December 26, 2012 – Ryder Hesjedal, 32, is the first cyclist to win the Lionel Conacher Award, as the Canadian Press male athlete of the year voted by sports editors and broadcasters from across the country. Hesjedal’s monumental victory, winning the 95th Giro d’Italia this past year, etched his name in history books around the globe as the first Canadian to wear the maglia rosa (Stage 7) and to win a Grand Tour as he captured the fabled Giro trophy on May 27. He’s only the second non-European to win the Giro – American Andy Hampstead won in 1988.

Hesjedal scored 139 points and 32 first-place votes in balloting while tennis star Milos Raonic was runner-up with 131 points and 26 first-place votes. The award is named after Lionel Pretoria Conacher, a multi-sport athlete who’s passion was football, and who  was voted as the country’s top athlete of the first half of the 20th century.

The winner of the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award, as Canada’s female athlete of the year, will be announced on Dec. 27.