MEMBER AWARDS

Member of the Year: cunego59 (48%); Runners-Up: AbhishekLFC, baseballlover312, Nemolito (17%)
MOTY is the crown jewel of Daily awards, awarded to the very best among us in the most complete sense. In year's past it has been a close race, but not this year. Cunego almost tripled the vote total of his competitors, who all tied behind in second. It's not hard to see why. Cunego is a massive force in the Management Game, where he is a talented, frequent reporter and manager of the newly promoted Bralirwa. He is also a key member of the Daily DB team and is active across many other places on the site. Not to mention, he's a huge part of why these awards were able to happen at all, as he was a driving force behind their organization and execution. Thank you cunego59! You deserve this!



New Member of the Year: DarkWolf (70%); Runner-Up: Laurens147
In very short order, DarkWolf has made his presence known as a positive force in our community. He joined MG this past year and has been one of the most active new members in the CT division. He also participates in ICL and various other forum games, helping to spur discussion and activity. Not to mention, he has quickly become one of the site's premiere graphic designers with his jersey showroom. He beats out Laurens147, who has certainly made his mark on our site as well, highlighted by frequent activity and a really fun MG team.



Most Improved Member: Ulrich Ulriksen (56%); Runner-up: Nemolito (32%)
Ulrich Ulriksen joined Daily way back in 2010, but it wasn't until recently that he emerged from the lurker shadows full time, and boy did he emerge. He's quickly become an integral user across the site. He's an active member of ICL and RTG, and has helped the MG both through reporting and offering insights and testing for PCM's implementation. We're all thankful he decided to step up. Nemolito is a more than worthy runner up, as he continued to improve on his already fantastic first year in 2020.



Admin of the Year: roturn (52%); Runner-Up: Croatia14 (28%)
Same winner and runner up as last year, though by a much wider margin. No one else came close. You can't really say enough about Roturn to encapsulate just how much he means to this site. These days, he seems to run the show. Daily remains useable (actually more useable than a year or two ago) thanks to his efforts. You know you can go to him when you need an admin for anything, and he'll be there. And you can't shortchange the degree to which the Man Game's continuance is thanks to him.



Most Helpful Member of the Year: AbhishekLFC (33%); Runner-Up: cunego59 (25%)
One of the strongest fields of all categories this year. Every nominee received at least 20% of the vote, highlighting the degree to which all of these members positively impact the community. AbhishekLFC emerges as the best though. He's impossible to miss in every area of the site, and he's always willing to help others with their projects and issues despite also successfully running his own initiatives, such as RTG.



Funniest Member: jandal7 (54%); Runner-up: Ripley (29%)
Before most votes had even been cast, jandal opined that he had no shot due to the low concentration of Zoomers present on the site, but he should happy to find out that he couldn't have been more wrong. It seems the community really appreciates his lighthearted humor, which can be found in the PCT Conglomerate each year, but also cuts through in his posts across the site. He defeats Ripley, who has a long track record of humor in his own right, including some of the sites most famous memes.



Most Missed Members: Ian Butler & Cruetrue (46%); Runners-Ups: brewers90 & Jesleyh (4%)
It was a two way battle for most missed member this year, and it was not resolved, as we get our first tie of the awards, between two titans of the site. Cruetrue founded PCM.Daily back in 2006 and is the reason any of us are here. This year, his Man Game team disbanded after 14 seasons, and he has not been seen since July. But if he is truly gone from the site, he won't be forgotten. The same can obviously be said for Ian Butler, who is almost certainly the most prolific non-admin in the site's history. From his stories, forum games, and constant activity, he clearly touched so many members of this community, and Daily's history can't be told without him. Luckily, he stops in to say high now and again, so he may see our congratulations! Additionally, we can all be thankful that with Hesleyh's performance this year, it seems confirmed that he will never win an award.




Best Forum Thread: "PCT Roundtable analysis 2021 p/b 'The Conglomerate'" & "The Great Big MG Survey - RESULTS IN FOUR PARTS" (36%); Runner-Up: "I'm with stupid 2021" (27%)
After disappointment last year, the Conglomerate - AbhishekLFC, Croatia14, jandal7, and knockout - have reclaimed their title for best forum thread thanks to their valuable insights and humor predicting the PCT MG season. But they are not alone. Another MG initiative, this time by TheManxMissile, joins them with a very interesting survey of MG users in which they shared their opinions, strategies, and motivations. 3rd place goes to I'm With Stupid, which made a successful return to the site after being gone for several years.




Best Avatar: alexkr00 (41%); Runner-up: Mresuperstar (23%)
He just barely missed out last year, but alexkr00 clearly takes the throne this year thanks to his hilarious gif featuring upcoming talent Robert Gesink. Mresuperstar comes in next with a really well designed new logo for his user "brand."



Best Story Writer: Mresuperstar (59%); Runner-Up: Kiserlovski01 (24%)
The king remains on his throne. Mre has been one Daily's best writers for over a decade now, and he continues to show that skill in every Diamonds in the Rough update. We have been especially proud to learn about how his story writing skills translated to his real life career. Kiserlovski01 takes second once again, a legend in his own right.



Best Team Story: "Caja Rural" by Kiserlovski01 (50%); Runner-Up: "Chasing Yellow" by valverde321 (25%)
He may have missed out in the previous category, but Kiserlovski01 makes up for it by taking the Best Team award for his tales of Caja Rural, a story he has been masterfully telling with a very captive audience since 2015. He beats another one of Daily's historical story giants, valverde321.



Best One-Rider Story: "Diamonds in the Rough" by Mresuperstar (85%); Runners-up: "João Almeida Pro Cyclist Mode" by dany schleck & The Manx Missile: Target Merckx" by thehoyle (8%)
A dominating win for Mre in this category. That's not to knock the runners up, but Mre is in a league of his own when it comes to one rider stories, as he's shown various times over many years. Diamonds in the Rough defends its title again.



Best Forum Game: ICL (38%); Runner-up: Daily Destroyers (21%)
Is it time to retire ICL from the awards? As is, it's almost not fair. Daily Destroyers, a new Fifa series by Nemolito, deservedly made a run, but it had no chance to beat ICL. Bikex continues to run a story game that goes deeper and offers more innovation and interaction than anything else like it. There's just nothing more satisfying than playing around with that development file for hours.



Best User Project: "ICL" by Bikex (58%); Runner-up: "Daily Destroyers" by Nemolito(15%)
An even more dominating win for ICL is this category, against some same competitors and some different. Doesn't matter, ICL could have a site all its own, so it claims victory once again.



Best Site Initiative: Management Game (88%); Runner-up: PCM.daily Awards (12%)
The most lopsided victory of the awards this year, the Management Game continues to be the primary reason a lot of members come to PCM Daily. It's run with remarkable efficiency thanks to the help of so many members and admins despite slower activity in other parts of the site. The nomination snub of the Daily DB team also left it without much competition, as the Awards themselves mop up the remaining points (and the organizers of that initiative deserve a lot of praise and attention too, if I do say so myself).

Best Jersey Designer: the_hoyle (45%); Runner-up: hillis91 (35%)
A close battle between two juggernauts of the jersey making community for the last few years, but it's the_hoyle who wins this one. He continues to supply kits for a large portion of MG teams, and not a single one falters in quality. hillis can say the same for himself though, and DarkWolf showed massive potential in his first year on the site. He'll be a challenger in this award going forward for sure.



Best Graphic Artist: the_hoyle (47%); Runner-up: hillis91 (29%)
Jersey makers are also some of the most notable graphic artists for PCM, and the_hoyle proves that by winning this title as well, again followed by hillis91. JackyDurand deserves a mention for his sponsorkits, which have won this category before and add a key level of immersion to PCM's 3D races.



Best Stage Maker: Tamijo (77%); Runner-up: illince (23%)
Same top 2 as last year here, and for good reason. Tamijo appears to be the undisputed king of stage making, and the attention he puts into depicting local regions accurately is unparalleled. Both he and illince also gain a lot of respect from fellow forum members for the critical contributions their stages make to the functioning of the Management Game.



Best Database: PCM.daily 2021DB for PCM 20 (71%); Runner-up: Management Game DB for PCM 18 (18%)
It's another victory for the Daily DB team. And while we might be a little bias, I don't think anyone could deny the fantastic work all of the team's members do in providing the most accurate and complete databases year in and year out. This time they win for the 2021 DB they released for PCM 20, but if PCM 21 is more your speed these days, look for the Expansion Pack instead!

Best (non-DB) Download: ICL20 Development File (39%); Runner-up: 2020 JD Sponsorkits CPE (33%)
The closest category so far. The ICL Development file beats Jacky Durand's sponsorkits by a single vote. I've only spent a year in ICL so far, but that file is one of the most complex and intuitive systems of user interaction I have seen, and it was developed by a single man: Bikex. Nothing beats the satisfying feeling of seeing a young star develop just the way you want, but just as important is the the file makes you think about salvaging a middling rider's career by changing things up. That's no knock on JD's sponsorkits though, which remain a must have for any PCM fan.



Fantasy Betting Champion: roturn (5,951 PCM$); Runner-up: df_Trek (5,749 PCM$)
Not many bets this year, but it's Roturn who takes the crown. His Strade Bianche bet on Mathieu van der Poel, along with weekly activity, was the biggest factor is getting him to the top.



MANAGEMENT GAME AWARDS

Manager of the Year: redordead (39%); Runner-up: AbhishekLFC (35%)
A very close race between all three nominees. redordead just narrowly takes it, and truly is the ideal manager. Active in every race thread, constantly churning out great reports, and producing tons of well made content for his HQ. Similar praises can be said for AbhishekLFC and Ulrich Ulriksen, who just missed out.



New Manager of the Year: Nemolito (80%); Runner-up: cunego59 (16%)
These nominations were for the 2020 MG season, and it seems Nemolito was the consensus pick. Very few if any managers start as well as Nemolito. His activity was not only frequent but extremely substantive from the very beginning. Soon, he became one of best and most frequent reporters in the game as well. Not to mention, he got caught up to speed on managing very quickly, earning PCT promotion for his Central American team Los Pollos Hermanos after their inaugural season.



Reporter of the Year: Nemolito (50%); Runner-up: redordead (25%)
This was a slightly tougher category for Nemolito, but he prevails once again over some prime competition. The sheer volume of his reports is enough to place him here - it sometimes feels like Nemolito is behind every race his team isn't in - but he certainly does not trade quality for quantity. The length of his reports, the well placed screenshots, and the level of detail all show the tremendous effort his puts into the game. Redordead is no slouch either though. He recently showcased his talents with phenomenal reports on the Giro, so check them out!



Team of the Year: Isostar - Specialized (64%); Runner-Ups: Farfetch Pro Cycling & Grieg-Maersk (14%)
There are lots of crafty managers and very fun teams in Man Game, but it was hard to look past Croatia14's Isostar this year. The Men in Lime stormed their way to PT victory in 2020 with a strong Slovenian national identity at their core, a combination that is hard to come by at the top levels of the game. With nowhere left to climb for that project, Croatia decided to tear it down and rebuild. And inexplicably, despite offloading much of his PT winning team, Isostar remain competing for the title this season. Runner up spots go to Farfetch, a team of perpetual youth, and Scandinavian Grieg, who have perhaps the strong cobbles squad ever built.



PT Race of the Year: Paris-Roubaix 2021(83%); Runner-Up: Clasica San Sebastian 2020(11%)
Roubaix is always a fan favorite, but this year it really ran away with the voting. Reported by Nemolito, this year's Hell of the North featured tons of attacking, recoveries, and a memorable triumph by the GOAT, Sam Bewley. The Kiwi took his record 7th Roubaix in the Velodrome at the age of 34.

Non-PT Race of the Year: GP Izola 2021 (54%); Runner-Up: Vuelta a Tachira 2020 (31%)
The Non-PT ROTY this year goes to a C2HC race, and one in very recent memory. Slovenian legend Marko Kump claimed victory for HelloFresh on home soil, while wearing his national colors. After attacking several times and launching an early sprint, Kump managed to hold off his competitors through what can only be the mythical nationality bonus. 2020 Tachira, the CT mini-GT, finishes second. There, Thibault Pinot showed his climbing superiority and started what would end up as a somewhat surprising promotion campaign for Project: Africa.

Best Team HQ: Eddie Stobart (27%); Runners-Up: Cedevita & Los Pollos Hermanos (23%)
This was a very close race. Each manager nominated is known for consistent updates, in depth analysis, and highly aesthetic graphics and formatting in their HQ's. Nevertheless, Eddie Stobart comes out on top. The voters decided that nobody can match the dedication sutty68 has had for many years, posting a recap of almost every stage his team rides, regardless of his team's results.
[img]https://pcmdaily.com/images/mg/Awards2021/teamhq21.png [/img]

CYCLING AWARDS

Rider of the Year: Tadej Pogacar (65%); Runner-Up: Wout Van Aert (15%)
The votes came in, and the answer was clear. Tadej Pogačar is your rider of the year. This should hardly be surprising. In addition to dominating the Tour de France, the Slovenian managed to win two monuments, adding both Liege-Bastogne-Liege and the Giro di Lombardia to his palmares. Add to that an Olympic Medal and a Tirreno win as well. In any other year, Wout Van Aert's astonishing TDF, where he won in a mass sprint, Ventoux, and an ITT, might have given him the crown. But he was simply bested this year.

Surprise (Rider) of the Year: Mark Cavendish (52%); Runner-Up: Anna Keisenhofer (20%)
In a timeless vaccuum, there's nothing less surprising than Mark Cavendish winning four stages of the Tour de France. But in 2021, there was nothing more surprising. At the beginning of the year, it was unclear if the Manx Missile would even race again, but by late July he had tied Eddy Merckx record for TDF stage wins. He defeats Anna Keisenhofer, who also beat improbable odds by taking the Olympic Gold Medal from an early breakaway and daring solo move.

Team of the Year: Bahrain Victorious (33%); Runner-Up: Alpecin-Fenix (29%)
Bahrain takes this one by a single vote. For one reason or another, everyone on Bahrain seemed to have a career year this season. Sonny Colbrelli surprised everyone by showing some climbing legs in the Giro, and then took Roubaix in his first attempt. Damiano Caruso proved he was not a veteran domestique, but a GT contender by finishing 2nd in the Giro. Mark Padun won back to back mountain stages on his own in Dauphine, and Matej Mohoric won two Tour stages. At the same time, Alpecin-Fenix had one of the best seasons ever for a UCI ProTeam, winning GT stages and placing highly in monuments, led by Mathieu van der Poel, Jasper Philpsen, and Tim Merlier.

Grand Tour of the Year: Giro d'Italia (56%); Runner-up: Tour de France (25%)
Not a ton of competition here - most people seemed to agree that the Giro was the best GT this year. Compared to the dominating performances of Pogocar and Roglic in the TDF and Vuelta respectively, the Giro offered several interesting storylines and moments of suspense. In the end, Egan Bernal held on to win the pink jersey. We also saw breakout performances by guys like Vlasov and Foss, drama at Quickstep, and a top 5 GC placing decided by milliseconds.

Grand Tour Stage of the Year: Giro d'Italia - Stage 17 (47%); Runner-up: Tour de France - Stage 11 (40%)
In a two horse race, stage 17 of the Giro comes out on top. This stage saw Dan Martin take his final career victory, holding off the favorites alone from a breakaway despite having less than a minute and a half gap at the bottom of the final climb. Meanwhile, a huge GC shakeup happened behind. After winning the day prior, Egan Bernal had a moment of weakness, letting João Almeida and Simon Yates gain significant time up the road while he was aided by Dani Martinez. Wout Van Aert's Ventoux solo win comes up just short.

WT Stage Race of the Year: Tirreno-Adriatico (79%); Runner-Up: Paris-Nice (14%)
Easy win for Tirreno-Adriatico here, which means another win for Tadej Pogocar. The race parcours led to some very interesting races and opportunities for the puncheurs. Van der Poel managed to take two of those stages himself, one from a sprint and one by attacking.

Non-WT Stage Race of the Year: Tour of Slovenia & Tour of Turkey (29%); Runners-Up: Tour de l'Avenir & Tour of Rwanda (21%)
It's a tie! In the Tour of Slovenia, Pogocar won on home soil through a powerful solo offense on stage 2. The Tour of Turkey will best best known for its sprints, where Mark Cavendish won 4 stages and forced the doubters to consider that he might still have a future at the top.

WT Classic of the Year: Paris-Roubaix (83%); Runner-up: Il Lombardia (11%)
In a shockingly similar vote to its Man game counterpart, Roubaix is the definitive consensus in this category. We got rain. We got mud. We got punctures, and crashes, and chaos. And we got mud. Did I mention the mud? A long day of various attacks came down to a three man sprint in the Velodrome, and somehow, someway, it was Sonny Colbrelli, sporting his European Champion jersey, who had the most left. At 31, he won his very first time riding the Hell of the North.

Non-WT Classic of the Year: Men's Olympic Road Race & Women's Olymic Road Race (25%), World Championships RR (30%)
Our last category is a tie, and a very fitting one. The men's and women's version of the Olympic Road Race each got the same amount of votes. This might be the first time in Awards history that the race(s) that won was not originally supposed to be held in the year it won, as both races were part of the "2020" Olympics. The men's race saw Richard Carapaz win gold from a solo attack, while the women's race was won by Anna Kiesenhofer in the long range breakaway described above.

That is a wrap on the 2021 PCM.Daily Awards! Congratulations to all the victors! Be sure to put your new banner in your signature and show off your hardware. Congratulations as well to all those nominated. You all bring an incredible amount of value to this website, and I know I speak for everyone when I say I'm proud to share this community with you. Thank you to all who nominated and voted, and thank you to cunego59 for making all the signature banners, from the original design made by emmea.