March 12, 2006 – Belgian cycling world champion Tom Boonen is to receive the Cycling Oscar award next week in Milan, Italy for his outstanding performance in the past year.

The 25-year-old sprint king, who won Paris-Roubaix and Tour of Flanders last year, is expected in Milan next week to collect his trophy, which is actually a gold bar worth some 20,000 euros.

The trophy was created last year by Italian sports daily Gazzetta dello Sport.

Last year’s winner was Italian Damiano Cunego, who had surprised everyone by winning the Tour of Italy at a very young age in 2004.

All jury members of the award are insiders, including the managers of the 20 elite ProTour cycling teams, the organizers of the three major tours (Italy, France and Spain) and 27 former champions, including Belgium’s Eddy Merckx and Johan Museeuw.