Mountain biker Osl named Austrian cyclist of the year

Mountain biker Elisabeth Osl is Austria's cyclist of the year for 2009. Second place went to Christiane Soeder, with Matthias Brändle taking third.

Osl, 24, topped the UCI women's mountain bike world ranking in 2009, and was national champion. She won three World Cup races during the season on her way to the World Cup overall title. She received an overwhelming 80 percent of the vote.

"The World Cup title, the world number one ranking, and three of eight World Cup races : these results speak for themselves," said Rudolf Massak, general secretary of the Austrian cycling federation.

Second place, with ten percent of the votes, went to another woman, Christiane Soeder. Riding last year for Cervelo TestTeam, she won the national road title and finished second overall in the Grande Boucle Feminine. The 35-year-old also won the Grand Prix de Suisse.

Matthias Brändle, 20, finished close behind Soeder. He rode for the Austrian Professional Continental team Elk Haus last year, wining the national time trial title and finishing third in the U23 Eschborn-Frankfurt City Loop. Brändle rides for Footon-Servetto this year.