Stybar, Dumoulin and Van Avermaet among national award winners

It’s awards season in the cycling industry, with Alberto Contador picking up the Velo d’Or trophy and various countries naming their ‘cyclist of the year’. Here are some of the recent winners, kicking off with Czech rider Zdenek Stybar.

Czech Republic

Zdenek Stybar picked up the Czech cyclist of the year award on Thursday, and beat off some pretty stiff competition.

While CW don’t know the intricacies of the decision process, new Team Sky rider Leopold Konig pushed the Omega Pharma QuickStep rider to the wire after finishing seventh in the Tour de France.

Stybar won several stages of the Eneco Tour, but then crashed out of the race as he sprinted for another win.

Australia

Simon Gerrans picked up the Aussie title at the award ceremony on November 21, when he was also named in the Australian Tour de France ‘Team of the Century’.

Gerrans became the first Australian to win Liege-Bastogne-Liege in April but a crash in the Tour de France dented his hopes of stage victories.

But he bounced back to win the GP Cycliste de Quebec and GP Cycliste de Montral races in Canada and then took silver at the World Championships.

France

Jean-Christophe Peraud picked up the Velo d'Or Francais at the same ceremony as Alberto Contador after his antics in the Tour de France, where he finished second.

Peraud won the Criterium International in the spring, finished third in the Tour of the Basque Country and fourth in Tirreno-Adriatico .

Netherlands

Tom Dumoulin’s stellar year was recognised by the Dutch judges, who were suitably impressed with his bronze medal at the World Championships Time Trial.

The Giant Shimano rider took the Dutch time trial jersey as well this season, securing wins against the clock in the Tour of Alberta, Eneco Tour and Criterium International.

Belgium

Greg van Avermaet pipped Philippe Gilbert to the Belgian crystal bike award in what has been a relatively disappointing season for cycling in the country.

The BMC rider’s highlights were second-place finishes at the Tour of Flanders and Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, as well as a win at GP de Wallonie.

Honorable Mention: Rui Costa

Rui Costa went one further than ‘cyclist of the year’ by being named Portugal’s sportsman of the year for the third straight year.

The 2013 world champion won the Tour de Suisse this year for the third consecutive year and was the fourth-ranked cyclist in the UCI rankings.

In a heartwarming shortlist, neither Cristiano Ronaldo, nor any other footballer made the 32-man list.

Cycling was the winner after all.

Alberto Contador receives fourth Velo d'Or award

Credit: Gregor Brown

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