Alan Peiper of UAE Team Emirates Directeur Sportif won the Manager/DS of the Year award at the Kristallen Fiets (Crystal Bicycle) Awards in Belgium.

Piper helped lead Tadej Pogachar to a dramatic Tour de France victory this season, and Het Laatste Nieuws readers voted for Deceuninck-QuickStep boss Patrick Lefebvre, who won the award from 2017 to 2019. It was enough for them to vote for him over him.

Piper, who was born in Australia and became a Belgian citizen a few years ago, received 672 votes to Lefebvre's 572, while Christophe Roudoft of Alpecin Phoenix was third with 486 votes.

"After the birth of my son, [winning the Tour] is the most important event in my life," Piper told Het Laatste Nieuws (open in new tab). 'I had a huge responsibility, but at the same time I had nothing to lose. I am very grateful

"I never thought I would receive such an award. I am very honored to receive such an award in Belgium, a country with advanced cycling. This is the pinnacle of my career."

Piper, who moved to Belgium in 1977 at the age of 16, turned pro with Peugeot six years later, then went on to a 10-year pro career with Panasonic and Tulip Computer, winning a stage at the Giro d'Italia.

In the 2000s he moved to Team Car, working for Lotto, T-Mobile, Garmin, and BMC before joining UAE Team Emirates in 2019.

In addition to Piper's win, UAE Team Emirates had more reason to celebrate as Pogachar won the Slovenian Road Cyclist of the Year award. This year's winner of the Tour +3 stage, Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, and the Slovenian time trial title, the 22-year-old is the Vuelta a España and Liège-Bastogne-Liège champion and Tour runner-up He shared the prize with Primoš Roglic (Jumbo Visma), champion of the Vuelta a España and Liège-Bastogne-Liège and runner-up in the Tour.

"We both had great races at the Tour," said Roglic. It was an unforgettable season."

"I'm really honored to win this award with Primosch. For years I have had the desire to win this award, so now I am really happy."

Pogachal has set defending the Tour as a goal for next season, along with starting training for 2021 and participating in the delayed Tokyo Olympics.

"I'm really starting to train now. I'm starting to prepare in the United Arab Emirates and in the Sierra Nevada in Spain. The Tour of the United Arab Emirates is waiting for me, and then everything will move around the Tour de France."

"There will be four riders in the Olympics. If I do well in the Tour, I will do well in the Olympics."

The Kristallen Fietz Awards will be held this week as well, with two awards left: the Best Female Rider Award and the Crystal Bicycle Award, given to the top professional of the season.