Tom Dumoulin named Dutch Cyclist of the Year

There have been numerous foregone conclusions in awards ceremonies over the years: Titanic winning an Oscar in 1998, Wiggo winning Sports Personality of the Year in 2012 and Barack Obama winning Time Magazine's Person of the Year award in 2008, to name but three

The 2015 Dutch cycling awards saw such a result last night as Tom Dumoulin ran away with the Gerrit Schulte Trophy, awarded to the best cyclist of the year, after a standout season.

The Giant-Alpecin rider stole the show at the Vuelta a España in September, taking eventual winner Fabio Aru to the wire with a series of gutsy performances and a great time trial win on stage 17.

Having also come fourth overall at the Tour Down Under and third at the mountainous Tour de Suisse, the Vuelta capped a season of surprises from the 25-year-old, who crashed out of the Tour de France with a broken collarbone on stage three.

Dumoulin trumped the likes of road stars Niki Terpstra and Steven Kruijswijk, three time European track champion Jeffrey Hoogland and cyclo-cross world champion Mathieu van der Poel.

The women's award was taken by Anna van der Breggen, marking the first time in nine years that Marianne Vos hasn't worn the crown. Van der Breggen, who rides for Vos's Rabo-Liv team, totalled 12 wins in 2015, including the Giro d'Italia and La Course by Le Tour de France