Chris Horner drops Vincenzo Nibali on the Alto de l'Angliru(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Chris Horner attacks on the Angliru at the Vuelta a Espana(Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)
Lance Armstrong speaks with Oprah Winfrey in his first interview since he was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned for life following the USADA investigation into doping by Armstrong and his US Postal Service team.(Image credit: AFP Photo /Harpo Studios, Inc/George Burns)
Lance Armstrong is said to confess to doping in the interview with Oprah Winfrey(Image credit: AFP Photo)
Chris Froome (Sky) makes history, winning atop Mont Ventoux and extending his overall lead(Image credit: AFP Photo)
UCI president Brian Cookson(Image credit: briancookson.org)
The Milan-San Remo peloton in the snow(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Dan Martin wins Liege Bastogne Liege(Image credit: AFP)
An exhausted Fabian Cancellara on the ground in the Roubaix velodrome(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Cyclingnews readers have voted Chris Horner’s Vuelta a Espana victory as the biggest moment of the 2013 season. The American, who became the oldest Grand Tour victor in history when he crossed the finish line in Madrid about a month shy of his 42nd birthday, beat Chris Froome’s ride to Mont Ventoux at the Tour and Lance Armstrong's interview with Oprah Winfrey into second and third place, respectfully.
Horner, who is still without a contract for 2014, went into the Vuelta as an outsider for the win. Having had injury problems in the first half the season he was forced to skip the Tour de France. However, he began to find form with a stage and second overall at the Tour of Utah.
Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) was expected to lead the Vuelta peloton home but despite leading the race he was unable to shake Horner and in the final mountain stage the 41-year-old American, who had never made the top five of a Grand Tour previously, distanced the Giro winner on the slopes of the Alto de l'Anglirú on the penultimate stage.
His Vuelta win was enough to provide Horner with 5,161 votes. Froome’s stage win at Mont Ventoux came in a distant second with 3,079 votes. The British rider was already in the maillot jaune at this point in the race but his demolition of Albert Contador and all his other rivals on the hallowed slopes of one of cycling’s iconic climbs helped to cement his position all the way to Paris.
Lance Armstrong’s interview on Oprah was certainly one of the most talked about events in the early half of the year and picked up 2,951 votes. It was the first full length interview Armstrong had given since USADA handed down their life-time ban and Reasoned Decision and saw the disgraced former rider admit to taking performance enhancing drugs in order to win seven Tour titles.
Brian Cookson winning the UCI presidential election in September finished forth in the poll. The former head of British Cycling beat incumbent Pat McQuaid from Ireland in an often bitter battle for the UCI presidency.
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2013 Biggest moment voting:
1
Chris Horner becoming the oldest Grand Tour winner of all time
5,161
2
Chris Froome winning on Mont Ventoux
3,079
3
Lance Armstrong's interview with Oprah Winfrey
2,951
4
Brian Cookson becoming the UCI President
2,447
5
Tony Martin’s epic solo break in stage 6 of the Vuelta a España
2,318
6
Fabian Cancellara out-sprinting Sep Vanmarcke in the Roubaix velodrome
2,032
7
Saxo-Tinkoff splitting the Tour de France peloton on stage 13 to Saint-Amand-Montrond
1,752
8
Dan Martin out-sprints Joaquim Rodriguez (and a panda) to win Liege-Bastogne-Liege
1,649
9
A weather-hit Milan-San Remo
1,103
10
The moment when Alejandro Valverde didn’t chase Rui Costa in the finale of the elite men's road Worlds
1,011
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