Top 50 races of 2021 season - Part I (50-41)

This is the first part of the weekly series which will rank my top 50 stages of 2021 - there might be some stages that were missed out, there were so many amazing races in 2021 that it was really hard to choose the best ones, but here we go!

50. Giro d'Italia - Stage 6. Winner: Gino Mäder

Let's start with a very subjective one. Stage 6 of the Giro was a really exciting one for all the Hungarian cycling fans as there was a valid chance of taking the Maglia Rosa for FDJ's Hungarian youngster, Attila Valter. The stage was won by a breakaway and it was the first successful break of Mäder which marked the beginning of a wonderful season for the young Swiss. In the main group, Evenepoel and Bernal tried to go for bonus seconds, but to everyone's surprise, Valter fought well enough to take the GC lead and wear Maglia Rosa for 3 days. 👚

49. UAE Tour - Stage 5. Winner: Jonas Vingegaard

Stage 5 of UAE Tour was a MTF to Jebel Jais and for the most of the stage, Alexei Lutsenko produced a masterclass, he went into the break, and dropped everyone as it is written on the textbook. However, main bunch, which was fairly big at that point, got close enough and in the last km, Vingegaard attacked and 260m before the end, overtook Lutsenko with a mega attack. The Young Dane won his first ever pro stage and had the season of his life, while Lutsenko... he finished 11th after emptying his tank.

48. Dauphine - Stage 1. Winner: Brent van Moer

The first appearance of Thomas de Gendt's secret son. Apart from the jokes, not a lot of people have heard about Brent van Moer before this stage but the way he handled his advantage and the breakaway was nothing short of spectacular. He was riding as if he would be a 34-year-old veteran who has been riding 10+ years in World Tour level. He has a bright future ahead of him, so we should keep an eye on van Moer.

47. Tour de Suisse - Stage 7. Winner: Rigoberto Uran

The only time trial in the list, but it has a reason behind it. The route went on a scenic landscape and the it was the only TT, which had a demanding climb and a demanding downhill as well. Uran's performance might have been a surprise for some, but his TT skills has always been decent and he went onto a career-best downhill section in this stage, supersonic performance from the veteran Colombian!

46. Tour de Wallonie - Stage 3. Winner: Quinn Simmons.

Quinn Simmons's first pro win was absolutely lit, a great attack on a hard lap around Wallonie took him into GC lead and eventually, a GC win. Simmons still has time and he can become an absolute monstrous rider in the next years.

45. Tour de L'Ain - Stage 3. Winner: Michael Storer.

Storer had some brutal wins this season, I could have included both wins from Vuelta which gave him the KOM jersey, but in the list, we find his first grand win, at L'Ain, which was concluded by a mega, 24 km attack. Storer will race in FDJ from next season, I am curious how he will fare in a new environment.

44. Fleche Wallonne. Winner: Julian Alaphilippe

Fleche has always been one of the best races in last years, and although this year it was flatter than usual, we still got the nailbiting finish between Roglič and Alaphilippe. The final Mur de Huy was absolutely cool as always and seeing Alaphilippe winning in rainbow jersey was really great, but I hope it won't be a two-horse race next year.

43. Vuelta - Stage 6. Winner: Magnus Cort Nielsen.

We lived in Magnus Cort's dreamland in August and September, the first act was stage 6, where he somehow held Roglič in a 10% kicker at the end of stage - this was one of the most spectacular acts in Grand Tours this season. The Danish Dynamite went onto winning 3 stages at Vuelta, for me, he was the MVP of the Spanish Grand Tour.

42. Belgium Tour - Stage 1. Winner: Robbe Ghys.

We all love fairytale stories where the unknown rider from small teams take the win ahead of superstars, and Robbe Ghys did it in Maarkedal, Belgium. Sport Vlaanderen's 24-year-old rider survived the breakaway of the day, survived Remco Evenepoel's attack for the stage win and in the end, outsprinted him in a great fashion. This is a victory he will remember for the rest of his life, and he can show it to his grandchildren in 2060 😀

41. Tour of Britain - Stage 4. Winner: Wout van Aert.

It was an absolutely great idea from the organizers to bring a stage to Llandudno, as we could see a spectacular battle between van Aert and Alaphilippe on the final climb. I can still remember the scenes after the finish that they both collapsed, it was a very demanding climb. Van Aert has won the stage but overall, the winner of the stage was UK and Wales as we saw they can design great roads as well.

Next week: 40-31 coming, with races full of excitement.