Who Really Deserves the Vélo d’Or? Let the Debate Begin

Published October 30, 2026 10:54AM

Who is the best rider in pro cycling? The Velo d’Or prize tries to answer that.

The road season is over, but there’s still some prizes to dole out with cycling’s most prestigious and sometimes controversial awards.

L’Équipe revealed the nominees Thursday, with the winners set to collect their trophies November 28 at the Fairmont Monte Carlo in Monaco in a posh, Oscar night-style party.

Some of these are no-brainers. Demi Vollering will be the overwhelming favorite after winning a second yellow jersey and her first rainbow title.

Tadej Pogačar could match Alberto Contador as the all-time winner of four times. He’ll face off against the likes of world champion Brandon McNulty, French phenom Paul Seixas, and Vuelta winner Enric Mas.

There’s more hardware up for grabs this year, too. Four new awards will honor the best male and female sprinters and rookies, with fans deciding the rookie winners.

Created by Vélo Magazine in 1992, the Vélo d’Or – the “golden bike” in French — is cycling’s answer to soccer’s Ballon d’Or.

Winners are chosen by an international panel of cycling journalists based on wins, star power, versatility, and panache. (Full disclosure: I’m on that jury. And whittling down the winners can be harder than you’d think.)

But will Pogačar’s injury-shortened season undercut his chances of winning? Let’s dive in.

Vollering — a class of her own?

This one should be a sure bet. Vollering dominated every race she started, and won her second yellow jersey and her first world title.

Lorena Wiebes could pick up some votes for her dominance in the sprints, but she’ll be a lock for that new award. Spain’s Paula Blasi — who recently penned a blockbuster deal with Movistar — could be an outsider.

Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney — winner on Mont Ventoux — and Marlen Reusser are other contenders, but this one’s all but certain for DemVol.

A stand-alone women’s category was created in 2022, and Vollering could become the first repeat winner.

The big name missing? Defending winner Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, although she’s still in the running for the French women’s award.

The women’s nominees:

Pogačar has competition in his own team bus

Even with crashing out of the Vuelta a España and missing the worlds, Pogačar will probably win again, but his stiffest competition could come from within his UAE Emirates-XRG team bus.

Isaac del Toro and newly crowned world champion McNulty — the only American nominated — join him on the shortlist, giving UAE three of the 10 spots.

How to measure up Pogačar’s season? King Pog absolutely dominated the 2026 season, and only a superb Wout van Aert could deny him Paris-Roubaix. A crash doesn’t diminish his fantastic season, but his absence did open the doors for many on this list.

Mas brings a Vuelta title, while Seixas gets a seat alongside some of the biggest names of the past decade. Remco Evenepoel was unstoppable against the clock, McNulty won America’s first rainbow since the 1990s, and Van Aert could be an emotional favorite.

The men’s nominees:

One big day can go a long way

The classics awards give the one-day specialists their own moment on the stage, although there’s plenty of crossover with the main event.

This sometimes can get sloppy. With today’s top riders so versatile, it’s hard to pigeon-hole a rider like Pogačar into one category.

A few years ago, fans were outraged when Mathieu van der Poel was named best classics rider and Pogačar won the overall prize. Can that happen again this year?

All five men’s finalists also made the overall shortlist. On the women’s side, Lotte Kopecky and Puck Pieterse are hoping to win based on what they delivered on a single afternoon.

Women: Franziska Koch, Lotte Kopecky, Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney, Puck Pieterse and Demi Vollering.

Men: Remco Evenepoel, Tadej Pogačar, Paul Seixas, Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel.

Finally, something for the sprinters

The fast finishers finally see their own trophies this year. About time, some might say.

The new awards give sprinting its due, especially with sprinters increasingly seeing fewer opportunities to shine as grand tours have become more challenging over the past two decades (though the men’s 2027 Tour de France sees a revival of sorts).

Wiebes is the only rider on both the women’s sprint and overall shortlists. Matthew Brennan has two chances here, with nominations for sprinting and the rookie prize.

Women: Elisa Balsamo, Lara Gillespie, Charlotte Kool, Nienke Veenhoven and Lorena Wiebes.

Men: Matthew Brennan, Paul Magnier, Tim Merlier, Jonathan Milan and Jasper Philipsen.

Fans can vote on rookie prize

And “rookie” comes with some fine print. Riders qualify through standout performances on their first appearance at a grand tour, monument, or world championships, so they don’t necessarily have to be first-year pros.

Best French rider

The French rider awards means the hometown stars won’t leave empty-handed, with Seixas appearing on his fourth shortlist of the evening.

Women: Juliette Berthet, Marion Bunel, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, Célia Gery and Cédrine Kerbaol.

Men: Dorian Godon, Romain Grégoire, Paul Magnier, Lenny Martinez and Paul Seixas.

For the main Vélo d’Or awards, each journalist ranks five riders from the respective 10-person lists. First gets five points, second gets four, and so on down to one point for fifth.

Sounds straightforward until you’re staring at the ballot and trying to decide who gets left off.

The ceremony will hand out 12 awards, including para-cycling honors, and will air live on L’Équipe’s free-to-air French television channel.