Written by Don Hamstre of don hamstre team
  
  The season has ended, so it is time for the Awards gala again. The Awards gala has had some lows for me the recent seasons. Two seasons ago, we blew all the money, last season I missed the whole gala. This time it was going to be perfect. I decided I would use my place in the Awards Committee to plan the evening like it should be. Big hall, lots of OCM greats invited, a lot of food to keep them happy, some nice bands playing. What can possibly go wrong?
  The big night, Ginásio do Maracanãzinho, Brazil. I can be satisfied with myself. I think I did a great job. The evening starts with a special thanks before we kick off with the first category to be announced. Special thanks to all that participated in the Awards session and especially those that made it happen again this year: Don hamstre team, Onie, Vientiane Cycling, Matrix team and peddelen.
  
  And now we start, it is the Award for Best Breakthrough Team. The Award is presented by some Brazilian fat bloke called Ronaldo. The contenders all deserved the trophy, but only one can get it. And that manager is Lamme Frans. He led his team VO2maXXers to a great Fast on Wheels tour and a stunning season. But he is not here to pick up the trophy. Strange.
  
  But the gala does not wait, so we have to move on. It is the Award for Best Breakthrough Rider. A lot of good competitors, all of them are also nominated for another category. But the award goes to; The Melvynator. Yes, Melvyn Jégou wins his first Award ever, pretty obvious if you are a breakthrough rider, but still, and he should be delighted! But he is not here to pick up the trophy. Strange indeed.
  
  But the gala does not wait, so we have to move on. The Award for best Rider Outside Top Division is next on the program. Philbert Seaman won this one last season and he has been nominated for it again. But his opponents are not the same. Well, it does not really matter, because he beats them too. Two in a row for the Irishman! But he is not here to pick up his trophy. Strange.
  
  But the gala does not wait, so we have to move on. Murphy. Not a name I want on this evening. But he is nominated for the next Award, the one for Best Cobbler. He was also nominated for the last category. Let us hope he did not bring his law along. He is actually one of the favourites for this one. But Lowell Shingleton is the winner. He won Tweedaagse van Antwerpen, again, making him a worthy winner. But he is not here to pick up the trophy. Strange.
  
  Hmm, I realize something.

There might be a reason why nobody has picked up his trophy. I might have forgotten to invite the nominees. Luckily I have a quick solution. I have contacts who I can ask to visit the riders who won and present them the trophy live on the big screen. Do not ask me why and how, I will have to kill you if you know.
  
  Moving on. The Award for the best Hiller was a bit of a two-horse race between Benedict Guerrero and Evan Tomkins. We see my nephew Giorgio walk towards a front door and ring a bell. Who will open it, It is Mr. Tomkins. He is a bit surprised to get his trophy from his local lousy car dealer, but he looks happy nevertheless.
  
  Next on offer is the Award for Best Time Trialist. There usually are a lot of good time trial riders, but this season was a bit disappointing for this discipline. The winner of this award should still be proud though, as it is never easy to perform well. I switch my attention to the big screen again and I see my uncle Paolo. The doorbell rings again and the door opens with behind it, Alois Rodenthal.. Ze German takes ze glory! He does want to give a speech, but fortunately we do not have time for that.
  We have arrived at the presentation of the Award for the Best Sprinter. As always, the nominees were absolute world class. The winner of Nederlandse Tour is nominated, and also the numbers one, two and three of the OCM rankings. A true battle, but who gets the trophy. It is Otto Beier, he actually was at the gala, because he was on his holiday and coincidently saw the posters. He is very happy, but no time for a speech here too.
  
  The Sterling Dorsher Trophy for the Best Climber is the final Award for a discipline. With a lot of climbing classics, there are always a lot of climbers in the spotlights. But these five riders were the best in this incredibly tough discipline this season. Ballestro, Brasher, Holtslag, Attilla and Enoch would all deserve a trophy for the incredible suffering they has to go through to be successful. But as always, only one can win it. For the presenting of the trophy, I hired an OCM legend, Elias Holmström. But as there was no rider to present it to, he kind of looked like a fool. Just like my stepfather Gianni did when he presented the trophy to Bonifacio Ballestro, who at first thought he was being robbed, before he saw the camera crew following my shady stepfather. Congratulations Bonifaas!
  
  Five awards left and it is getting late. So we have to do the Old Riders Award first, because we might wake them up otherwise.

On the screen there is someone who is not my family, he actually looks decent. He rings the doorbell. And runs away. Ehm, wrong camera I think. Moving on.
  In the following shot, we see a child. Surely this is the wrong house? But no, it is the child of Award winner Martin Østrup He is not at home, she says. Well, lets give her the trophy then. She looks nice enough to pass it on to her dad.
  
  From Old to Young. Almost all the riders were also nominated for Best Breakthrough, except Björn Eskildsen. As the Melvynator won the Breakthrough category, he and Björn are the favourites here too. On the screen we see another doorbell rung, an old man opens the door. Is this really the Melvynator? Of course not, it is his dad. Little Melvynator still lives at home, being pampered by is parents. His dad says he will give it to his baby when he is a grown-up. Two trophies for him, but also two worryingly caring parents.
  
  But it would be another Award for Jégou, as he is also nominated for The Elias Márquez Trophy for Best Tour Rider. Although the competition is quite strong in this category. The tension was riding, but unfortunately the screen spoiled it. Because on the screen a picture of someone dressed up with ten layers of cloth appeared. We are in Petur Snælaugursson's country, the Faroer Islands. Snælaugursson gets his trophy and is very excited. He is so excited that he drops his cloths and runs naked into the freezing water. That is also a way to show you are happy.
  
  Moving on.
  The most important Award for managers is the second-to-last one to be presented. Some familiar names. All of them have riders that won a trophy this season or have won one in the past. But only two of them have won this Award in the past. “Drum rolls” The number one of the rankings wins the Award. The presentation is not on the screen, because my contacts could not get to Michieltjes house in time. They said something about a revolution. Never mind.
  
  We arrive at the final award of the evening. The Äme Anderberg trophy for Rider of the Season is a mixture of young riders, climbers and sprinters. But who is crowned to be the absolute best?
  It is Otto Beier. He is the only nominee who is present at the gala, so that is a nice coincidence too. Unfortunately, the presenting of the trophy is spoiled by the incredibly unfunny remark by the trophy presenter that Otto’s name was written the wrong way round. Sigh. Party spoiled. Let us go away from here. See you next season.