New Zealand cyclist Jesse Sergent with his silver medal during the medal ceremony after the 2010 Commonwealth Games Men's Individual Pursuit final in Delhi, India. Photo / Brett Phibbs
New Zealand cyclist Jesse Sergent with his silver medal during the medal ceremony after the 2010 Commonwealth Games Men's Individual Pursuit final in Delhi, India. Photo / Brett Phibbs
The development of track cyclist Jesse Sergent into a world class road rider was honoured at the BikeNZ road and track cyclist of the year awards in Christchurch tonight.
The 23-year-old, a silver medallist at the world track championships, won male road rider of the year after enjoying a remarkablemaiden season for the high profile Radioshack team.
While the team's supremo Johan Bruyneel did not over-burden the Feilding rider in his first year, Sergent showed his potential with prologue victories at the Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen, the Eneco Tour and Tour du Poitiou Charentes. He went on to claim the overall honours in the Belgium and French stage races.
Other winners included world championship medallist Linda Villumsen, who was awarded female road rider of the year, while world championship silver medallists Shane Archbold and Alison Shanks won the male and female track riders of the year, respectively.
Villumsen again proved her abilities in the time trial, with a silver medal at the world championships in her native Denmark last year. She is the only BikeNZ rider to win two medals in elite competition at a world road championship, following her bronze at Melbourne last year.
Archbold was one of the most improved riders on the world track scene last year, culminating with a silver medal in the new Olympic track discipline omnium. The 22-year-old completed the world cup season as the top-ranked omnium rider.
Shanks again enjoyed an outstanding season, highlighted with a silver medal in the world track championships. That followed a leading role by Shanks in guiding the women's team to a bronze medal in the team pursuit, beating Australia in the ride-off.
New Zealand road cycling veteran Julian Dean was honoured with the people's choice award. Dean completed a brilliant year, overcoming two serious crashes earlier in the season to play a role in the stage win by Garmin Cervelo in the team time trial in the Tour de France. In his seventh Tour de France, Dean became the first New Zealander to stand on the podium in Paris, with Garmin Cervelo winning the leading team award.
