The battle on the Tourmalet. Tour 2010. Photo lightasmagic

Well it's almost the end of 2010 and its been an interesting year to say the least. The full fallout of 2010 has yet to be seen. We get the feeling that the whole Contador saga and its effects on the Spanish meat industry are going to roll on for a long time. However, the red carpet is out, the gold envelopes are sealed with winners names inside, Yes its the 2010 Corza Awards.

Our first award is 'Grand Tour' of 2010. To say there is an obviously limited selection would only take away from what has been a great year for the three week tours. This year's Giro was a super watch with an exciting finish. The Vuelta was one of the best for years, we even became a bit oblivious to the sandy landscape and lack of spectators. 

However for intrigue and sheer drama on and off the bike we've got to give the Corza prize for 'Best Grand Tour of 2010' to 'The Tour'.

Chaingate provided a fantastic environment for a Star Wars esque good vs evil showdown (we'll leave the decision of who is Darth and who is Luke to yourselves) that went all the way to the final mountain. The green jersey battle was again a competition that provided as much interest as the overall prize. It looked as though king Cav' was coming the end of his reign. Yeah right, a couple of off days in the first week maybe. Even when Mark Reshaw's Zidane on wheels headbut had seen him being sent home Cavendish still fought. The green jersey was ultimately Pettachi's, and it's the rider with the most points who' takes the prize after all.

The only fly in the ointment of this year's Tour was to appear not in July but two months later in September. Chances are it's still going to be with us next September. Come on UCI, the Landis debacle wasn't fun, lets not have another.