2024 is almost done and dusted, and what a year it was. As cycling fans, we were treated to some pretty spectacular races—including Pogacar’s incredible Triple Crown. He dominated at the Giro d’Italia, destroyed the competition at the Tour de France, and had one of the most incredible wins at the world road championships. On the women’s front, we also saw one of the greatest final stages of a Grand Tour when Kasia Niewiadoma held onto the narrowest of leads, keeping the yellow jersey from Demi Vollering.
2024 was marked with some tragic moments in cycling. Melissa Hoskins died after an incident involving her husband Rohan Dennis, and the Swiss junior Muriel Furrer died at the road worlds after a crash.
Yet, amidst the heartbreak, there were also moments of triumph and inspiration from our Canadian pros. Derek Gee showed that his 2023 Giro was no fluke, with an awe-inspiring 9th place overall at the Tour de France. The Israel – Premier Tech kept up with the big boys on the big mountains, and had a fantastic final TT into Nice.
Bella Holmgren rode like an absolute champion at the women’s Tour de l’Avenir–the younger sibling of the Tour de France, finishing second and taking the polka dot jerseys. Alison Jackson took a huge win at the Vuelta España Femenina. We had two very worthy champions at our road national championships who wore the maple leaf with pride in the pro peloton, and will again in 2025. Olivia Baril and Mike Woods wore the championship kit for the second half of 2024, and will no doubt continue to honour the red and white in 2025.
Canada’s Michael Woods wins a career hat trick of Vuelta a España stages
Those were only a few of the many highlights that our Canadian men and women had in 2024, and it’s exciting to see what next year will bring.
Here are the top-10 most viewed stories on Canadian Cycling Magazine.
1. Lance Armstrong tells Pogi to lay low
Well this is unfortunate. Love him or hate him, it seems people still like to read what the disgraced cyclist has to say. After Pogacar’s dominance at the Tour, the former pro said that the Slovenian should leave something for the rest of the riders, especially with speculation on his performance. “It was really unnecessary to attack like that,” the American remarked during the MOVE podcast. “This will only draw more attention to Pogačar. If there’s already speculation about his performance, this certainly doesn’t help. Moreover, it doesn’t win him any…
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