The 2019 season had a range of blockbuster moments, from Egan Bernal’s Tour de France victory, through Philippe Gilbert’s fourth monument win at Paris-Roubaix, to Annemiek Van Vleuten’s epic 100km solo breakaway to win the World Championships road race.
Procycling magazine's Review of the Year issue looks back over the top racing moments and at the riders who made the headlines this season.
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Among those who enjoyed a season to remember in 2019 is Primož Roglič, who finished the year atop the UCI’s World Ranking as the number one male rider. The Slovenian was one of the most consistent riders of the year, winning 13 races, including his first victory in a Grand Tour at the Vuelta a España, as well as finishing third in the Giro d’Italia.
Procycling's Sophie Hurcom went to the Netherlands to meet Roglič at Jumbo-Visma's end-of-season team gathering to find out what motivates him and how he’s adapted to life as a Grand Tour contender and as a star back in his home country.
"It’s nice when you can ride faster, when you suffer a little less. But it’s never enough, it’s never fast enough. You’re always looking to be better and better," he said.
While Roglič’s Jumbo-Visma were a dominant force, Bora-Hansgrohe won 47 races to put them second behind Deceuninck-Quick Step in the World ranking. The 2019 season also marked the German squad’s 10th year and their third since joining the WorldTour. Patrick Fletcher analyses how canny signings and rider development have turned Bora into a cycling force.
This year saw Caleb Ewan make his long-awaited debut in the Tour de France, a major success that resulted in three stage wins, including on the Champs-Elysées. Sophie Smith spoke to the Australian about racing under pressure and living up to big expectations.
"I’ve got the media looking at me, thinking, 'is he going to do as well as he thought?' I had a really rough run up to the Tour. There was so much stress leading into the Tour, it wasn’t healthy," Ewan said.
Cycling’s oldest monument got a new look in 2019, as the organisers of Liège-Bastogne-Liège moved the finish of the race from the climb in Ans back to a flat finish in Liège city centre in a bid to shake up the action. The race ended with a new winner in Jakob Fuglsang, who soloed to the line to win his first monument title. Alasdair Fotheringham examines whether the new finale proved to be a success
All three Grand Tours ended with new winners this season, in Richard Carapaz at the Giro, Roglič at the Vuelta and Bernal at the Tour. The 21-year-old became the Tour’s youngest winner in 110 years and also marked Colombia’s long-awaited first victory in the race. While Bernal went into the race as a favourite, he only took the yellow jersey at the race’s death on a weather-ravaged stage to Tignes on stage 19 that was eventually cut short. Richard Moore analyses how Bernal hid in plain sight to time his win to perfection.
Mads Pedersen was the winner no one expected at the World Championships in Yorkshire, as the 23-year-old became the youngest rainbow jersey winner in the men’s road race in 20 years. Pedersen was also Denmark’s first world champion in the men’s event, in a year where Danish riders also won Liège and the Critérium du Dauphiné. Brian Nygaard looks into where the success from the country is coming from.
As well as winning her first rainbow jersey after being untouchable in the road race in Yorkshire, Annemiek van Vleuten was the dominant rider in the women’s peloton with the broadest and deepest spread of wins. The Dutchwoman won Strade Bianche, Liège and a second consecutive Giro Rosa title as well as two stages there. Procycling’s Edward Pickering examines how Van Vleuten pulled off her four stand-out wins.
Van Vleuten’s compatriot Marianne Vos also had a stellar 2019 season, winning 19 races, including Trofeo Alfredo Binda and La Course to make her the most prolific rider in the women’s peloton. Significantly, her 19 wins made it her best year since 2014. Procycling finds out how Vos got back on top and back to her best.
Plus, the latest products in cycling, the world’s best cycling photography and an end-of-year update and farewell from our 2019 diarists.
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