Loads of individuals predicted {that a} Slovenian would win final 12 months’s Tour de France and a Brit would win the Giro. However – be trustworthy now – how many people thought these winners can be Primož Roglič and Geraint Thomas, and never, because it turned out, first-timers Tadej Pogačar and Tao Geoghegan Hart?
Trying to foretell the 2020 season proved to be a mug’s sport as a brand new era of younger stars tore up the rulebook and put the outdated guard to the sword. Will that shift proceed into 2021 or will we see a return of the same old suspects within the main races?
Who higher to look into their crystal balls than a crack core of seasoned sportscasters and business insiders? The ten-person Bike owner panel features a triple Tour winner, a king of the Classics, a WorldTour directeur sportif, plus commentators from Eurosport, ITV, GCN and extra.
‘We’re in such a fantastic place commentating on the world’s greatest races that a part of the enjoyable is to place your neck on the road and assist create a little bit of debate,’ says commentator and speaker Anthony McCrossan.
You don’t get way more brass-necked than predicting a David Gaudu win in La Vuelta and Oliver Naesen to take victory in Flanders. Anthony, bless him, might reside to remorse such capriciousness.
Another daring punts embody Wout van Aert to win the Tour (Carlton Kirby), Filippo Ganna successful Paris-Roubaix (Daniel Lloyd), Chris Froome taking a 3rd Vuelta (José Been) and Leonard Kämna turning into World Champion (go simple on the eggnog, Carlton).
In his defence, Kirby is fast to remind Bike owner of his occasional capability to again the appropriate horse: ‘Simply keep in mind, my pre-race prediction of Tadej Pogačar to win the 2020 Tour went fully unheralded,’ he boasts. ‘So don’t begin on the goodness-what-a-surprise stuff when it occurs!’
Our specialists
Click on a reputation to skip to their predicitions
Carlton Kirby, Commentator for Eurosport
Sean Kelly, Commentator and Classics legend
Greg LeMond, Three-time Tour de France winner
José Been, Dutch biking journalist and commentator
Anthony McCrossan, Biking commentator
Seb Piquet, The voice of the Tour de France on Radio Tour
Matt White, DS for Staff BikeExchange WorldTour workforce
Declan Quigley, Biking commentator and journalist
Ned Boulting, Presenter and commentator for ITV Sport
Dan Lloyd, GCN & Eurosport presenter
Within the battle of the rookies versus the veterans, Kirby backs outdated hand Vincenzo Nibali to roll again the years within the Giro, whereas Greg LeMond goes the opposite method and suggestions barely-out-of-nappies Remco Evenepoel to win the Tour.
Elsewhere there’s extra of a consensus, with 80% backing Annemiek van Vleuten to win the Giro Rosa, 50% calling a house win for Van Aert within the Worlds in Flanders, and 70% choosing both Van Aert and rival Mathieu van der Poel to tame the Hell of the North. Virtually half the panel foresees a second Giro win for Richard Carapaz, a maiden Monument for Marc Hirschi at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and Primož Roglič burying his demons within the Tour.
Apparently, simply two individuals suppose Pogačar will retain the yellow jersey, and poor outdated Tao Geoghegan Hart receives not a single point out by anybody on the panel.
Sentimentality maybe shrouds Sean Kelly’s imaginative and prescient when he singles out fellow Irishman Sam Bennett because the favorite for the rainbow jersey. Partisanship, in the meantime, comes from Staff BikeExchange (previously Mitchelton-Scott) DS Matt White, who, maybe for the sake of workforce morale, backs Michael Matthews to win Milan-San Remo and Simon Yates to lastly win the Giro.
After all, with Covid nonetheless raging, all bets may very well be off, and at this stage we don’t know if the calendar will even run as deliberate. And as if making predictions wasn’t robust sufficient, this 12 months has the added curve ball of the Tokyo Olympics to consider. Can Alejandro Valverde’s profession finish with gold? Somebody thinks so.
Carlton Kirby
Commentator for Eurosport
Milan-San Remo
Winner: Julian Alaphillippe
Why: He’s finished it earlier than and he’ll do it once more after an in depth miss in 2020. Hiding in full view: his technique is predictable however laborious to cease.
Ronde van Vlaanderen
Winner: Peter Sagan
Why: Gained in 2016 and will’ve defended in 2017. Been very quiet however this is a perfect place for him to hit again.
Males’s Paris-Roubaix
Winner: Wout van Aert
Why: He can do something and the whole lot… horrible situations can be his pal.
Girls’s Paris-Roubaix
Winner: Megan Jastrab
Why: Doubtlessly the brand new Queen of the whole lot. Younger and fearless with nice stamina. The shock results of the season.
Liège-Bastogne-Liège
Winner: Marc Hirschi
Why: May’ve and will’ve in 2020… will do that time.
Giro d’Italia
Winner: Vicenzo Nibali
Why: Oldies can be goodies in a return to a ‘regular’ season. He can be undistracted in his objective.
Giro Rosa
Winner: Anna van der Breggen
Why: She’s wonderful and completed 2020 too strongly to disregard.
Tour de France
Winner: Wout van Aert
Why: On an attacker’s course he’ll be (or needs to be) the ‘various’ chief… however perhaps solely in my goals.
La Course
Winner: Elynor Bäckstedt
Why: Her dad says so, and he’s too massive to argue with.
Vuelta a Espana
Winner: Primož Roglič
Why: He likes it there – tapas and kickass!
World Championships Males’s Street Race
Winner: Leonard Kämna
Why: I would like my predictions of his greatness to be realised.
World Championships Girls’s Street Race
Winner: Amalie Dideriksen
Why: She’s been too quiet recently. She’s planning one thing
Il Lombardia
Winner: Thibaut Pinot
Why: Give the canine a bone… Final hurrah after misfiring with the whole lot else… once more.
Every other predictions for 2021?
For all races there can be two elements: younger weapons with no concern versus the outdated guard who know extra and have had lengthy careers as a result of they use what they know. So don’t begin with the ‘goodness what a shock’ stuff when it occurs.
Oh and keep in mind, my pre-race prediction of Tadej Pogačar to win the 2020 Tour went fully unheralded. Ha! I additionally predicted that Rigoberto Uran would characteristic strongly all through. I used to be proper. Double Ha!
Sean Kelly
Commentator and former Classics legend
Milan-San Remo
Winner: Wout van Aert
Why: He can climb the Poggio as quick because the quickest climbers however they gained’t have a dash like his on the end.
Ronde van Vlaanderen
Winner: Julian Alaphilippe
Why: He confirmed in 2020 that he was the favorite till his crash. This time he’ll assault from additional out – someplace just like the Paterberg.
Males’s Paris-Roubaix
Winner: Mattieu van der Poel
Why: His bike dealing with will stand him good stead in dry situations however the moist can be even higher for him.
Girls’s Paris-Roubaix
Winner: Marianne Vos
Why: Her cyclocross abilities and expertise will show essential in a race like Roubaix.
Liège-Bastogne-Liège
Winner: Tadej Pogačar
Why: He has the qualities for a parcours like Liège and he isn’t afraid to assault from fairly a bit out for a solo win.
Giro d’Italia
Winner: Richard Carapaz
Why: If he rides he will certainly be one of many strongest there and a previous winner who proved that he’s a constant three-week rider once more this 12 months within the Vuelta.
Giro Rosa
Winner: Annemiek van Vleuten
Why: She gained it beforehand and can be laborious to beat.
Tour de France
Winner: Primož Roglič
Why: The workforce will take a look at his race programme very carefully for 2021 and get the lead up precisely proper for him to hit high kind within the third week when he appears to run into difficulties beforehand.
La Course
Winner: Lizzie Deignan
Why: She gained it this 12 months and the 2021 route may go well with her even higher.
Vuelta a Espana
Winner: Enric Mas
Why: Runner-up in 2018, if the Movistar man can get his construct up proper he’s able to going one higher.
World Championships Males’s Street Race
Winner: Sam Bennett
Why: He’ll maintain his kind after the Tour de France.
World Championships Girls’s Street Race
Winner: Elisa Balsamo
Why: She is an excellent sprinter and is the up-and-coming star of the longer term.
Il Lombardia
Winner: Jakob Fuglsang
Why: He’s a previous winner however it might rely on whether or not the race is run at its regular date.
Every other predictions for 2021?
Van der Poel to win Strade Bianche.
Greg LeMond
Three-time Tour de France winner
Milan-San Remo
Winner: Julian Alaphilippe
Why: He’s the perfect puncher, descender and all-round bike owner within the peloton, which ought to handle the sprinters. If not alone, his sprinting prowess and pace give him the perfect shot at successful.
Ronde van Vlaanderen
Winner: Mathieu van der Poel
Why: The defending champion’s resume speaks for itself. Mathieu’s bodily preparation, cyclocross, his puncher qualities, in addition to his sprinting capability and former success, with a superior workforce to assist him in 2021, makes him my favorite.
Paris-Roubaix
Winner: Wout van Aert
Why: Totally recovered from his 2019 Tour de France damage, Wout got here into his personal this 12 months and can carry that kind and confidence into 2021. His racing type, bike-handling abilities from years of cyclocross, time-trialling capability, sturdy dash and ways make Roubaix the best Basic for Wout.
Paris-Roubaix Girls
Winner: Chantal van den Broek-Blaak
Why: She has a whole lot of expertise within the Classics, a robust workforce, and her latest victory within the Ronde makes her a favorite for Roubaix.
Liège-Bastogne-Liège
Winner: Marc Hirschi
Why: Final 12 months, in solely his second participation, he completed second behind Primož Roglič. However he may have finished higher, as his Flèche Wallonne win and Tour success reveals.
Giro d’Italia
Winner: Richard Carapaz
Why: Tremendous expertise, nice all-around rider and former winner in 2019. Carapaz might must be a super-domestique for Egan Bernal within the Tour, however he gained’t be happy enjoying second fiddle in each race.
He should select one of many two different Grand Excursions if he desires to keep up his upward trajectory. Why not the Giro? If he fails, he nonetheless has an opportunity to salvage the season with a go on the Vuelta.
Giro Rosa
Winner: Anna van der Breggen
Why: The defending champion has dominated girls’s biking and is powerful on all forms of terrain.
Tour de France
Winner: Remo Evenepoel
Why: Maybe the perfect expertise from Belgium since Eddy Merckx. His distinctive TT capability and a weight of simply 60kg ought to make him one of many high climbers on this planet. To win a conventional Tour with two particular person TTs you must be a whole rider and be in entrance with the perfect within the wind, on the descents, and many others. Remco has all of these qualities.
If he rides it, there’ll be no stress and he’ll don’t have anything to lose – very like Pogačar final 12 months. With the Tour begin in Brittany there’s a excessive likelihood of facet winds, echelons and crashes. Remco couldn’t be on a greater workforce, QuickStep, to guard him and take him safely and rested earlier than the mountain phases.
La Course
Winner: Anna van der Breggen
Why: The 130km race options six repeats up the Mûr-de-Bretagne, which is able to give Anna a bonus over her opponents.
Vuelta a Espana
Winner: Primož Roglič
Why: Primož will put all of his focus and efforts on successful the Tour, the place he can be considered one of my favourites. But when he fails, he can salvage his season once more with a 3rd victory in Spain.
World Championships Males’s Street Race
Winner: Wout van Aert
Why: On a house course, with steep, Tour of Flanders climbs, Wout can be motivated to enhance on his silver medal from 2020.
World Championships Girls’s Street Race
Winner: Anna van der Breggen
Why: She has gained the whole lot, and one other title, which might be her third, will put her stamp as the perfect girls’s rider in 2021.
Il Lombardia
Winner: Julian Alaphilippe
Why: For a similar purpose that he’s the favorite for Milan-San Remo.
José Been
Dutch biking journalist and commentator
Milan-San Remo
Winner: Caleb Ewan
Why: Ewan is likely one of the quickest sprinters on the market, additionally one of many lightest, which is a large benefit within the San Remo ultimate if we return to the standard course in 2021.
Ronde van Vlaanderen
Winner: Wout van Aert
Why: All of us hope for a rematch of the wonderful 2020 race between Van der Poel and Van Aert. This time Van Aert begins his dash in time and beats his lifelong rival.
Males’s Paris-Roubaix
Winner: Greg Van Avermaet
Why: Being an older and extra skilled rider all the time helps if you find yourself bold on the cobbles of Roubaix.
Girls’s Paris-Roubaix
Winner: Lucinda Model
Why: She has improved a lot now she focusses on cyclocross. These abilities, but additionally her pure endurance as a street racer, make the proper mixture for the primary girls’s Roubaix winner.
Liège-Bastogne-Liège
Winner: Alexander Vlasov
Why: It is determined by whether or not Vlasov focusses on the Giro or Tour de France as as to whether he’ll truly trip Liège. He does have the proper profile for this race.
Giro d’Italia
Winner: Geraint Thomas
Why: Who will trip and who gained’t? Final 12 months’s Giro proved to be one of the wonderful races of the season. Thomas crashed out early on a stray bottle however he desires to indicate the world yet one more time that he’s not a one-time Grand Tour winner.
Giro Rosa
Winner: Annemiek van Vleuten
Why: She has a rating to settle after crashing out in 2020. When she finds a course together with the excessive mountains like Mortirolo or Stelvio there may be not a lady who can beat her.
Tour de France
Winner: Primož Roglič
Why: It was admirable to see how quickly Roglič regained his composure after that dramatic time-trial on the penultimate day, happening to win LBL and the Vuelta. This 12 months Jumbo-Visma gained’t make the identical errors and can go for each second they’ll discover and never get complacent earlier than the Champs-Èlysèes is in sight.
La Course
Winner: Marianne Vos
Why: Marianne Vos just isn’t the cannibal she was once, however when she wins she wins in type. A punchy course within the west of France ought to go well with her very nicely nevertheless it all is determined by what the organisers provide you with ultimately.
Vuelta a Espana
Winner: Chris Froome
Why: The Vuelta is all the time the toughest to foretell as a result of who rides is determined by how the Tour and Giro go. It’s the race of the final likelihood, the revenge, or the race of the younger breakthrough rider.
I’m not positive if Froome will ever get to his outdated self once more but when he does, a 3rd Vuelta may be a fantastic win for him.
World Championships Males’s Street Race
Winner: Matteo Trentin
Why: We’ve got a Belgian race, cobbles and hills. Trentin is the last word championship racer. It’s a coronary heart selection as nicely. He’s a rider I really like for his panache on the bike but additionally for his outspokenness about any points in biking. By no means bitter and all the time encouraging in the direction of others.
World Championships Girls’s Street Race
Winner: Lizzie Deignan
Why: Lizzie Deignan determined to race two extra years after her stellar 2020 season. The British all the time function as a workforce and can be 100% behind Deignan on this Belgian course.
Il Lombardia
Winner: Remco Evenepoel
Why: Lombardia has had its fair proportion of shock winners previously. It’s the final massive one of many season. Many are extremely drained after an extended 12 months however Evenepoel continues to be as contemporary as may be. He’ll return to Lombardia after his crash to win it in 2021.
Every other predictions for 2021?
It’s completely ridiculous that the ladies get supplied a very totally different and much flatter course in Tokyo than the lads. The lads’s race is hilly and lengthy. My coronary heart says that Alejandro Valverde will take the gold.
It’s his final likelihood and the one factor on his thoughts since his world title. On the day itself it will likely be a quick rider who can do nicely on hills. Wout van Aert is the primary one which involves thoughts. For the ladies it’s a reasonably flat trip ending on a racecourse. Marianne Vos is my choose for that race.
Our specialists
Click on a reputation to skip to their predicitions
Carlton Kirby, Commentator for Eurosport
Sean Kelly, Commentator and Classics legend
Greg LeMond, Three-time Tour de France winner
José Been, Dutch biking journalist and commentator
Anthony McCrossan, Biking commentator
Seb Piquet, The voice of the Tour de France on Radio Tour
Matt White, DS for Staff BikeExchange WorldTour workforce
Declan Quigley, Biking commentator and journalist
Ned Boulting, Presenter and commentator for ITV Sport
Dan Lloyd, GCN & Eurosport presenter
Anthony McCrossan
Biking commentator and speaker on the Giro and Tour
Milan-San Remo
Winner: Marc Hirschi
Why: He’ll begin 2021 the way in which he left 2020. La Classicissima is a ready sport then it’s all concerning the assault over the Poggio and the descent to the Through Roma. Few can descend as quick as Hirschi. He can be there and can simply edge the dash to take his first Monument.
Ronde van Vlaanderen
Winner: Oliver Naesen
Why: Seventh in each 2020 and 2019 and now with a beefed-up AG2R-Citroën workforce, Naesen will profit from everybody anticipating his teammates like Van Avermaet to win.
He’ll be the rider that everybody knew may win an enormous race however forgot to fret about within the finale and can give Belgium an enormous day of celebration.
Males’s Paris-Roubaix
Winner: Mathieu van der Poel
Why: Everybody desires that, don’t they? The sight of Mathieu racing into the Roubaix velodrome wanting silky easy and nonetheless filled with driving after a show of sophistication and starvation is a win no biking fan may fail to rejoice.
Girls’s Paris-Roubaix
Winner: Chantal van den Broek-Blaak
Why: Along with her confirmed Classics pedigree, if Chantal says to SD Worx that her dream is to win Roubaix, they may put all of it on the road for her. She has the ability, the psychological toughness and the talents to win Roubaix.
Liège-Bastogne-Liège
Winner: Romain Bardet
Why: Now this may appear to be an odd selection, however Bardet loves one-day races though most individuals consider him as a Grand Tour rider. With out focussing on it, he completed third in 2018 and his transfer to Staff DSM will re-invigorate him with a brand new focus.
Giro d’Italia
Winner: Simon Yates
Why: The Briton will lastly clinch the Giro. After contracting Covid in 2020 and igniting the race within the maglia rosa in 2018, the whole lot will go proper for him and he’ll take the victory so as to add to his Vuelta triumph.
Giro Rosa
Winner: Annemiek van Vleuten
Why: She crashed out of the 2020 version whereas on track for a hat-trick. So long as her workforce helps a race that’s now not within the girls’s WorldTour then she’s going to dominate once more and take that third victory.
Tour de France
Winner: Richard Carapaz
Why: Ineos have spent the winter rebuilding, refocussing and getting the whole lot able to win the Tour once more.
They’ve added extra star names, introduced in additional performance-related administrators and they’re going to come to the Tour able to take it once more. This time Ecuador will get its first win after joint management with Egan Bernal leaves Carapaz as chief within the ultimate week.
La Course
Winner: Audrey Cordon Ragot
Why: 130km and 6 ascents of the Mûr-de-Bretagne is hard and you must know the roads and the course nicely. Audrey lives 30km from the Mûr and is aware of the world just like the again of her hand. If Trek-Segafredo again her, she’s going to ship. Think about the emotion of the 2020 French champion successful on her residence roads! That may be some end to commentate on.
Vuelta a Espana
Winner: David Gaudu
Why: He completed within the high 10 in 2020 with out even focussing on the general. Coming into the race he was nonetheless recovering from damage and was supporting Pinot, but walked away with two wins. May that open the floodgates?
World Championships Males’s Street Race
Winner: Wout van Aert
Why: A Belgian in Belgium. He completed second in 2020 and can return to the Worlds with much more ambition and fireplace to try to take the rainbow bands in entrance of his residence crowd. Are you able to think about the response if he did it?
World Championships Girls’s Street Race
Winner: Elisa Longo Borghini
Why: Twice on the rostrum on the Worlds, a podium within the Olympics; Elisa is a rider for an enormous event. She has already gained in Flanders so it’s a cheerful searching floor for her. We noticed a resurgent Longo Borghini in 2020 after lockdown and he or she’ll use that kind to nice impact to lastly take the rainbow bands she goals of.
Il Lombardia
Winner: George Bennett
Why: The Kiwi deserves an enormous win in a Monument. He has already had high 10 finishes in a race that fits him completely and with second place in 2020 he’ll now have the arrogance to go one higher.
Every other predictions for 2021?
Lizzie Deignan and Tadej Pogačar will win gold medals within the Tokyo Olympics.
Seb Piquet
The voice of the Tour de France on Radio Tour
Milan-San Remo
Winner: Peter Sagan
Why: He’s obtained to indicate he nonetheless has it.
Ronde van Vlaanderen
Winner: Julian Alaphilippe
Why: Just because it could make a very good story.
Males’s Paris-Roubaix
Winner: Wout van Aert
Why: As a result of he would have gained it in 2020.
Girls’s Paris-Roubaix
Winner: Chantal van den Broek-Blaak
Why: As a result of she would have gained it in 2020 and it may very well be her final nice triumph.
Liège-Bastogne-Liège
Winner: Mark Hirschi
Why: The primary of an extended sequence.
Giro d’Italia
Winner: Tom Dumoulin
Why: As a result of he must hit again and he gained’t be a quantity two on the Tour once more.
Giro Rosa
Winner: Annemiek van Vleuten
Why: She’s the perfect on stage races.
Tour de France
Winner: Egan Bernal
Why: As a result of he’ll return with a vengeance.
La Course
Winner: Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig
Why: As a result of all of us want a very good celebration and post-race interview.
Vuelta a Espana
Winner: Tadej Pogačar
Why: As a result of he’ll have stop the Tour and can wish to hit again.
World Championships Males’s Street Race
Winner: Wout van Aert
Why: As a result of it’s on residence soil.
World Championships Girls’s Street Race
Winner: Lizzie Deignan
Why: Revenge after failing to be Olympic champion.
Il Lombardia
Winner: Remco Evenepoel
Why: Like Alaphilippe at Flanders, it completes the redemption and makes a very good story.
Every other predictions for 2021?
Christian Prudhomme can be on the Tour de France from begin to end and Anna van der Breggen can be Olympic champion once more.
Matt White
DS for Staff BikeExchange WorldTour workforce
Milan-San Remo
Winner: Michael Matthews
Why: As a result of he’s come shut earlier than and he’s obtained all of the instruments and traits, plus a workforce 100% behind him.
Ronde van Vlaanderen
Winner: Wout van Aert
Why: He got here agonisingly shut this 12 months and he’ll be hungry to get what for Belgians is probably the most particular win of the 12 months.
Males’s Paris-Roubaix
Winner: Mathieu van der Poel
Why: Regardless that he hasn’t ridden the race but, there isn’t a rider on the planet together with his skillset and talent.
Girls’s Paris-Roubaix
Winner: Ellen van Dijk
Why: She’ll float throughout the cobbles alright.
Liège-Bastogne-Liège
Winner: Marc Hirschi
Why: He’s in all probability fairly upset with the 2020 outcome and I feel he’ll be even higher subsequent 12 months. It’s a race that basically fits him and there’ll be an enormous deal with it this spring.
Giro d’Italia
Winner: Simon Yates
Why: Even with out seeing the course, I feel he’s going to be fairly spurred on by final 12 months. With fewer time-trial kilometres than final 12 months, no matter what the final week appears to be like like, it’s going to be a tough course and I feel, if chosen, he’s able to make amends for the final couple of years.
Giro Rosa
Winner: Annemiek van Vleuten
Why: It’s laborious to look past her due to her historical past. The more durable it’s, the better it’ll develop into for her to win it.
Tour de France
Winner: Primož Roglič
Why: The 2 longer TTs doesn’t essentially go well with the likes of Bernal and Pogačar, and off the again of this 12 months’s Tour and Vuelta he goes in as favorite.
La Course
Winner: Marianne Vos
Why: She’s a fantastic all-rounder.
Vuelta a Espana
Winner: Richard Carapaz
Why: It’s an actual stab at midnight since you don’t know who’s going to be there, however I’ll go together with Carapaz. He’s in all probability going to do the Tour once more in the help of Thomas and Bernal, and he’ll in all probability have the liberty to go for the Vuelta like in 2020.
World Championships Males’s Street Race
Winner: Wout van Aert
Why: Belgie at residence – he’ll have an enormous assist, the perfect and largest workforce backing him, he’s as quick as anybody, and it’s going to be very laborious to beat on any course they design in that area.
World Championships Girls’s Street Race
Winner: Marianne Vos
Why: She’s the quickest of the Dutch and that course will go well with her.
Il Lombardia
Winner: Thibaut Pinot
Why: It’s an Olympic 12 months, which makes it laborious, however let’s have a crack with Pinot as a result of I don’t suppose he’ll do the Tour this 12 months.
Declan Quigley
Biking commentator and journalist
Milan-San Remo
Winner: Mathieu van der Poel (assuming his workforce is invited)
Why: He’s had a take a look at it now and something Wout can do…
Ronde van Vlaanderen
Winner: Kasper Asgreen
Why: He is aware of the race, he has the workforce, he has the bodily capability and he’s coming into his greatest years.
Males’s Paris-Roubaix
Winner: Wout van Aert
Why: He’ll hope he obtained all of the dangerous luck out of the way in which with crashes and mechanicals in 2019. With a transparent run he will certainly be within the combine for glory.
Girls’s Paris-Roubaix
Winner: Lucinda Model
Why: A mix of cyclocross abilities and sheer energy can be key in a primary ever girls’s model of L’Enfer du Nord.
Liège-Bastogne-Liège
Winner: Julian Alaphilippe
Why: Successful within the arc-en-ciel jersey can be good redemption for the 2020 close to miss and is certain to be an enormous motivation.
Giro d’Italia
Winner: Geraint Thomas
Why: A coaching crash and ensuing shoulder damage have affected his preparation however he wasn’t over-raced in 2020 and the teak-tough Welshman can be keen so as to add to his palmares and exorcise the ghost of the 2020 ‘bidon-gate’.
Giro Rosa
Winner: Annamiek van Vleuten
Why: Her crash nearby of a hattrick of wins in 2020 can have harm lengthy after the damaged wrist healed. If it’s in her programme so near Tokyo she’ll be robust to beat.
Tour de France
Winner: Tadej Pogačar
Why: This time final 12 months we have been saying that Egan Bernal was going to win it for years and now it’s Tadej’s flip to be on the outset of an prolonged interval of dominance. He can do the whole lot and he’s solely going to get stronger.
La Course
Winner: Kasia Niewiadoma
Why: Six instances up the Mûr-de-Bretagne is a demanding take a look at by any measure and final 12 months’s fourth place finisher gained’t be afraid of the course.
Vuelta a Espana
Winner: Remco Evenepoel
Why: He could also be younger however his one-week stage racing prowess is already established and the lengthy layoff and regular construct up after his Il Lombardia crash may very well have aided his long-term growth.
World Championships Males’s Street Race
Winner: Remco Evenepoel
Why: A Remco win in Flanders. What may very well be extra wonderful than that?
World Championships Girls’s Street Race
Winner: Lizzie Deignan
Why: Tokyo is the main focus however Flanders could also be even higher suited to the 2015 champion.
Il Lombardia
Winner: Egan Bernal
Why: If he can shake off the debilitating results of his again damage then the second half of 2021 may supply alternatives to rekindle the successful flame, notably at a race the place he completed third in 2019.
Every other predictions for 2021?
Annamiek van Vleuten goes to be robust to cease on the Olympic street race. Given her dramatic departure from the Rio Olympics and the hilly route, it’s positive to be an enormous goal.
Primož Roglič has the climbing capability to get the win within the males’s Olympic street race if his Tour de France ambitions have evaporated early and he switches his consideration to Japan.
Ned Boulting
Presenter and commentator for ITV Sport
Milan-San Remo
Winner: Wout van Aert
Why: As a result of he’s a climber who can dash, a sprinter who can climb, a climber who can time-trial, and a time-triallist who can dash. And climb.
Ronde van Vlaanderen
Winner: Julian Alaphilippe
Why: Unfinished enterprise. I feel he’d have gained the final one. He had the ‘vans’ on the brink.
Males’s Paris-Roubaix
Winner: Peter Sagan
Why: Regardless of having (virtually precisely) predicted he wouldn’t win a race in 2020, I feel he’s obtained one final massive win left in him. And it’s this.
Girls’s Paris-Roubaix
Winner: Anna van der Breggen
Why: Anna van der Breggen.
Liège-Bastogne-Liège
Winner: Tadej Pogačar
Why: He may as nicely.
Giro d’Italia
Winner: Richard Carapaz
Why: I nonetheless suppose Ineos will again a special horse for the Tour. So Carapaz goes to the Giro. And wins it.
Giro Rosa
Winner: Annemiek van Vleuten
Why: Annemiek van Vleuten.
Tour de France
Winner: Primož Roglič
Why: It’s a extra controllable route for him and Jumbo-Visma than it was in 2020. And let’s not neglect how shut he was final 12 months. Plus, flat TT kilometres.
La Course
Winner: Lizzie Deignan
Why: She’ll be laborious to shake off on the Mûr, and would outsprint most on the line.
Vuelta a Espana
Winner: Tadej Pogačar
Why: If he fails to win the Tour (which I ridiculously simply predicted), he’ll win this one as an alternative. Until Remco turns up.
World Championships Males’s Street Race
Winner: Marc Hirschi
Why: As a result of I haven’t written his title wherever else but, and he’s certain to win one thing very massive in 2021.
World Championships Girls’s Street Race
Winner: Marianne Vos
Why: As a result of everybody would find it irresistible.
Il Lombardia
Winner: Alexander Vlasov
Why: May have gained it final 12 months when he was driving for Fuglsang. He’ll have discovered from that.
Dan Lloyd
GCN & Eurosport presenter
Milan-San Remo
Winner: Caleb Ewan
Why: He’s been there or thereabouts a few instances earlier than. Not too long ago the race has been gained from an assault most of the time, so I’m considering it’s about time for a dash.
Ronde van Vlaanderen
Winner: Mathieu van der Poel
Why: Why not? I really like watching him race, and he’s now obtained the expertise, and naturally a Monument underneath his belt.
Males’s Paris-Roubaix
Winner: Filippo Ganna
Why: That is barely off the wall, I do know, however I’ve lengthy thought that Paris-Roubaix is a race for him. Who is aware of, he may not even take the danger of racing it subsequent 12 months on the lead as much as Tokyo, however someday I consider he’ll do it. He’s gained the Espoirs Paris-Roubaix and has all of the traits you want for that race.
Girls’s Paris-Roubaix
Winner: Anna van der Breggen
Why: Primarily as a result of she’s Anna van der Breggen. There isn’t a lot she hasn’t gained, and this can be her solely alternative to win this one. Who higher to take the inaugural girls’s Paris-Roubaix than the World Champion?
Liège-Bastogne-Liège
Winner: Wout van Aert
Why: Who is aware of if he’ll even be there, but when he decides to proceed previous the cobbles and is in high kind, we’ve seen that he can stick to the perfect on the climbs, even mountains, and packs a punch within the dash on the finish.
Giro d’Italia
Winner: Richard Carapaz
Why: Was speculated to trip the Giro in 2020, ended up driving the Tour and Vuelta with various levels of success. With the correct preparation, I feel he’ll be the person to beat.
Giro Rosa
Winner: Annemiek van Vleuten
Why: Probably not going out on a limb with this one, nevertheless it’s laborious to see previous her in relation to the excessive mountains of Italy.
Tour de France
Winner: Tadej Pogačar
Why: How do you beat him? Unbelievable at climbing, unbelievable at time-trialling, a fantastic bike handler. You’d think about he can solely get higher, and if he does I don’t see anyone getting close to him, notably given what his coach has stated about his powers of restoration. He’s a phenomenon.
La Course
Winner: Lorena Wiebes
Why: The sprinter to beat lately within the girls’s peloton.
Vuelta a Espana
Winner: Enric Mas
Why: Actually, it’s so laborious to foretell the winner of the Vuelta this far out – no massive names say that the Vuelta is their massive objective of the season. Mas has been constant in 2020 and I don’t see him vying for the Tour win. But when the whole lot goes 100% to plan for him at his residence Grand Tour, he may do it.
World Championships Males’s Street Race
Winner: Wout van Aert
Why: It’s obtained to be, hasn’t it? In Flanders, Belgium, clearly the stress on him can be huge. If he wins it, I wish to be there for the social gathering.
World Championships Girls’s Street Race
Winner: Marianne Vos
Why: It’s been some time since Vos gained the rainbow jersey. Attempting to get a protected function within the girls’s Dutch workforce isn’t any imply feat, even for somebody of her normal, however the course ought to go well with her right down to the bottom, and I feel it will likely be her massive objective for the 12 months.
Il Lombardia
Winner: Remco Evenepoel
Why: Equally laborious to foretell because the Vuelta, particularly because the Worlds just isn’t suited to climbers subsequent 12 months, so lots of them can be consuming some quick meals and sinking a few beers by this level within the 12 months.
Nevertheless, Remco will certainly have continued via to the Worlds, maybe for each the TT and street race, and he’ll be filled with motivation to land what may be his first Monument win. Additionally, I’m positive he’d like to finish subsequent season by exorcising the demons from this one.
Our specialists
Click on a reputation to skip to their predicitions
Carlton Kirby, Commentator for Eurosport
Sean Kelly, Commentator and Classics legend
Greg LeMond, Three-time Tour de France winner
José Been, Dutch biking journalist and commentator
Anthony McCrossan, Biking commentator
Seb Piquet, The voice of the Tour de France on Radio Tour
Matt White, DS for Staff BikeExchange WorldTour workforce
Declan Quigley, Biking commentator and journalist
Ned Boulting, Presenter and commentator for ITV Sport
Dan Lloyd, GCN & Eurosport presenter