CAVENDISH RECEIVES TOP BELGIAN CYCLING AWARD

San Luis Obispo, CA, 19th October 2009 - Columbia-HTC's Mark Cavendish has won the prestigious International Flandrian Of the Year prize in Belgium.  In a ceremony broadcast live on Belgian television and organised by newspaper Het Nieuwsblad, a jury of team managers, sports directors and media personalities voted for Cavendish as top international cyclist of the year.

"It's a tremendous honour to get this award," Cavendish said afterwards, "something really important to me.  You just look at the names of the people who've received this prize before, like Fabian Cancellara last year, and you can see how special it really is.  As a kid I would watch Belgian bike races for hours on tv, and I love racing there now because the Belgians have a real appreciation for cycling and cyclists.  But I could never have dreamed of getting an award like this one day, and it's a real honour to receive it."

Cavendish celebrated 25 wins during the 2009 season, including 10 grand tour stages [one TTT] and the prestigious Milan-San Remo.