Mathieu van der Poel and Harrie Lavreysen in the running for Dutch Sportsman of the Year

Either of a pair of Dutch cycling stars could be in line to pick up the prestigious Sportsman of the Year award at the NOS|NOC*NSF Sports Gala.

For either double discipline world champion Mathieu van der Poel or track cycling star Harrie Lavreysen to take the award however, they'll have to garner more votes than the dominant, Formula 1 superstar, Max Verstappen.

Van der Poel triumphed at both the cyclocross World Championships earlier this year and took the road World Championships in Glasgow in stunning style to double up his tally of rainbow jerseys during the year. Lavreysen meanwhile, once again proved himself the number one track sprinter, taking gold in the sprint and the team sprint in Glasgow and winning a trio of European Championships titles. 

“These three quickly came to the surface,” admits Bas van de Goor, chairman of the professional jury. “We quickly agreed that this is a nice top 3. Many countries are jealous of this.”