Tom Dumoulin (Giant Alpecin)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Anna van der Breggen (Netherlands) added bronze in the TT to gold in the road race(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Tom Dumoulin wore the maglia rosa across the first week of the 2016 Giro(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Anna van der Breggen (Netherlands) can't believe she's won(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Tom Dumoulin (Netherlands) takes stock of his result(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Tom Dumoulin and Anna van der Breggen were named as Dutch cyclists of the year at a ceremony in Rosmalen on Friday evening. Dumoulin claimed the prize for the third successive season, while the Olympic champion Van der Breggen was the women's laureate for the second year in a row.
Dumoulin's season featured victory on home roads in the opening day time trial of the Giro d'Italia in Apeldoorn, two stage wins at the Tour de France and a silver medal in the time trial at the Rio 2016 Olympics.
2016 also saw Wout Poels (Sky) win Liège-Bastogne-Liège, marking the Netherlands' first win there since Adrie van der Poel in 1988, while Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo) finished 4th at the Giro, having looked set to become the first Dutch Grand Tour winner since 1980.
Dumoulin, meanwhile, had showcased his potential as a Grand Tour contender with an impressive display at the 2015 Vuelta a España, but shelved his three-week ambitions this season in order to prepare specifically for the Olympic Games time trial.
The Giant-Alpecin rider showed sustained flashes of his ability in the mountains in 2016, however, including during his spell in the maglia rosa at the Giro, and again en route to stage victory in Andorra at the Tour, which was the stand-out moment of his campaign.
"There have been many wonderful moments for me this year," Dumoulin told De Telegraaf. "It started with the time trial win in the Giro, but the queen stage of the Tour to Arcalis in Andorra stand above that. The bad weather in the finale, and the fact that it was considered the biggest stage of the race means that I consider it to be the highlight."
Dumoulin will look to mount a general classification in a Grand Tour in 2017, though he has yet to confirm his programme for next season, when his team will be rebranded as Sunweb-Giant.
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Van der Breggen was an obvious choice for female cyclist of the year after she claimed a fine victory in the road race at the Rio 2016 Olympics and then took bronze in the time trial for good measure.
A hugely impressive performer throughout the campaign, the Rabo-Liv rider also won the European Championships road race in Plouay in September and Flèche Wallonne in April.
It was Van der Breggen's second consecutive time to win the Keetie van Oosten-Hage Trophy for Dutch rider of the year. Last year, Van der Breggen ended Marianne Vos' sequence of nine successive wins in the category.
