BikeNZ Announce Rider of the Year Awards

Pro Tour cyclist Julian Dean received a boost ahead of the weekend’s national championships when he was named Male Road Rider of the Year at the RaboDirect BikeNZ Road and Track Awards in Christchurch tonight.

Dean was one of five riders to be honoured by BikeNZ at a special function in Christchurch tonight ahead of the national championships.

BikeNZ is the umbrella body embracing all national bike and cycling organisations including Road and Track, BMX, Mountain Bike and Schools.

The awards also went to Commonwealth Games medallists with Jesse Sergent voted male track rider of the year, Alison Shanks female track rider of the year, Sam Webster best emerging talent and Linda Villumsen female road rider.

“We felt it important to honour our riders who achieve great things in our sport. While we treasure the efforts and performances of all of our riders, as a very young organisation we felt it was now an appropriate time to increase the awareness of these awards,” said BikeNZ CEO, Kieran Turner.

“For a sport our road and track cyclists bat above their weight on the world scene. This year we have a record five riders on the Pro Tour in the men and four in the women. And on the track we have established ourselves as a world class group of riders, coaches and support staff.

“And while we have big plans going forward and it is great to celebrate success at the sharp end of our sport tonight, we are also committed to promote cycling as a fun and healthy form of sport and recreation for the whole family and a great way to get around town.”

Dean enjoyed his most successful year on the Pro Tour in 2010, again competing in all three Grand Tours for his Garmin Transitions team – the Giro D’italia, Tour de France and Vuelta a Espana. He had three podiums in the Tour de France – second in stages four and 18 and third in stage 20 – and two podiums on the Giro – second on stage 18 and third on stage 10 – to complete an outstanding year.

Villumsen has celebrated her first full year in New Zealand colours in style. The former Danish rider, who has been based in New Zealand for several years, switched allegiances to this country in 2010. The HTC Colombia pro rider became the first New Zealander to win a medal at the world road championships, winning a bronze in the time trial in Melbourne. She followed that with a silver medal in the same event at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

Shanks enjoyed an outstanding year that culminated with her gold medal in the individual pursuit at Delhi, which has earned her selection as a finalist in the Halberg Sports Awards for the third straight year. She also won gold in the same event at the Cali World Cup and was a member of the team pursuit that won bronze at the world championships, setting a world record in the process.

Sergent (Feilding) had a year with a silver lining – picking up silver medals in the individual pursuit at the world championships in Copenhagen, and the Commonwealth Games along with a silver in Delhi in the team pursuit and bronze as anchor of the team pursuit at the worlds.

Webster (Auckland) enjoyed a remarkable first year out of the junior ranks, making the finals of the keirin at the world championships, as well as qualifying in the sprints and finishing fifth as a member of the team sprint. He won a bronze medal in the sprint in Delhi and silver in the team sprint.