Bauke Mollema and Marianne Vos top Dutch Cycling Awards in s-Hertogenbosch
Bauke Mollema and Marianne Vos won the title of the best male and female cyclists in the Netherlands. The annual gala awards took place in s-Hertogenbosch.
The cyclists are awarded the tribute through proper voting. The readers of Wielerland Magazine and all their colleagues in the sport form the voting body.
Mollema earned the award for the first time in his career and he ousted Robert Gesink, who is the three-time winner of the men’s prize.
Bauke Mollema started his professional career with Rabobank Team in 2008, where he bagged the overall sixth position in the Vuelta a Castilla y Leon and the overall seventh spot in the Deutschland Tour.
In the 2010 season, he made his first Grand Tour debut in Giro d’ltalia and put up a good effort throughout the stages. He won the sixth stage of the Tour de Pologne and finally, snatched the overall third place.
He added many great victories to his collection in the 2011 season. He displayed a good form in the Paris-Nice race by grabbing the overall ninth place and the overall tenth position in the Volta a Catalunya.
His first objective for the 2011 season was to take part in the Tour de France. As preparation for the Grand Tour he rode with his teammate, Steven Kruijswijk.
However, due to his illness, Mollema’s overall standing in the Tour was not impressive. After a few weeks, he tried his luck again and took part in Vuelta A Espana, where he took the overall points standing and snatched the overall fourth place.
After winning the award Bauke told the media, "This is definitely my greatest achievement of the past year".
The 24-year-old Vos started her career in 2002 and currently, she rides for DCB Bank. Vos secured numerous victories in the 2011 season.
She won the Dutch National Cyclo-Cross championships, UCI Cyclo-Cross and Track World Championships.
She also won five stage races, Giro d'Italia Femminile, Profile Ladies, La Fleche Wallonne Feminine, Grand Prix Elsy Jacobs and Ronde van Drenthe. She took the runner-up’s spot in UCI Road World championships.
Meanwhile, Joop Zoetemelk was honoured with Peter Post Career Award, while the U23 Cyclo-Cross world champion, Lars vand der Haar won the best espoir rider award.
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