, and keeping the yellow), fairy tale (Rolandts & Froome), and some teasing for 2012 (Schleck + Bruyneel, and something to look forward to with a lot of great new talent). And best of all, doping and radio garbage ceased dominating bike racing.


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

Keski said:


> The Cunego, Sagan, Stage 3 final descent at the tour de swiss....Sagan is to be feared everywhere and anywhere...


I love watching the pro's descend... and that particular one has the highest pucker factor of any I've seen in a LONG time.


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## Cinelli 82220 (Dec 2, 2010)

Almost forgot about this guy. HTFU indeed. 










Full story Cycleogical Disorders: Cycling - What a pain in the... Leg


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