As the first part of this feature mentioned, it’s not just about crossing the line first. Winning is not everything. Who else starred in 2016?

Annemiek van Vleuten – it was an almost dream-like Rio Olympic road race until that horror crash which left many fearing the worst. Van Vleuten was out of hospital in days, training in less than a fortnight, and winning a month later.

There’s a lesson for everyone in how van Vleuten attacked the remainder of 2016: rather than sitting back feeling sorry for herself, she blitzed back to form and won the Lotto BelgiumTour, made fifth in the Worlds ITT, and took off for some MTB racing in Australia.

At 34, her career appears to be on the rise. The focus she seems to have gained since that shattering Rio disappointment mean more and better may be still to come.

Mara Abbott – it’s impossible to avoid thinking about the devastating near-miss in Rio. Just a few hundred meters between the greatest prize in women’s cycling and heartbreak.

Abbott had a year that most other professionals would be pretty happy with, taking two stages and the overall at the Tour of the Gila, and a stage in the Giro Rosa. But it was a year of near misses, too, with what could, or should, have been an overall win but for some poor descending off the Mortirolo.

Abbott is an intelligent, insightful person, and her retirement from racing means she’ll be missed on the climbs.

Anna van der Breggen – Olympic champion, European champion, World Cup race winner, picking up the mantle from Marianne Vos. Another star in the Boels-Dolmans firmament, which should make 2017 very intriguing.

Lizzie (Armitstead) Deignan – an almost all-conquering first five months of the season, and then the curious case of the missed dope tests, and a fearsome backlash in sections of the British press, leading into a frustrating fifth in Rio, and losing her world title to Boels-Dolmans team-mate Amelie Dideriksen. Lizzie won the Tour of Flanders among plenty other races, with a three World Cup wins from four starts stat across the early spring. And she got married in the autumn. So, she can probably care less what other people think about her right now.

Megan Guarnier – outstanding consistency, and plenty sparkling race wins, Guarnier was the winner of the inaugural Women’s World Tour.  Guarnier staked a claim to be the best women’s stage racer around, with the overall at the Giro Rosa; the overall, points and a stage in California; and second overall with a stage at Emakumeen Bira.

Chantal Blaak – another member of the Boels-Dolmans powerhouse, Blaak tends to get overshadowed by the success of Guarnier and Deignan. Her dominating wins from differing scenarios included majestic performances at Le Samyn des Dames, Gent-Wevelgem and Ronde van Drenthe, and the overall at her team’s title sponsors’ Ladies Tour in September. 2017 should be fascinating – with Stevens retired, Van Dijk moving on, van der Breggen moving in and Dideriksen coming up … where does a rider as talented as Blaak fit into the Boels-Dolmans jigsaw?

Leah Kirchmann – The young Canadian took a big step forward, delivering results on her move to Liv-Plantur. Second overall in the inaugural Women’s World Tour revealed a depth across the season that comes with experience, and also suggests real versatility. A winner in the semi-Classic Drentse Achd van Westerland, and taking the prologue at the Giro before finishing eighth overall indicate one-day racing smarts and week-log toughness.