Tim DeClerck said he was proud to be named the world's best domestique by his peers.

The Deceuninck-Quick Step rider came out on top when Cycling News asked the World Tour pros for the best helpers in the peloton as part of "Domestique Week."

The 31-year-old was chosen by 17% of the riders who took part in the survey, although he lost the readers' vote, which was won by Mitchelton-Scott's Mikkel Nieve.

"Both wins are great, but this one came from the collective itself. But this one came from the group itself, and this one came from my colleagues.

"For a rider like me, this is the highest honor I could achieve in my career. I'm really happy and honored. It's good to have good news at a bad time."

The rider survey was a two-horse race between de Klerk and Team Ineos' Luke Rowe, with Luke Rowe receiving just under 16% of the votes.

"Luke deserves it too. I voted for him," de Klerk revealed. 'He's done a great job in the Grand Tours and everyone knows it. It's a real honor to beat him, even if it was by a small margin."

Since joining Deceuninck-QuickStep, Declercq has established himself as a tireless and consistent worker on a team that specializes in classics and group sprints. While the team's leading riders come to the fore in the second half of the race, it is the early successes of riders like Declercq that make the race a success. [Dečuninck-Quickstep boss Patrick Lefebvre told Cycling News. 'Tim is a smart guy, a smart guy, a smart guy, a smart guy, a smart guy, a smart guy, a smart guy, a smart guy, a smart guy, a smart guy, a smart guy, a smart guy, a smart guy, a smart guy. Tim is a smart guy, and smart guys often realize what they can do and what they can't do."

When I interviewed DeClercq earlier in the week, he said he had contacted Lefevere and agreed to trade his quasi-leadership role in a top sport for a job pulling the peloton on the World Tour.

"Nobody was interested in Tim. When he was a student, he came to my office for an interview and said, 'It's my big dream to race for your team one day.' I said, 'Never give up.'"

"When he signed with us, he said, 'I can be a good domestique for the first 200 km, but I don't think I have a chance to win with our team. But he understood the message well, and today he is highly regarded as a domestique.

"He is tall, has big shoulders and is strong. Since he has been with us he has improved his overall play; a year later I improved the terms of his contract and a year later he signed a new one.