Friday, 23 November 2018:
 | | ROHAN DENNIS of Australia crosses the finish line in the Cycling Road Men's Individual Time Trial on of the Rio Olympic Games at Pontal n Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. | |
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Winning his second Australian cyclist of the year award caps a dream year on and off the bike for Rohan Dennis.
In September, the road time trial star won his elusive first world championship in the event.
He also won time trial stages at the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana and led the two Grand Tours.
That made him only the third Australian after Bradley McGee and Cadel Evans to hold the overall lead in the three Grand Tours - the Giro, Tour de France and Vuelta.
He won the Sir Hubert Opperman medal as the cyclist of the year.
But it's also been a massive 2018 away from cycling for Dennis.
He was unable to attend Friday's cycling awards lunch in Melbourne because Dennis and wife Melissa have had their first child, a boy, and are in Europe.
In February, Dennis married Melissa Hoskins, the retired world champion track cyclist.
Dennis, whose long-term project is to become an overall contender in the Grand Tours, overcame several years of frustration to win the time trial world title in Innsbruck, Austria.
A perennial favourite in the event, he was thwarted at the worlds and other major events such as the Olympics and Commonwealth Games by bad luck.
Dennis crashed out at last year's world titles and at the Rio Olympics, a broken aero bar robbed him of a probable silver medal.
Apart from being named overall cyclist of the year, Dennis also took out the men's road category.
World championship silver medallist Amanda Spratt won the women's road honour.
The world record-breaking team pursuit squad narrowly beat world sprint champion Matthew Glaetzer to take out the men's track section, while three-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist Stephanie Morton won the women's track category.
Olympic gold medallist and Tour Down Under race director Mike Turtur was among four Australian cycling Hall Of Fame inductees honoured at the awards function.
Track greats Danny Clark and Michelle Ferris and mountain bike course design guru Glen Jacobs round out this year's inductions.
MAJOR AUSTRALIAN CYCLING AWARD WINNERS
The Sir Hubert 'Oppy' Opperman Medal - Rohan Dennis
Elite Para-cycling - Alistair Donohoe and Emilie Miller
Elite Track - Men's Team Pursuit (Alex Porter, Sam Welsford, Leigh Howard, Kelland O'Brien) and Stephanie Morton
Elite Road - Dennis and Amanda Spratt
Elite MTB - Sam Hill and Tracey Hannah
Elite BMX - Logan Martin and Saya Sakakibara
Coach of the year - Tim Decker
