Personal hopes for 2011 cycling season:

And so another year is ending. Many things have changed over the last 12 months, although one thing remains the same. In fact, for the third year in a row, I find myself writing a 'personal hopes for next cycling season' post in the last days of the year. Unfortunately for you, this has become a traditional way to end the year for me- and I'm not sure you appreciate it very much...
My first 'new year's hopes' post appeared on this blog in 2008 and it was probably one of the most fangirlistic things I've ever written. For example, in it I wished that Andy Schleck became my boyfriend (*blushes red and tries to hide her head in the sand without succeeding*).How embarassing. Luckily last year post was much more serious and I can proudly announce that few of my hopes came true. For example, Chris Sorensen won a Giro stage.

Anyway, talking about the 2009 post, here I've got something that may amuse you. In that post, in fact, me wrote: 'I hope that some riders who doped in 2007 won't be able to get any good results in 2010'. Now, that was a not so hidden reference to 2 people: Riccò and Vinokourov. Yes, Vinokourov. In fact I have to admit that 12 months ago I couldn't stand him at all. He sounded too arrogant to me and I didn't think cycling needed a guy like him to come back racing. And instead, 12 months after writing that post, me has become a member of the AAVL (Anonymous Association of Vino's Lovers) and the Kazakh is one of my favourite riders. Funny to think about how things can change in 12 months time, isn't it?

However, let's finally start with my 2011 cyclistic hopes. First of all, just like last year, I hope that new year will have less doping cases than 2010.

Please boys, stop taking the mickey out of us supporters. It isn't fun. And then, when they discover you, you break into tears and feel like a s*** because no one trusts you anymore. Please, stop it. And, in case you're found positive at the anti-doping, don't invent strange stories involving you, Spanish steaks, your team's doctor, your dog's tail or whatever else. We're not stupid. Not that much, at least.
Another hope for the 2011 year is going to watch some live races, just like I've done over the last 2 years. Now that I have that cursed driving license, me has a very ambitious plan for next year. And that is: 1. watching the Sondrio, the San Pellegrino, the Bergamo and the Milan's stages of the Giro. 2. watching the Pinerolo stage of the Tour.
Unfortunately, it's going to be hard to achieve these goals. I live near San Pellegrino so, if I use the good old 'The Giro is riding through my village!' excuse (I did it in a very successful way in 2007), I should be able to skip school that day. In that case I could also go to Sondrio's stage, which is on the previous day. But to do so, I need someone to lend me their car. Will someone be that brave? I don't think so. Then, as far as Bergamo stage is concerned, it is likely to start from Bergamo at about midday. At that time of the day, however, me should be at school. Of course I could invent some random excuse for my teachers, but if I break the infamous '20 days of absence' limit, then I could have some troubles. Stupid school that doesn't allow me to watch the Giro' start in my town.
As far as the Tour is concerned, then, in July I'll have my bloody final exam. And, considering my luck, my final exam is very likely to be on the day of Pinerolo's stage. What an anger.

Anyway, on to my other hopes, let's start talking about my favourite riders. First of all, I hope team Lux won't be named Team Leopard and I hope that their kit won't be horrible. Then, I'd like the Schlecks to race well in the Ardenne's classics and I'd like Andy to win the Tour (and Lombardy); Frank instead could win the Vuelta (after arriving second at the Tour, of course). Hey, but wait a minute! Fuglsang was the one that should have won Vuelta! I wrote that in a comment and I can't change my mind now! Uhm, let me think about this problem for a while (*thinks, thinks, thinks*). Okay, I've got the solution ladies! Frank wins the Vuelta, Jakob (who is younger than Frank and has plenty of time to win a GT) arrives on the podium, wins Tour of Denmark and wins a Vuelta stage. Oh, and Frank will also win Liége next year and will dedicate the victory to Leea. Ok?
Talking about Chris Sorensen (who's not going to ride the Giro), I think it'd be good for him to win a Classic. What about Fleche Wallonne? Oh, and he could also win a Tour de France stage and Giro dell'Emilia (although, to achieve this latter goal, he needs to get over his Emilia curse).
On to other riders, I hope Pinotti will arrive on the TT Worlds' podium. Moreover, I hope that Breschel will win the Worlds in Copenhagen and an important North Classic (what about Flanders?). I also hope that some of my less known favourite riders (Jorgensen, Vanmarcke, Niemiec, not to mention Leukemans and Hoogerland) will do well in some important races.

In addition I'd also love to see Jens Voigt winning an important GT stage (what about coming to the Giro, Jens?) and I'd also love to see some young riders getting good results (yes, I'm talking about Stefan Denifl too).
As far as the Giro is concerned, I hope it will be won by Nibali. I like him and it'd be nice to see him winning the Corsa Rosa in front of, say, Riccò. On the other hand, I'd hate it if Riccò won.
I also hope that Geox will be invited to Grand Tours and that Menchov will reach the Tour podium again. And I'd also like Oss and Modolo to get some important results this year. I'd also appreciate it a lot if Szmyd managed to win Dauphine Libére.

So, these are my hopes for 2011. However, the most important thing for me is to be able to follow a great, exciting and 'clean' cycling season. Hopefully the riders will give us a great year and they'll also make some of our 'cyclistic personal hopes' come true.

Anyway, here we are at the end of 2010. Considering that I won't write anything new tomorrow, I take this chance to wish you all a happy new year- may 2011 bring you happiness, health, love and whatever else! And do feel free to tell me what your cyclistic hopes for 2011 are!