The Netherlands have decided on their cyclist of the year 2005. Rabobank's Pieter Weening was given the honours of the "Golden spoke" by a jury of Dutch former professional riders as well as the readers of cycling magazine Wieler Revue. The 24 year-old was up against Michael Boogerd, Joost Posthuma and Thomas Dekker, as well as track riders Theo Bos and Teun Mulder for the title.
Weening, who has only been part of the professional peloton for two years, won stage eight to Gérardmer in this season's Tour de France in a stunning two-man sprint against T-Mobile's Andreas Klöden. Weening also won a stage of the Tour of Poland, where he finished overall second.
