Lemko Evenpoel became the youngest player ever to win the Crystal Trophy "Kristallen Fietz" for player of the year. 19-year-old Lemko Evenpoel beat out teammate Philippe Gilbert and Jumbo Visma's Wout Van Art for the award. The winners were.

In the women's competition, Sanne Canto won again, while Ilan Van Wilder was named best young player. Tim Declercq was named Best Domestique. Patrick Leferet won the third trophy for Dečuninck-Quickstep and the Best Team Leader award.

"Individual awards like this are always special," Evenpole said. But this trophy is like a cake, it can be divided equally. And then you can distribute that cake to all your teammates. I owe them a lot."

At the Vuelta a San Juan, he won the young rider class in his first month of neo-pro. She then finished fourth overall in the Tour of Turkey and won her first major race, the Tour of Baloise Belgium, in June. He soon took a stage win at Adriatica Ionica, followed by his first WorldTour win at Clasica San Sebastian. He then won the time trial at the European Championships and finished second behind Rohan Dennis in the time trial at the World Championships.

"It was a very good summer and I overwhelmed myself many times. I am very proud to have been rewarded at Kristallen Fiets."

"I am very proud of myself. [Kristallen Fiets has been awarded since 1992. Johan Museeuw has the most wins with five, followed by Gilbert, Greg Van Avermaat, and Tom Bohnen with four. Can Evenpoel one day match them?

"I'm mainly interested in my performance on the bike," he said. But a trophy like this is always nice. This Kristallen Fietz is the culmination of a year of work. Looking at the opponents, I think this trophy is a big deal."

Canto is the first female cyclo-cross racer to win this award, which has only had a women's category for the past three years. The first two years the award went to Jolien D'Hoor, and in 2018 it went to track racer Nicky Degrendele.

The award is fitting after the 2018-2019 season, in which she won both the Superprestige and DVV Trophy series, as well as the Belgian and World Championships.

"I have a nice place in my living room [to put the trophy]," Canto said. 'I have glass glasses that hold my most important trophies. There is also a shelf that fits Kristalen Fietz perfectly. This is my reward for my career. It's not over yet, but you never know what will happen in the future. So I am very happy that I already have the Kristallen Fietz."