Lotte Kopecky and Tadej Pogaçar won this year’s Vélo d'Or awards for men and women, presented in a formal ceremony in Paris on Friday evening. Kopecky and Pogaçar were also awarded the Eddy Merckx Trophy for Best Classics rider.
Created in 1992, the Vélo d'Or aims to crown the world's best rider at the end of each season. For the second time in its 32-year history, the winners were revealed in person with a ceremony attended by most of the nominees.
Runner-up the past two years of the Vélo d'Or Femmes award since it’s inception in 2022, Kopecky claimed the top honours on the strength of a season that included the road world championships title, victories at Paris-Roubaix, Strade Bianche, Tour de Romandie, Simac Ladies Tour in addition to finishing second overall at the Giro d’Italia and earning Olympic bronze medal.
Kopecky could not attend the ceremony held at the Pavillon Gabriel, just off the Champs-Élysées as she is currently in Finland staying at Team SD Worx-Protime’s team-building camp, and provided a recorded video message.
It could only be Pogaçar to be honoured at the world’s best male rider in 2024. The 26-year-old dominated the season, amassing 25 victories including the Giro d’Italia - Tour de France double, road world championship, two Monuments with Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and Il Lombardia. He also claimed the Tirreno-Adriatico and Paris-Nice. Pogaçar also won the Velo d’Or in 2021.
Present at the ceremony, Pogaçar was awarded the Eddy Merckx Trophy for Best Classics rider by Tom Boonen.
Luis Ángel Maté received the inaugural Gino Mäder Prize, recognizing his efforts in environmental and societal initiatives. This award, created in honour of the late Swiss rider Gino Mäder—who tragically passed away following a crash during the 2023 Tour de Suisse and was deeply committed to environmental causes—celebrates a rider's dedication to making a positive impact on social and environmental causes.
In September, the Spanish veteran celebrated his retirement by riding the 600 kilometres from the Vuelta finish in Madrid to his home in Marbella in the south of Spain. During the 2022 Vuelta, Maté pledged to plant a tree in the Sierra de Bermeja mountains near his home for every kilometre he spent in a breakaway. This initiative was a response to the devastating forest fires that had severely impacted the area.
Olympic mountain bike gold medalist Pauline Ferrand-Prévot and Romain Bardet were recognized as the top French riders of the past season. Ferrand-Prévot, a multi-time World Champion, accepted the Trophée Daniel Morelon for Olympic disciplines for the second consecutive year. Bardet was honoured with the Bernard Hinault Trophy as the best French road cyclist.
Harrie Lavreysen, a triple Olympic track gold medalist at the Paris Games and 16-time world champion, was honored with the trophy for Best Olympic Male Rider. The 27-year-old Dutchman was unable to attend the ceremony as he was competing in the UCI Track Champions League in London.
Double Paralympic champion and world champion Alexandre Léauté won the Best French Para-Cyclist Vélo d’Or.
