It's now time to reveal the results of this year's PCM.daily awards! If you've been around in previous years, you'll remember how close most of the categories turned out to be. There were plenty of close calls this years, including some ties! In total we hade 7 awards that were "defended" from last year, of course we won't tell you yet which ones ;) 4 of our most commited members managed to receive two awards, and while you'll certainly know them it's probably not only the ones you've guessed!

Just like usual, new winners join some of the more usual suspects and defending champions. Congratulations go out to all of you, whether you've just been nominated or also won an award - you're the heart and soul of this site. Huge thanks to all who voted and especially those who also took the time to send nominations, in order to make the voting possible. And big ups to knockout for loads of work and sharing responsibilities, roturn for helping out with the technicals, jandal7 for writing the awards part about MG and cunego59 for the userbar editing!

The winners and runner-ups are all revealed below, and the full results have been posted into each thread in the Awards subforum.

Member Awards

Member of the Year: AbhishekLFC (45%), Runner-Up: Croatia14 (34%)
The queens' disciplin of awards goes to one of our most active members on the site: AbhishekLFC. He not only participates actively in every aspect of the site, he's also running his own Story Game Road to Glory. Whatever happens on the site, you can count on Abhi that he is either down to support or participate. He win's ahead of last years winner Croatia14.

New Member of the Year: Nemolito (83%), Runner-up: TinxiaS (13%)
Without any surprise Nemolito takes the award to become New Member of the Year. The man-game star kicked off his career as one of the top class reporters and HQ writers, while his stylish team Los Pollos Hermanos does well from the beginning. Additionally Nemolito joined ICL as an active new manager, so he takes the well deserved crown. TinxiaS comes up second, she's also joined ICL and ManGame in an active role while writing beautiful insight on local races on top.

Most Improved Member: cunego59 (46%), Runner-up: Fabianski (33%)
A well deserved win for our most improved manager cunego59: He not only started off a great man-game camapaign with his stylish Rwandan team, he also stepped up the daily-db quality with some huge efforts. On top he's active in the cycling threads and helping with problems. He wins ahead of Fabianski, who grew into a Story Game legend with humungous reports and great story-telling.

Admin of the Year: roturn (39%), Runner-Up: Croatia14 (36%)
Your favourite Croat has been reaching for the crown but the site-OG once again defended his throne. As last year roturn won the race by a single vote, showing the infantry who's ruling the battle. His majestic orchestrating of the ManGame makes him inevitable, he's the focal point of everything working on the site.

Most Helpful Member of the Year: Croatia14 (38%), Runner-up: cunego59 & Ripley (23%)
Croatia14 can defend his title as the Most Helpful Member due to his support on numerous fronts of the daily daily-activites. From everything about the PCM.Daily-DB to support in story games, site initiatives or technical problems he's most likely involved somehow. Following up are cunego59 and Ripley: cunego59 again doing wonders in the daily team and helping a lot with PCM questions and the ManGame, while Ripley being the most frequent member answering all questions on daily and supporting Bikex big time in getting the ICL back to former glory.

Funniest Member: baseballlover312 (57%), Runner-up: knockout (30%)
Bbl defends the funniest member award, while I remember the last time of him being funny when "painting" his Dan Martin-Avatar. His famous rants about Carlsberg may have brought him the trophy. Runner-Up knockout takes his pride in exorbitant Mafia-rants, often including a more subtile sense of humour. More straightforward are his man-game jokes, which make him an obvious choice for 2nd.

Most Missed Member: Ian Butler (54%), Runner-Up: Jesleyh (21%)
And the winner is....NOT JE2LEYH! The most important thing may have been DB-legend Jesleyh coming second, an amazing achievement for all the older members of the site carrying the notorious 2nd into his place once more. He wasn't even close though, as Ian Butler took a landslide victory. A well deserved one for Mr.CX, San-Cor-legend, the heart and soul of the story section or however you wanna call him. Please step by and take your award home if you can, legend Ian!

Site Awards

Best Forum Thread: Guess the Cyclist - The Return (36%), Runner-Up: PCT Roundtable analysis 2020 p/b “The Conglomerate” (32%)
The biggest heist in daily history! The PCT-preview can't take a fourth title, instead the return of Guess the Cyclist takes the spotlight. In the minigame where one posts a picture of a cyclist the person who guesses the rider first can take the turn and post the next one. The game ran multiple times this year, enjoying a broad range of involved players.

Best Avatar: Ripley (45%), Runner-up: alexkr00 (42%)
For another year Ripley defends his title as the Best Avatar. But it's well deserved, as ICL-legend Alex Dowsett stars the Avatar of ripley. Ever since "I see Dowsett everywhere" ripley has sent Dowsett to multiple places with his avatar, most famously kissing the podium girls on top of the dodium. What a lad! Alexkr00 follows up with his stange yet catchy gif of Robert Gesink dancing in his worst Enger-imitation.

Best Story Writer: Mresuperstar (43%), Runner-Up: Kiserlovski01 & Tamijo (21%)
The best story writer of 2020 is our professional: Mresuperstar takes back the crown as his awesome Diamond in the Rough involves the readers with it's unique interactive approach. Runners-Up are Kiserlovski with his long lasting (and truly amazing) Caja Rural-story and Tamijo with his multiple storys, latest on Noah, follow up in this prestigious battle.

Best Team Story: Caja Rural by Kiserlovski01 & Cofidis, Solutions Cyclistes by cunego59 (31%), Runner-Up: The Killer Wasps by alexkr00
Speaking of K01, the talented story writer wins the best team story once more with his fantastic Caja Rural story. The story already exceeded all role models in terms of graphics, and the content isn't left behind either. cunego59's Cofidis-story is a story that convinced it's readers by it's fast pace and clean & easy structure, which combined with the energetic writing style made for an awesome read.

Best One-Rider Story: Diamond in the Rough by Mresuperstar (63%), Runner-up: João Almeida Pro Cyclist Mode by dany schleck & Noah by Tamijo (19%)
Story Writing star MreSuperstar also takes home the crown of the best One-Rider Story. The Diamond in the Rough runs since 2018, and has won the award since then as well! It's dynamics combining football with cycling background is unique for the story section. Mre's consistency, his ability to make you identify with Marcus' story and also the interactive parts take the story from a great to an extraordinary level. The (also amazing) storys about Joao Almeida and mysterious Noah follow on minor places, both being great ones itself.

Best Forum Game: ICL (43%), Runner-up: Guess the Cyclist - The Return (26%)
Ever since bikex created the International Cycling League, in short ICL, it's won this award year after year. Last year it lost out due to a less active year, but this time it's back on top after a fantastic ICL19 and the start to ICL20. If you want to check it out or even think about joining late: The transfer season is currently running, but it's not too late to put a competitive team together! Guess the Cyclist comes in second after already taking Thread of the Year.

Best User Project: ICL by Bikex (62%), Runner-up: Echelons: Cycling Previews/Reviews by Yellow Jersey & PCM 2020 Sponsorkits CPE Complete Pack Edition by Jacky Durand (15%)
2nd Award for Bikex & ICL, and another well deserved one. He takes a commanding victory ahead of Echelons and the PCM Sponsorkits. Echelons is an awesome user project by yellow jersey where he writes and talks about WT racing, with famous previews & reviews to each race. The sponsorkits are done by Jacky Durand for many years, this time he got the support of kiserlovski01 to create the biggest (and best!?) pack ever, enhancing the graphical experience of playing PCM by a landslide with more realistic graphics than you could dream of.

Best Site Initiative: Management Game (74%), Runner-up: PCM.daily Database (21%)
Of the daily initiatives the most prominent one, the ManGame, wins the award. It's joy and emotions keep the site together, most of the hard core of daily members unite their to battle each others with their teams, write awesome HQs and create reports that Eurosport could dream of for the big races. Runner-up is the Daily Database, which to date stands as the most in-depth db of the forum world.

Best Jersey Designer: hillis91 & the_hoyle (47%), Runner-up: Bikex (5%)
The two big time shirtmakers share the trophy for best Jersey Designer. Serial winner the_hoyle still is on top of the game despite having less time then before. But hillis91 catches up to him, not only in terms of volume but also in terms of quality. Numerous man-game shirts came through the factories of those two, and they all blister the opposition with quality shirts in numbers.

Best Graphic Artist: the_hoyle & Jacky Durand (40%), Runner-up: hillis91 (13%)
For best Graphic Artist it's another tie, with the_amazing_hoyle doubling it up. Also known for his cool graphical input on HQs, the_hoyle shares the award with Jacky Durand. The later is the mastermind behind the previously glorified sponsorkits, adding an incredible amount of quality and quantity. Beneaths hillis' mention as great shirtmaker also 4th placed Kiserlovski01 should be mentioned, as he finally got rewarded with a nomination for numerous years of awesome story graphics as well as the latest efforts for the Sponsorkits together with JD.

Best Stage Maker: Tamijo (54%), Runner-up: illince (31%)
We know for years now that Tamijo is one of the most valuable members of the site. And while he earned numerous honors up to cult status for his many contributions, maybe the most astonishing is his transition of learning the basics of stage creation by himself into becoming PCM.dailys best statmaker. Cheapau my friend, it shows us all that you can achieve a lot with the right motivation and dedication. Man-Game would be a lot less entertaining without his contributions. Runner-up illince also created awesome stages, especially the creation of lesser known races in the calendar sticks out.

Best Database: PCM.daily Expansion Pack for PCM20 (50%), Runner-up: PCM.daily 2020DB for PCM19 (33%)
The daily-DB defends its title once more, as the team made a cohesive effort to bring the db closer to previous glory after some rougher years. However, the team still needs new members with real life constraints of team members jeopardizing the 2021db-success. If you want to help out or join the 2021db, please drop me a PM! (Yes I'm sneaky here; no I don't care it's for a good cause )

Best (non-DB) Download: ICL19 Development File (40%), Runner-up: 2020 JD Sponsorkits CPE (33%)
Once more glory to the ICL: In the closest of all races the ICL Development File closely has the edge over the Sponsorkits (always the bridesmaid this year) and the PCM Career Explorer. With the others being PCM-relevant add-ons, the ICL19 Development File is unique in terms of dynamics on any game in PCM. The limitless opportunities the file offers in modelling your team and favourite riders easily makes it the most exciting task on any game in the PCM.daily universe; the whole concept of it's dynamics keeps players in the game. Trust me. 

Fantasy Betting: valverde321 (27.600 PCM$), Runner-up: Croatia14 (11.600 PCM$)
This Tour de France was not only the golden cow for Tadej Pogacar, but also the golden opportunity for our top 2 players. Both valverde321 and Croatia14 made a fortune out of betting on him as an overall winner, despite having a lot worse odds than the comparison to real life betting offered. valverde321 splashed more cash and won a comanding victory, more than doubling the amount of his opponence.

Management Game Awards (written by jandal7)

Manager of the Year: knockout (65%), Runner-up: Scorchio (27%)
Always the bridesmaid, never the bride. That was the story of knockout in the MG Manager of the Year Award… no longer. Much like Leonardo DiCaprio in the 2016 Oscars, he’s getting the award maybe not in his best performing year (though he’s sure turning it around in the last third!), but god damn does he deserve it for the years he’s had before. Since his debut in 2014 knockout’s team has gone from strength to strength to a bit average last year to strength again as they currently lead the PT table. He’s a positive and well-liked member of the MG, and has been instrumental in shaping the transfer rules into what they are now. Scorchio comes in second here, with perennial nominee and two-time winner of this award SotD in third.

New Manager of the Year: Fabianski (78%), Runner-up: Ulrich Ulriksen (17%)
The “new” manager of the year field was similar to last year with the simple addition of liefwarrior. Ulrich Ulriksen pulled back a few votes on Fabianski after his 17-1 drubbing last year, but he still had to settle for silver next to the hugely popular and committed new addition. Thanks to all three of you and all the new managers, it’s been very great getting to know you and seeing your teams enter into the MG!

Reporter of the Year: Fabianski (39%), Runner-up: jph27 & AbhishekLFC (22%)
Four essential cogs in the MG machine, the nominees for Reporter of the Year all make huge efforts to keep our game running, all in entertaining style. The winner this year is Fabianski, who regularly flexes his writing skills with lovingly-crafted and detailed epics which he cannot possibly fit into just one post. AbhishekLFC and jph27 tie for second, with cunego59 just one point off their pace.

Team of the Year: Gazelle (64%), Runner-Up: ISA-Hexacta (32%)
The team of the year award, perhaps boringly but definitely deservedly, was duked out between the division winners, and almost perfectly spaced out in order of the divisions. PT champs Gazelle on 16, then 8 below in second place was surprise PCT dominators ISA - Hexacta, before the rebounding Azteca - NBCSN were 7 after that after they climbed out of the CT in fine style.

PT Race of the Year: Giro d'italia (46%), Runner-Up: Paris-Roubaix (31%)
The PT race of the year was a very open field with six nominees, but in the end last season’s Giro d’Italia, reported by return, took the honours. Simon Spilak was a part of a brilliantly-entertaining-two-man-epic-decided-by-under-a-minute-with-Robert-Gesink-in-third for the second year in a row, 2018 was Le Tour when he lost to Taaramae but here he reigned supreme, a last hurrah for the veteran over the new king-in-waiting Silvio Herklotz. Second place went to a truly epic Paris-Roubaix which saw Bewley distanced, come back on the panels of the Velodrome, only to lose a sprint to Lukasz Wisniowski, who won his maiden monument in brilliant style. Go give Kentaurus’ report a read, even if just to see the Bastard lose (and read my Ronde van Vlaanderen 2018 report for similar reasons).

Non-PT Race of the Year: Tour of America & Tour of Cyprus (33%), Runner-Up: Rio Vista Chinesa (22%)
Repeating their success from 2018 was, amazingly, the tied duo of the Tours of Cyprus (reported by Marcovdw) and America (jph27). The former was won by Eduard Beltran during his brilliant 2019 season, with a canny raid on the climbers on the final day. Meanwhile the (P)CT’s own GT was an entertaining battle between some of the PCT’s second tier of climbers, won by Chen Shikai of Rakuten in a fantastic late-season promotion push for the Japanese team. This was America’s fourth win out of the six times this award has been given out!

Best Team HQ: Swisslion Cycling Team & Philips (35%), Runner-Up: Eddie Stobart & Centovalli - Fiat (15%)
Four very dedicated managers and four lovingly crafter HQs fought it out and we ended up with two ties - Centovalli - Fiat and Eddie Stobart share bronze, but at the top it was Lahcen Saber’s two homes in Philips and Swisslion who take out this title for their consistent and well-made updates - one taking a monthly approach, the other race-by race, and both a very enjoyable slice of extra MG content for their fans!

ManGame Betting: Yellow Jersey (1.410 PCM$), Runner-up: Sykkel_Freak (1.310 PCM$)
Yes, there have been ManGame bets this year. Did Yellow Jersey win most of them? I honestly don't know. But no matter whether he did or just consistently scored by getting in the weekly cash, his efforts in the betting section deserve an award. You should drop by at his Echelons website to get some cycling betting tips maybe, just saying. He seems to be the Summerhill of gambling. Also kudos to runner-up Sykkel_Freak and all other participating members!

Cycling Awards

Rider of the Year: Wout van Aert (52%), Runner-Up: Primož Roglič (24%)
In a surprising victory, Wout van Aert claims the PCM.daily rider of the year. He overwhelmes the Slovenian stage racing duo of Roglic & Pogacar, the arguable most successful riders on the World Rankings (1. Roglic, 2. Pogacar, 3. van Aert). Strade Bianchi, Milan - San Remo, 2 stages at Le Tour and one at the Dauphine alongside great support rides were enough to take the crown for the CX-rider.

Surprise (Rider) of the Year: Marc Hirschi (46%), Runner-Up: Jai Hindley (31%)
The only non-Stage Racer of the party, Marc Hirschi, takes the award as Suprise of the Season. The Swiss Enfant Terrible made news lately by switching to "beloved" UAE Emirates in sketchy circumstances, seeking for more individual freedom (including ketones) and money at his new team. Last year however he was the revelation of the season, not only winning a Tour-stage and Fleche Wallone, but also coming 2nd at Liege-Bastogne-Liege and 3rd at the Worlds. He surely is classics-star in the making. Second comes Jai Hindley, who finished 2nd at the Giro coming out of nowhere.

Team of the Year: Team Jumbo - Visma (82%), Runner-Up: Deceuninck - QuickStep (18%)
Despite another strong year for the Wolfpack including Joao Almeida breaking out, there is no way looking past Jumbo. They put their mark on all the races they took part in, including dominant performances at the Tour and La Vuelta. Roglic and van Aert took big wins, the 2nd unit around Kuss and Bennett is doing well either. Glorious times for the better version of Rabobank. 

Grand Tour of the Year: Giro d'Italia (48%), Runner-up: Tour de France (44%)
After a close race it's the Giro taking the win as Grand Tour of the year. Despite having a startlist that some HC-races could top, the race catalyzed entertainment such as the emergence of new Grand Tour contenders in Hindley, Hart and Almeida, big breakaway performances from the likes of Ganna, Dowsett or Tratnik or drama on the final time trial. Runner-up is the Tour, where Pogacar managed to steal the victory from Jumbo - Visma, whose leader Roglic almost looked triumphirant before the Planche des Belles Filles changed everything.

Grand Tour Stage of the Year: Tour de France Stage 29 (53%), Runner-up: Giro d'Italia Stage 18 (32%)
Speaking of which, the famous time trial with a superhuman performance by young Tadej Pogacar takes the win as stage of the year. With a transcendend ride Pogacar virtually overtook Roglic in the last 3 kilometers of the race, overcoming a gap where one was almost sure Roglic would take the victory home. Stage 18 follows, where Hindley batteled down Tao Hart after crossing the epic Stelvio on the path to Laghi di Cancano.

WT Stage Race of the Year: BinckBank Tour (53%), Runner-Up: Critérium du Dauphiné (33%)
BinckBank Tour wins the race for the best WT stage race as Mathieu van der Poel raced away on the last stage, to win the stage solo and the final race classification. After Covid-19 shattered the race early, it took all the right turns lateron. Criterium du Dauphine finishes 2nd for good racing despite a horrific organisation effictively crahing out 3/4 of the initial GC contenders.

Non-WT Stage Race of the Year: Sibiu Cycling Tour (42%), Runner-Up: Tour de l'Ain & VOO Tour de Wallonie (17%)
Sibiu Cycling Tour takes a well deserved victory as the race that brought profession cycling back on the table after pandemic break. Bora dominated the race, but great organisation and beautiful scenery on the Balea Lac stage made for a great race. Runner-Up is the Tour de l'Ain, the pre-Tour race where all the big favourites clashed and Jumbo for the first time overwhelmed Ineos, and also the Tour de Wallonie, which had some great fights between sprinter teams and attackers.

Stage (non-GT) of the Year: Criterium du Dauphine Stage 5 (50%), Runner-up: Tour de Pologne Stage 4 (36%)
No guys, this is NOT the race for the worst organization, but actually for the best Stage. Unbelievable right? But yes, there also was good racing! Oldschool stage 5 of the Dauphine takes the win, on a day where the stage to Megeve got hot earlyon Sepp Kuss won big time on the final kilometers and announced himself as one of the best riders on the climbs. Also Tour de Pologne is here to please all the Remco-fanboys and a cinderella story of home-rider Kamil Malecki contending with the best.

WT Classic of the Year: Strade Bianche (50%), Runner-up: Liege - Bastogne - Liege (31%)
Strade Bianchi is the "new" king of the classics. After racing in the blistering heat this year, the race turned out to be incredibly selective, with the 12th being over 10 minutes behind at the end. A group of the seven strongest riders formed mid-race, at the end it was a 3-way battle. Van Aert dropped Formolo and Schachmann on the penultimate climb to celebrate an outstanding victory, while Formolo just held off Schachmann for 2nd. Liege-Bastogne-Liege came second, where in a quastionable sprint of five Roglic zabel'd Alaphilippe, who then got relegated for cutting of Hirschis sprint and ending his winning chances.

Non-WT Classic of the Year: De Brabantse Pijl - La Fleche Brabanconne (50%), Giro dell'Emilia & Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenge (25%)
For the last award the cobbled/hill hybrid classic wins it. Alaphilippe, van der Poel and Cosnefroy battled it out, and the World Champion took the win in the final sprint. Running up were Emilia and Mont Ventoux, two great wins of emerging star Alex Vlasov, with nothing more famous than his last minute catch at the Basilica dell Emilia on Joao Almeida.

And that ends the awards! Congratulations to all the winners, once again, and all of you who nominated and voted. Everyone makes the site such a great place, not just the names above me, and so here's to a great 2021 on Daily! As usual, credit goes to emmea for creating the signature design used for the userbars.