Britain’s Mark Cavendish (Columbia-HTC) won the award for International Flandrien of the year. Het Nieuwsblad chose the speedy Manxman to follow up Switzerland’s Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) as best international professional cyclist of the year.
Cavendish, 24, was unstoppable in the sprints, taking 23 total wins that included the prestigious classic Milan-Sanremo along with six stage wins in the Tour de France. Other wins included stages in the Giro d’Italia, the Tour of Switzerland, the Driedaagse van De Panne-Koksijde and Tirreno-Adriatico.
Cavendish and his Columbia-HTC team were superior in the sprints all year, repeatedly neutralizing attempts by Garmin-Slipstream for their sprinter Tyler Farrar. Farrar only managed to beat the Manxman once all season, in the Tirreno-Adriatico, but will look to take advantage of the reshuffle in Columbia’s leadout train caused by transfers.