The Phenomenal Female
No one epitomises British cycling success quite like Rachel Atherton. Few sports pros in any discipline can claim to have gone an entire season undefeated, but that’s exactly what Atherton has achieved.
Atherton did it in considerable style winning the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Leogang, Austria, with her 10th victory in a row. The action was captured by GoPro – and you can tell the crowd sensed history as they cheered her on.
Hulk Smashes the Cobbles
Sagan’s outstanding display in Flanders won him the Rainbow Jersey for the first time – an extra special event given it was the 100th Tour of Flanders.
The diverse range of his victories in 2016 meant Sagan topped the 2016 UCI WorldTour ranking thanks to 10 great stage victories. Oh, and in his spare time, this Jack-of-all-trades found time to compete in the Olympics – on a mountain bike!
Five Times a Lady?
Speaking of the Olympics, track legend Laura Trott capped off a stellar year for British sport with gold medals in both the Team Pursuit and the Omnium at Rio. Taking her medal count to five, there are now rumours she’s to be made a Dame by The Queen.
Froome’s Tour de France Hat-trick
Chris Froome won his third Tour de France Yellow Jersey in 2016 – the first cyclist to successfully defend his title since Indurain. The most exciting moment came in the cross winds of stage 11 when an unlikely alliance between the Green & Yellow Jerseys saw Sagan and Froome team up to break away – taking first and second place respectively.
The most iconic, and ironic, image of cycling in 2016 is the sight of Froome running up Mont Ventoux. Who knows? Maybe in 2017 he’ll swim part of the way and become a triathlete…
Macaskill Magic
The one-man industry that is Danny Macaskill continued to astound in 2016. Returning to his roots in Scotland, Macaskill had a Wee Day Out courtesy of his sponsors Red Bull.
As if the jaw-dropping skill Macaskill casually deploys wasn’t enough, Red Bull helpfully provided us with a series of “how to” videos – just in case you want to have a go at riding Hay Bales down a hill.
