Best Breakthrough Rider

Jerry Grundin 12
Santiago Campelo 11
Laurend Bourgois 10
Keegan Shuba 7
Silvano Fayad 6
-----------------------
Folkert Gerrits 5
Joshua Dabney 5
Otávio Velasques 4
Morton Whiddon 4
Knud Øgendahl 2

Laurend Bourgois YES
Jerry Grundin YES
Keegan Shuba YES
Otávio Velasques MAYBE
Folkert Gerrits YES
Knud Øgendahl NO
Joshua Dabney NO
Santiago Campelo MAYBE
Silvano Fayad MAYBE
Morton Whiddon MAYBE

Laurend Bourgois YES
Jerry Grundin YES
Keegan Shuba YES
Otávio Velasques NO
Folkert Gerrits NO
Knud Øgendahl NO
Joshua Dabney MAYBE
Santiago Campelo YES
Silvano Fayad NO
Morton Whiddon MAYBE

Laurend Bourgois YES
Jerry Grundin YES
Keegan Shuba MAYBE
Otávio Velasques YES
Folkert Gerrits NO
Knud Øgendahl NO
Joshua Dabney YES
Santiago Campelo YES
Silvano Fayad MAYBE
Morton Whiddon MAYBE

Laurend Bourgois - MAYBE
Jerry Grundin - YES
Keegan Shuba - MAYBE
Otávio Velasques - NO
Folkert Gerrits - MAYBE
Knud Øgendahl - YES
Joshua Dabney - YES
Santiago Campelo - YES
Silvano Fayad - NO
Morton Whiddon - NO

Laurend Bourgois - MAYBE
Jerry Grundin - YES
Keegan Shuba - NO
Otávio Velasques - NO
Folkert Gerrits - MAYBE
Knud Øgendahl - NO
Joshua Dabney - NO
Santiago Campelo - YES
Silvano Fayad - YES
Morton Whiddon - NO

Laurend Bourgois - YES
Jerry Grundin - YES
Keegan Shuba - MAYBE
Otávio Velasques - MAYBE
Folkert Gerrits - MAYBE
Knud Øgendahl - NO
Joshua Dabney - NO
Santiago Campelo - YES
Silvano Fayad - YES
Morton Whiddon - MAYBE

Laurend Bourgois
Jerry Grundin
Keegan Shuba
Otávio Velasques
Folkert Gerrits
Knud Øgendahl
Joshua Dabney
Santiago Campelo
Silvano Fayad
Morton Whiddon

It feels wrong to not include 23 year old Andre Škerjanc in the list. Last season 679th, this season 43rd, winning Zürich-Bern-Zürich. The only reason he can't be nominated is his 9th place in Critérium La Provence last season, his one and only result then.

Less obvious/urgent, same goes for Fabiam Ørum: from 573th to 14th and winning Critérium La Provence. His only result last season was a sixth place in Z-B-Z. He is already 27 however, so it might be considered a doping season , but still.

Both of these guys scream 'breakthrough' a lot more than some other 9th and 10th candidates, who will almost definitely not make the final five (like Mitja Škerjanc, 119th->24th, didn't get a single win but fits the profile). I'm more than willing to just follow the rules for now, but let's at least put cases like this on the agenda .

Oh I'm far from done, he sure makes a great candidate .

Santiago Campelo? Gradient Levellers

Name: Laurend Bourgois
Team: WestPomeranian
OCM Tour Rank: 2nd (last season: 595th)
OCM Tour Points: 1650
10 wins, incl. 1 in Div 1
4 other results, incl. 5th in Critérium La Provence (all in Div1)

Name: Jerry Grundin
Team: Team Celeste
OCM Tour Rank: 4th (last season: 352nd)
OCM Tour Points: 1490
3 wins, all in Div 1
6 other results, incl 2nd in Vuelta de los Castillos Youth Classification, 3rd in Zürich-Bern-Zürich and 4th in Critérium La Provence (all in Div1)

Name: Keegan Shuba
Team: Vientiane Cycling
OCM Tour Rank: 13th (last season: 1749th)
OCM Tour Points: 1153
5 wins, incl. 2 in Div3, the rest in lower division
8 other results, incl. 6th in Kangaroo Tour GC (Div3)

Name: Otávio Velasques
Team: WalrusPT
OCM Tour Rank: 16th (last season: 1209th)
OCM Tour Points: 1090
5 wins, incl. Bergen Rundtur (all in Div1)
1 other result, in Div1

Name: Folkert Gerrits
Team: V02maXXers
OCM Tour Rank: 28th (last season 976th)
OCM Tour Points: 929
6 wins, incl. Lappi Sea GP (Div2), Rotterdam Classic (Div3) and Perm Tour Sprinting Classification (Div3)
7 other results, incl. 7th in Grasse-Toulon (Div 2) and 2nd in Norway Tour Sprinting Classification (Div3)

Name: Knud Øgendahl
Team: Team WonderDee
OCM Tour Rank: 29th (last season: 785th)
OCM Tour Points: 903
2 wins, incl. 2 stage wins in Volta ao Porto (Div2)
6 other results, incl. 2nd in Mito-Tokyo (Div2), 3rd in Volta ao Porto Sprint Classification (Div2) and 9th in Kangaroo Tour (Div3)

Name: Joshua Dabney
Team: Red Star
OCM Tour Rank: 32nd (last season: 4365th)
OCM Tour Points: 890
3 wins, all in Div1, plus a win for the national team
3 other results, incl. 2nd in Essex Tour (Div1) Youth Classification and 7th in Essex Tour (Div1) General Classification

Name: Santiago Campelo
Team: Gradient Levellers
OCM Tour Rank: 54th (last season: none)
OCC Tour Points: 786
7 wins, in div 2.1/3/4/5, incl. Giro di Sicilia (Div4) General Classification and Youth Classification
4 other results, in div 4/5/7

Name: Silvano Fayad
Team: EricV/YellowFellows
OCM Tour Rank: 55th (last season: 1476th)
OCM Tour Points: 784
7 wins, in div 3/4/5/9/10, incl. Baltimore Invitational (Div4)
8 other results, incl. 2nd in Giro di Sicilia (Div4) General Classification and 2nd in Youth Classification, and 7th in Classico di Siracusa (Div5)

Name: Morton Whiddon
Team: Team GER
OCM Tour Rank: 59th (last season: 1771st)
OCM Tour Points: 750
4 wins, incl. Roubaix Classic (Div1)
1 other result, in Div2

Rules:

Rider was never in the top 100 of the rider classification.
The rider never scored a top 9 in GC in the division 1, 1.1 & 2 Tours
The rider never scored a top 9 in a division 1 Classics
The rider never scored a podium in GC in a division 3 tour
The rider never scored a podium in a division 2 or 3 + Vejle Kobenhavn Classic
The rider never won a SC competition in a a division 2 or 3 Tour
The rider never got a top 3 in a SC competition in a division 1 Tour
YC is excluded a it is seen as a promise more than a breaktrough.