Logan Martin, Maive Plouffe, Ben O’Connor & Amanda Reid Among 2021 Cyclist Of The Year Winners

Gold Medal Winning Olympian BMX rider Logan Martin has won the sixty-fifth Sir Hubert’ Oppy’ Opperman Medal after being named the 2021 Santini AusCycling Cyclist of the Year.

Other big winners at the gala ceremony were Ben O’Connor, Road Cyclist of the Year, Maeve Plouffe, Female Track Cyclist of the Year, Amanda Reid, Women’s Track Para-Cyclist of the Year and Darren Hicks, Men’s Road Para-Cyclist of the Year.

Logan Martin’s maiden ‘Oppy’ Medal came following a stunning 2021, which saw the 28-year-old rider from the Gold Coast win the inaugural BMX Freestyle Olympic gold at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and win his second world title.

“It is super amazing to win this award,” he said. “There are a lot of athletes that have won this award. And to now be a winner of this award is super something super special,” Martin said via a video acceptance speech during the virtual 2021 AusCycling Awards ceremony presented by Comwire IT.

“I have always just ridden my bike and put in the work, just like any other athlete does and to now be sitting alongside some amazing names, it is pretty hard to believe to be honest.”

While Martin was making history in BMX Freestyle his fellow Australian cyclists from other disciplines celebrated across the world throughout 2021.

Australia’s para-cyclists enjoyed a tremendous season, highlighted by tremendous performances at the Tokyo Paralympic Games. On her Paralympic debut, Emily Petricola added another chapter to her cycling success story, winning silver in the women’s C4 Individual Road Time Trial. Petricola achieved another career-first at the 2021 Federation University Road National Championships in Ballarat, winning her first national time trial title in the women’s C4 category.

“I cannot believe that I have won this in a Paralympic year. That means so much to me, ” Petricola said. “I could not have done any of this without the staff, a thank you to all the AusCycling Para staff, specifically those who have worked with me over the last 12 months, led by Nick Formosa, David Betts, Keren Faulkner, Jill Leckey.”

On the road, Ben O’Connor captured the cycling world’s attention on his debut at the Tour de France with a dominant solo stage victory at Tignes in the French Alps. By the end of the gruelling three-week Grand Tour, O’Connor had secured a top-four finish on general classification to become just the fourth Australian to finish in the top five in the Tour, joining Cadel Evans, Richie Porte, and Phil Anderson.

“It is unexpected, and I think the year itself was also unexpected with how it played out and how I was able to finally achieve what I have always dreamt of and hoped for, and for those people have always put effort into me,” O’Connor said. “From my grassroots back in Australia from Wayne Evans with Satalyst Racing, to Andrew Christie-Johnson at Avanti, through to Dimension Data, and now to AG2R Citroën where finally feel I have found a strong home and a place I love to race and race my bike.”

Over on the dirt in 2021, Rebecca McConnell continued where she left off in 2020, starting with her eighth straight elite women’s National Championship title. The Canberran found the podium five times during the 2021 Mercedes-Benz Mountain Bike World Cup season and claimed a bronze in Nove Mesto before picking up silver at Lenzerheide and Snowshoe. Then, in July, she contested a third-straight Olympic Games, the first Australian woman to achieve the feat.

“It was another crazy year, but I’m super happy with how it went and just want to say a huge thank you to everybody who has been along for the ride and all the support,” McConnell said.

2021 AusCycling Cyclists Of The Year

2021 Santini AusCycling Cyclist of the Year – presented the Sir Hubbert Opperman Medal (“Oppy”)

Logan Martin

2021 Queensland Academy of Sport Women’s BMX Freestyle Rider of the Year

Natalya Diehm

2021 Queensland Academy of Sport Men’s BMX Freestyle Rider of the Year

Logan Martin

2021 HutSix Women’s BMX Racing Rider of the Year

Lauren Reynolds

2021 HutSix Men’s BMX Racing Rider of the Year

Izaac Kennedy

2021 Zwift Women’s ESports Cyclist of the Year