Paolo Bettini may have retained the world road champion's rainbow jersey at the weekend, but was this success enough to win the Italian the accolade of the best rider of 2007?
Maybe you would like to tell us as our sister magazine Procycling is asking cycling fans for their votes for the best rider of 2007. Thanks to Zyro, one lucky voter in the rider of the year competition will win a Ridley Noah frameset and fork worth £2400 and road tested by Predictor-Lotto's Robbie McEwen and Cadel Evans.
Bettini is sure to figure among the candidates for the title of 2007's best rider, but there are plenty of other candidates too...
Oscar Freire took the first major title of the year at Milan-San Remo and was in stage-winning form at the Vuelta. Alessandro Ballan broke into the top ranks with victory in the Tour of Flanders and scored again at the Vattenfall Cyclassics. Stuart O'Grady took his chance at Paris-Roubaix, while Tom Boonen missed at the Classics but dominated the sprints at the Tour and took the green jersey. Danilo Di Luca, Alberto Contador and Denis Menchov took the Giro, Tour and Vuelta titles, respectively, with the Italian also winning Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Just days before Bettini retained his world road title, Switzerland's Tour prologue winner Fabian Cancellara achieved that feat in the time trial. And don't forget the top women, notably World Cup winner Marianne Vos and runner-up Nicole Cooke.
Make your choice by emailing us at 2007bestrider@futurenet.co.uk with your best rider in the subject line and your contact details including postal address and telephone number in the main body of the message. The competition closes on October 28 and the announcement of the winner of the top-of-the-range Ridley Noah frameset will be announced right after that. You've got to be in it to win it, so get voting at...
