From Femke Van den Driessche's hidden motor to Froome running up Mont Ventoux and more
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Femke van den Driessche during the under 23 women's race at the cyclo-cross World Championships, she was later disqualified after a motor was discovered in her bike(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Chris Froome runs up the Mont Ventoux(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Anna van der Breggen sprints to victory in the Olympic Games elite women's road race shortly after her teammate Annemiek van Vleuten suffered a horrible crash(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Fabian Cancellara sits in the hotseat as he waits to find out if he is the 2016 Olympic time trial champion. (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Nairo Quintana, Gianluca Brambila and Alberto Contador on the attack during stage 15 of the Vuelta a Espana, an attack that would secure Quintana overall victory(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Peter Sagan beats Julian Alaphilippe and Daniel Moreno at the first elite men's road race in the European Championships(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Esteban Chaves attacks on the way to victory at Il Lombardia in October(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The men's peloton in the desert of Qatar at the 2016 Road World Championships(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Mathieu van der Poel after winning Zonhoven - Hansgrohe Superprestige as his rivalry with Wout van Aert is resumed for the new season(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Tour de France leader Chris Froome and green jersey Peter Sagan attack on a windy stage 11 to Montpellier(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Fabio Aru holds off the bunch following a daring attack in the Criterium du Dauphine in June(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Greg Van Avermaet sprints to victory ahead of Peter Sagan at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Lizzie Deignan (nee Armitstead) celebrates victory at Strade Bianche, the first round of the inaugural Women's WorldTour(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Antoine Demoitie in his final full race E3 Harelbeke(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The Wanty Groupe Gobert team commemorates teammate Antoine Demoitie at the Tour of Flanders(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Fabian Cancellara congratulates Peter Sagan on his first monument win at the Tour of Flanders(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Mat Hayman beats Tom Boonen to victory in Paris-Roubaix(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Megan Guarnier wins the Tour of California and takes control of the women's WorldTour(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Steven Kruijswijk in despair after losing the Giro d'Italia's maglia rosa following a crash on the descent of the Colle dell'Agnello (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Vincenzo Nibali attacks Esteban Chaves to take overall victory at the Giro d'Italia(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Bradley Wiggins speaks to the media after winning the Gent Six following the controvers surrounding his use of TUEs(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The 2016 season has thrown up all manner of memorable moments, for better and for worse, on and off the bike.
Chris Froome’s unexpected run up Mont Ventoux was voted by the Cyclingnews readers as their most memorable moment of the year. Peter Sagan and Mat Hayman’s victories at the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix respectively capped off an exciting Classics campaign and the advent of the Women’s WorldTour was a big step for the women’s peloton.
2016 was also tinged with sadness following the death of Antoine Demoitie following a crash at Gent-Wevelgem. Demoitie’s death and a subsequent incident involving Stig Broeckx at the Belgium Tour has sparked a renewed drive for rider safety, and some changes were implemented by race organisers such as the Eneco Tour and the Vuelta al Pais Vasco.
Click through the gallery above to see some of the defining moments of the year.
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