Chris Froome named International Flandrien of the Year as Peter Sagan misses out

Chris Froome has beaten Peter Sagan to the award for International Flandrien of the Year at an awards ceremony in Belgium, as Greg Van Avermaet picked up the domestic award.

The annual awards, which are organised by Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad, celebrate the best Belgian and international riders of the cycling season.

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After winning both the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España, Chris Froome was handed the international award, deposing Peter Sagan who has taken the title for the past two years.

This is the second time that Froome has picked up the award, having first won it after the first of his Tour de France triumphs in 2013, and means that British riders have now taken half titles since the international award was started in 2008, with Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish both being former winners.

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In the domestic category, Greg Van Avermaet was named Flandrien of the Year for the fifth season in succession, with the expert jury recognising the BMC Racing rider's stellar Classics campaign that saw him win Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, E3 Harelbeke, and Ghent-Wevelgem, before finish his spring with victory in Paris-Roubaix.

Flandrienne of the Year, awarded to the best Belgian female rider, went to cyclocross star Sanne Cant, who recently added the European title to the National and World Championships that she won at the start of 2017.

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A new award, the Kilometervreter (which roughly translates as road hog), was given to Quick-Step Floors domestique Julian Vermote, who racked up countless kilometres on the front of races, working for his team often before the TV coverage got up and running.

Finally Mathieu van der Poel won the Flandrien of the Field award for the best cyclocross rider, with the Dutchman having enjoyed multiple victories at the tail-end of the 2016-2017 season, and the start of the 2017-2018 season in the last couple of months.