The peloton's highlights of 2009 Part Two

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Great Britain's Bradley Wiggins (Garmin - Slipstream) was guttered with his second place.(Image credit: Sirotti)

In the second instalment of 2009 highlights Cyclingnews asks more industry insiders how they saw things this past year.

Best performance: If we were talking theatre, I’d say ‘Harmonious team-work: The Lance Armstrong and Alberto Contador story’. Since we’re talking on the bike, and I don’t want to be too predictable, Denis Menchov’s Giro d’Italia ride was impressive. His Rabobank team helped Menchov outlast some big names, in a race that had the added hype of Lance Armstrong’s first Giro outing and Danilo Di Luca’s return. And that final stage crash, talk about nail-biting.

Biggest disappointment: You’d think Tom Boonen or Tyler Hamilton’s second positive would top my chart here, but instead I reserve it for Bradley Wiggins. He made such a big deal on Twitter about announcing that he wasn’t moving to Team Sky in July, that this should have been the final outcome. But alas, the British rider has moved on in a deal that involved so much speculation and financial forecasting that we’d forgive you for thinking it was a soccer (football) player transfer.

Biggest disappointment: Another Giro d’Italia whose script required extensive re-editing, weeks after the event. Or was it eventual winner Denis Menchov saying in the autumn that he was “sad” about Danilo Di Luca’s positive test because Di Luca is a “great champion”? I’d also mention Frank Vandenbroucke’s death, although the overwhelming sentiment there was one of great sadness rather than disappointment.