Category: Paige Greco

OPPY | Australian Team celebrate at 2019 Cyclist of the Year Awards

16/12/2019

Ashlee Ankudinoff | Photo - John Veage

Caleb Ewan was awarded the sixty-third Sir Hubert 'Oppy' Opperman Medal for 2019 Cyclist of the Year at the star-studded awards celebration held in Brisbane on Monday 16 December.

A tremendous year on the bike in 2019 saw Ewan claim 22 podium appearances, and several stage wins on the World Tour in his first year with Lotto Soudal. Ewan surged to claim three stage wins at the Tour de France, while finishing on the podium seven times and second in the points classification. He also won two stages of the Giro d'Italia.

Amanda Spratt claimed the Elite Female Road Cyclist of the Year award for a second straight year. Her 2019 was highlighted by bronze at the World Road Championships where she became the first Australian woman to win two career World Championships road race medals.

Ashlee Ankudinoff and Sam Welsford took home the Elite Track Cyclist of the Year honours.

Ankudinoff won dual crowns at the World Championships, firstly in the team pursuit with Annette Edmondson, Amy Cure, Alexandra Manly and Georgia Baker, before soloing to an individual pursuit crown.

Welsford won dual world titles in 2019 including the team pursuit crown in world record time alongside Alex Porter, Cam Scott, Leigh Howard and Kelland O'Brien and the scratch race.

Carol Cooke and Darren Hicks were judged the Para Road Cyclists of the Year. Cooke raced to win dual rainbows at the 2019 World Championships and win the overall 2019 World Cup series, while Hicks won the C2 time trial world title and two World Cup gold on the season.

Paige Greco took out the Para Female Track Cyclist of the Year award following dual both the individual pursuit and time trial world titles in world record time at the 2019 World Championships.

Alistair Donohoe claimed the Para Male Track Cyclist award after taking dual world titles at the 2019 World Championships in the individual pursuit and the scratch race.

2019 Cyclist of the Year Awards Winners

Elite Road Para-cycling - Female: Carol Cooke
Elite Road Para-cycling - Male: Darren Hicks
Elite Track Para-cycling - Female: Paige Greco
Elite Track Para-cycling - Male: Alistair Donohoe
Elite Track - Female: Ashlee Ankudinoff
Elite Track - Male: Sam Welsford
Elite Road - Female: Amanda Spratt
Elite Road - Male: Caleb Ewan
Elite MTB - Female: Tracey Hannah
Elite MTB - Male: Sam Hill
Elite BMX - Female: Saya Sakakibara
Elite BMX - Male: Brandon Loupos
Coach of the Year - International: Tim Decker

PHOTOS - by John Veage

QUOTES

Darren Hicks
Just this last weekend, we saw seven world records broken,so you don’t just win one race and that’s a good year, you need to keep winning. I won three of the four World Cups on the road, two world championships and three national championships, and that’s barely enough. We have such a strong para squad and it’s a pleasure to be a part of it. It’s amazing to get this award.

Paige Greco
I’ve had a really awesome year, and it means a lot. Every time I look at it reminds me of an awesome year and it’s my first year on the team. I’ve been working really hard, and it’s been really good to see the results. It’s been an amazing year and I still can’t believe where I have been with my teammates!

Alistair Donohoe
This award highlights the fact I had to win three world championships just to get the award. David Nicholas was in there and he didn’t get an award. We’ve got some serious depth so it’s kind of exciting. I am stoked [with where I’m at], it just feels amazing to be back where I think I should be, after some ill health in 2017, I am really building back up in 2019.   I personally think this award personally means a lot to me tonight.

Carol Cooke
We have such a strong group of para-cyclists and that many world champions on this team. That being singled out for this [award] is very special, especially at this age and you know I hope that by showing people that it doesn’t matter what number it is that’s attached to your age and that if you love doing something that you can just keep doing it and reap the benefits of it. I think that this year has probably been the best year I’ve ever had because I didn’t put the pressure on myself that I had to be on the top step it was about enjoying it, it was about having fun and I probably had the most fun that I’ve ever had in a year of racing.

Brandon Loupos
I don’t think it could have been better. It was cool. I can’t wait for 2020. I did so much learning in 2019 and it’s all about keeping that consistency in 2020 and to go or the gold in Tokyo. Logan won it (this award) two years in a row and I am stoked to come away with the win this year, it’s definitely an honour and to be the elite BMX cyclist of the year is pretty special. There’s a lot of world champions who don’t get to win this award and I’m blessed to not only win a world championship but to also win this award.

Saya Sakakibara
It was a challenging but fulfilling season. Compared to last year I didn’t produce the results; I had a lot of mental challenges and having six crashes in four months it was definitely really tough to line up on the gate with other riders. But with the worlds I thought my performance was really good, I didn’t get the results I wanted but it adds fuel to the fire and makes me a lot hungrier. I finished off the season with a win at the Olympic test event and is such a great confidence booster.

Amanda Spratt
It’s been a really great year and I am really proud to get this award tonight it caps it off, I think it’s been my best year to date. Maybe I didn’t get the same results on paper as what I got last year but I am really, really proud to finish off with a bronze medal after a great team performance also. It’s amazing, I love coming to this event every year, you get so much motivation out of it. You see the videos of what people have done and hear some stories you maybe didn’t know about some people and it’s just a feeling of motivation and excitement. I always walk out of here, ready to bust into training the next day!

Ashlee Ankudinoff
It’s pretty humbling, to be honest. I’ve been in this sport for ten years now and it’s been a long time coming. I’ve had a successful career and now I am getting towards the end so it’s really nice to come here and celebrate the success, not just the success of myself but of others. I definitely think I am in the form of my life. I have a great support network back in Adelaide and the environment there is unbelievable. I have trust in the process in what we’re doing. I go to training every day knowing that I have the support from everyone from the Cycling Australia staff. Olympic gold is why I am still riding. I definitely would not be riding if I had ticked all my goals off and the Olympic gold is definitely one, and hopefully next August I can do that.

Sam Welsford
It’s been a ripper year. I never thought I’d be able to go dual world champion in one year, so I’m just really over the moon. I love coming to the Awards, it’s such a special night, to see Australia’s best come through to all celebrate the year we’ve had. I get really gee’d up when I see the year’s recap video, it makes you really forget about the Awards itself and makes you realise how special it is to ride for Australia.

(On Tim Decker receiving Coach of the Year Award) Tim holds a special place in my heart he’s been my coach for a long time, starting in 2015 when I first moved to Adelaide, Tim backed me a said “look mate, if you want to be apart of this you’ve got to put the work in” so, I trusted him from then on. Really happy for him to get that award and I know that he holds the award itself very close to him. He strives and works really hard for that I think this is just a testament to what he puts in.

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