SPotY 2021

[ursus arctos]

I would think that a very large majority of the SPOTY voting public would be clueless about track cycling, with the usual Olympic bump being depressed by the unusual timing of the Tokyo Games and the time difference.

Here's a list of Archibald's principal accomplishments for the year

2021Olympic Games1st Madison (with Laura Kenny)2nd Team pursuit
UEC European Track Championships1st Omnium1st Madison (with Neah Evans)1st Scratch
UCI Track World Championships1st Omnium,3rd Team pursuit,3rd Madison (with Neah Evans)
2021 UCI Track Champions League1st Women's Endurance

[Janik]

Oh christ, her! I watched her winning one of those titles - the Omnium at the Euros, I think. She was incredibly dominant. Which makes forgetting her name even more of a facepalm. But I definitely had.

It also took some memory dredging to come up with why people were putting Cavendish forward this year. But then I remember he won a stage at the Tour and that broke the all-time record... or something like that, right

Ray is correct - I'm just not that fussed by cycling. I'll watch it... and then forget it just as easily.

See also I know who Sarah Storey is, and assume she won something (probably plural) at the Paralympics hence her nomination, but I sure as hell haven't registered what. And like Cavendish wouldn't have been even considered for my mental short-list. Not that I ever bother making one of those.

[Janik]

Who was the golden BMX woman, then? She seemed worthy of some sort of nod of recognition. That was great, and so was she.

[ursus arctos]

Bethany Shriever

[San Bernardhinault]

The BMX was such a quick event, I don’t think it would register much with the voters.

Cavendish, though…

Won 4 stages at the Tour de France.
Won the green jersey at the TdF
Is now equal with the utterly legendary Eddy Merckx for the most stage wins ever in the Tour

It’s baffling that he’s not nominated, although I wouldn’t expect him to win.

[Billy Casper]

Just to add to the credentials of Cav, he looked absolutely finished before the start of the year. Only one World Tour team offered him a contract. He hadn't won any road race for two years and hadn't ridden the Tour for the same time span. This was a comeback no one could predict.
He doesn't knit jumpers, but has more 'personality' (not all good obviously) than most too,

[Ray de Galles]

Maybe as a previous winner he didn't fit some tacit remit this year, given that all of those on the short list would be a new name on the trophy.

[ursus arctos]

That, plus the IOM not being constituency that they feel a need to tick off every year.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

I think I mention every time this comes round that it almost feels more fitting if this were a 'once won, not nominated again' type of thing, bit like a Hall of Fame (urgh) idea. Previous winners can still have their applause on the night, but let's have a new name each year. Don't Wisden do that with their 'Cricketers of the Year'?

[ursus arctos]

Wisden do have that rule, but there are multiple F1 drivers who have won twice (while Murray has three)

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Widen do have that rule, but there are multiple F1 drivers who have won twice (while Murray has three)

Yes, it's precisely that fact that makes it such a good idea

[tee rex]

The New Zealand equivalent of SPOTY includes a team category, and there's one very notable omission (rhymes with Hall Blacks):

Black Caps (cricket), Black Ferns Sevens (rugby sevens), Emirates Team New Zealand (sailing), Marcus Daniell and Michael Venus (tennis), Men’s Madison (track cycling), Men’s team pursuit (cycling), New Zealand golf croquet team, New Zealand Long Blacks (long drive), OlyWhites (football), Peter Burling and Blair Tuke (sailing), rowing men’s eight, Silver Ferns (netball), women’s K2 500 - Lisa Carrington and Caitlin Regal (canoe racing), women’s pair Kerri Gowler and Grace Prendergast (rowing).

The ABs may have been overlooked in previous years, but I can't recall them missing out to "golf croquet", whatever that is. Ouch.

[The Red Max]

Cavendish, though…

Won 4 stages at the Tour de France.
Won the green jersey at the TdF
Is now equal with the utterly legendary Eddy Merckx for the most stage wins ever in the Tour

It’s baffling that he’s not nominated, although I wouldn’t expect him to win.

As a cycling (and Cav) fan, I'd be the first to concede that he owes much of his success over the course of his career to his teammates, (for example, the lead out for his 33rd TdF stage win was a masterclass - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rh7Q...tepCyclingTeam from 14:35) but he's one of the all-time greats of the sport, and the comeback after his battle with Epstein-Barr virus in 2018 looked to have finished his career, to equal Eddy Merckx stage win record and take the o/a Green jersey at this years TdF was phenomenal.
To not even make the list of nominees is ridiculous.

[Antepli Ejderha]

Another thing with Cavendish is that he was on a minimum salary with his team and had to find his own private sponsorship to participate. Yes, he was on a team but not in the way we'd know it.

[Duncan Gardner]

Rachel Furness wins the NI award, presented by Klopp at Liverpool's training ground

[Discordant Resonance]

Gavin Bazunu wins the Young Irish SPotY, main award to be presented before midnight.

[Discordant Resonance]

Deservedly, Rachael Blackmore wins the main gong.

[Gangster Octopus]

Inevitable. Not sure that's it's correct...

[diggedy derek]

It's hard to find much rhyme or reason in SPOTY, but, if we'd have been told a year ago that a teenager would come out of almost nowhere and win a tennis Grand Slam just like that, it would have seemed absurd

[Billy Casper]

No complaints from me.

[Ray de Galles]

Yeah, Raducanu was always the predictable and deserved winner.

Annoyed that there wasn't even a passing mention of GB's
first Speedway World Championship win since 1973. Especially as they've previously acknowledged Tai Woffinden's individual titles and even had him appear at SPOTY in the past.