The season’s most successful road athletes received awards at the UCI Cycling Gala, which coincided with the final day of a new stage race in the United Arab Emirates capital.

The inaugural UCI Cycling Gala took place in the majestic Yas Marina Island “du Forum” concert venue in Abu Dhabi, on Sunday October 11th. The dedicated awards evening acknowledged the performances of the season’s best athletes, teams and countries. Although the main focus of the gala was on road cycling, several other special awards were also presented throughout the evening.

Hosted by the Abu Dhabi Sports Council and the United Arab Emirates Cycling Federation, the UCI Cycling Gala was organised to coincide with the fourth and final stage of the new Abu Dhabi Tour. The highly successful stage race attracted some of the biggest names in professional men’s road cycling, providing a fitting and prestigious context for the first annual UCI Cycling Gala.

In addition to all teams that had competed in the Abu Dhabi Tour, the Gala was attended by several UCI Management Committee members, representatives of National Federations and international media, and was broadcasted live on Abu Dhabi Media, host broadcaster of the Abu Dhabi Tour.

“Our inaugural UCI Cycling Gala enabled us to pay tribute to the athletes who made the headlines and graced the podiums in 2015,” said UCI President Brian Cookson. “It was a wonderful opportunity to gather together some of the biggest stars of cycling for a true celebration of our sport. The fact that we could organise this event to coincide with the highly successful Abu Dhabi Tour made the occasion all the more special.”

“I'm very proud of this first edition of the Abu Dhabi Tour. It was a great challenge to organise, but I am convinced that we proved ourselves up to the task. My compliments go to its first champion, Esteban Chaves. Esteban, you rode a courageous race and climbed magnificently on the Jabel Hafeet stage. I am deeply honoured to host the UCI Cycling Gala: most of the main protagonists of the 2015 season are here, bringing star quality to professional cycling's debut in UAE Capital Territory”, declared Mr Aref Hamad Al Awani, General Secretary of Abu Dhabi Sports Council.

2015 UCI Cycling Gala award recipients:

1st, UCI WorldTour Individual Classification: Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team)
2nd, UCI WorldTour Individual Classification: Joaquin Rodriguez (Team Katusha)
3rd, UCI WorldTour Individual Classification: Nairo Quintana (Movistar Team)

1st, UCI WorldTour Team Classification: Movistar Team
1st, UCI WorldTour Nation Classification: Spain

Men’s Elite UCI Road Race World Champion: Peter Sagan (Slovakia)
Men’s Elite UCI Individual Time Trial World Champion: Vasil Kiryienka (Belarus)

Men’s UCI Hour Record Holder: Bradley Wiggins (Great Britain)
Women’s UCI Hour Record Holder: Molly Shaffer Van Houweling (USA)

Fair Play (awarded by the Abu Dhabi Sports Council): Tom Dumoulin (Team Giant-Alpecin)
Outstanding cycling journalism: Jean-Paul Ollivier (France)

Most friendly media team (awarded by the International Association of Cycling Journalists): Team Giant-

Alpecin

Giro d’Italia winner: Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo)
Tour de France winner: Christopher Froome (Team Sky)
Vuelta a España winner: Fabio Aru (Astana Pro Team)

Abu Dhabi Tour Winner: Johan Esteban Chaves (Orica GreenEDGE)