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Last week we hosted our first ever Cycling Weekly Awards night, where we announced our riders of the year. For the last 10 years we’ve had a single countdown of riders, with past winners including Sirs Chris Hoy and Bradley Wiggins, Mark Cavendish, Chris Froome, Lizzie Armitstead and Emma Pooley.

But this year, with the help of our sponsor Garmin, we went bigger and better with separate awards for the best male and female riders, a rising star, domestic rider and more. We also recognised the great and good from the grass roots, naming Britain’s best club and a local hero, along with the best charitable initiative.

It was also a real thrill to award our first ever lifetime achievement award to the one and only Brian Robinson. The standing ovation he got was without doubt my highlight from an amazing night.

If you read our website or follow us on social media, you’ll already know who won these awards — over the following pages we tell you why they won, and who they beat. After all, it’s once again been a pretty good year for British cyclists.

We’ll be back on January 3. Until then, from all of us at Cycling Weekly, have a wonderful Christmas and a very happy new year.