Dennis, Ewan and Matthews go head-to-head at Australian Cyclist of the Year Awards

Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal), Michael Matthews (Sunweb) and Rohan Dennis will go up against each other to be named the Australian Cyclist of the Year in the elite men road category, while Mitchelton-Scott's Amanda Spratt, Lucy Kennedy and Ale Cipollini's Chloe Hosking are the finalists in the elite women road category.

A number of other winners on the road and the track, and in MTB, BMX and para-cycling, will also be announced at the 2019 Cyclist of the Year Awards in Brisbane on December 16. The awards evening follows the completion of the Brisbane round of the UCI Track World Cup at the Anna Meares Velodrome, held from December 13-15.

Ewan rode his first Tour de France in 2019, and took three stage victories there, as well as two stage wins at the Giro d'Italia. His 10 victories during the 2019 season with his new team, Lotto Soudal, also included stage wins at the UAE Tour and the Tour of Turkey.

Rohan Dennis enjoyed mixed fortunes this season, with a stage win and second overall at the Tour de Suisse, and a successful defence of his World Championships time trial title at the end of the year as part of the Australian national team. However, he is yet to announce which trade team he'll be riding for in 2020 after leaving his Bahrain-Merida team under a cloud mid-way through the Tour de France following alleged differences over the team's equipment and clothing options.

Matthews this year won two stages at the Volta a Catalunya, successfully defended his title at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec WorldTour race in Canada, and led the Australian team at the Worlds road race in Yorkshire, where he finished 24th, and Australia's only finisher, following a men's race held in apocalyptic conditions.

In the elite women's road category, Spratt again had a hugely successful season, finishing on the podium at the Worlds road race for a second year in a row, on top of having won the Tour Down Under for the third straight year.

Kennedy took a huge leap forward in the progression of her career, winning the final stage and the overall title at the Women's Herald Sun Tour in February, and taking the Durango-Durango Emakumeen Saria and inaugural Donostia San Sebastian Klasikoa one-day races in Spain.

Hosking again had a hugely successful season, with the sprinter winning stages at both the Tour Down Under and the Herald Sun Tour ahead of a European campaign that saw her take victories in stages of the Giro Toscana Femminile and the Madrid Challenge, ending her season with a win at the one-day Tour of Guangxi in China.

Hosking will now make the move to US team Rally UHC for 2020.