December 31, 2022
Which performances deserve a special mention for making the 2022 season a memorable one?
As the most complete season since the Covid pandemic disrupted the calendar in 2020, it felt like there was more cycling than ever this year. Amid all the excitement and historic achievements that occurred with such regularity, some fantastic performances went relatively under the radar, and maybe didn’t receive their due praise. Here are our picks…
Richard Carapaz and Sergio Higuita, Volta a Catalunya stage six
In a year of many successful long-range attacks, none were quite as ambitious as Richard Carapaz and Sergio Higuita’s two-man ambush on the penultimate day of the Volta a Catalunya. With both within one minute of João Almeida who sat at the top of GC, they took off out of the peloton a whole 130km from the finish on a rainy day in the mountains, with Carapaz ultimately winning the two-up sprint for the stage, but Higuita taking the leader’s jersey. Coming at a week-long WorldTour race rather than one of the Grand Tours, it might not have received the same amount of attention as other efforts this year from the likes of Remco Evenepoel and Tadej Pogačar, but the way the pair launched themselves to first and second on GC, and held onto those positions on the final stage the following day, proved it to be as tactically astute as it was brazen.
Dylan van Baarle, Paris-Roubaix
At this year’s spring classics, fans were spoilt for stunning performances and stirring moments. There was Matej Mohorič’s descending masterclass at Milan-San Remo, Biniam Girmay’s history-making Gent-Wevelgem triumph, Mathieu van der Poel’s daring risk at the Tour of Flanders finale, plus Tadej Pogačar and Remco Evenepoel’s respective long-range masterpieces to win Strade Bianche and Liège–Bastogne–Liège respectively.
But the most comprehensive win of all came not from these star riders, but the less heralded Dylan van Baarle at Paris-Roubaix. After making his race-winning attack on Camphin-en-Pévèle cobbled sector 18km from the finish, he became the first man since Niki Terpstra in 2014 to reach the Roubaix velodrome alone, and his winning margin of 1-47 was the biggest at the race since Fabian Cancellara in 2010. Image: Zac Williams/SWpix
Thibaut Pinot, Tour of the Alps stage five
A cycling season wouldn’t feel…