With the 2015 pro cycling season on the immediate horizon, 2014 can be easily summarised, quantified and analysed.
Spain's Alberto Contador – who rebounded with the Vuelta a España win and earned the prestigious Velo d'Or trophy from France's Velo magazine – leads the way, but there were others with stats and achievements.
Cycling Weekly casts an eye over the year's numbers...
6 - Italian Vincenzo Nibali (Astana), with the 2014 Tour de France title, became only the sixth cyclist in history to win all three Grand Tours.
16 - André Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) won the most times throughout the season. The German topped Frenchman Arnaud Démare (FDJ.fr) with 15 and Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) with 14 wins.
3 – Record number of Tour of Flanders wins. Fabian Cancellara (Trek) won his third Ronde title in April and helped form part of an exclusive six-man group with Fiorenzo Magni and Johan Museeuw. Belgian Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma) is the only other active rider in the group.
1 – The closing rank for Spain's Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) in the 2014 UCI WorldTour and statistic websites like Pro Cycling Stats. The 34-year-old finished fourth in the Tour de France and third in the Vuelta a España, and won races like the Ruta del Sol stage race, La Flèche Wallonne and the Clasica San Sebastián.
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Alejandro Valverde wins the 2014 Clasica San Sebastian
63 - The most wins by one team, Omega Pharma, in 2014. They range from Mark Cavendish's early season stage wins in Algarve and Tirreno-Adriatico to Michal Kwiatkowski's world title in Ponferrada, Spain. Next best: Team Giant-Shimano won 41 and Orica 35 times. Sky took 26 victories.
11 - Giant-Shimano won the most Grand Tour stages, which largely came thanks to Marcel Kittel's sprint.
6 - Germany's Marcel Kittel led home the Grand Tour sprints, taking two in the Giro d'Italia and four in the Tour de France. Frenchman Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ) followed behind with five, three from the Giro and two from the Vuelta.
2 - Cyclists who finished in the top ten of the three Grand Tours. Valverde placed fourth in the Tour and third in the Vuelta. Italian Fabio Aru (Astana) stepped on the podium in the Giro for third place and rode to fifth in the Vuelta.
103 - Tom Veelers (Giant-Shimano) raced the most days in 2014
16,675 - Dutchman Veelers covered the most kilometres, as well.
1 - Australian Adam Hansen (Lotto-Belisol) was the only cyclist to ride all three Grand Tours. He set a record, as well, becoming the first cyclist to finish 10 consecutive Grand Tours. His ride began with the 2011 Vuelta.
1 – Number of Colombians to win the Giro. Nairo Quintana (Movistar) became the first to do so on June 1.
Gregor Brown is an experienced cycling journalist, based in Florence, Italy. He has covered races all over the world for over a decade - following the Giro, Tour de France, and every major race since 2006. His love of cycling began with freestyle and BMX, before the 1998 Tour de France led him to a deep appreciation of the road racing season.
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