Pogacar, Evenepoel, van der Poel, Van Aert, Vollering - The finalists of the 2026 Velo d'Or have been revealed

Cycling
mathieuvanderpoel tadejpogacar
The 2026 Velo d'Or, road cycling's most prestigious award, will be handed out to the best male and female riders of the year on the 28th November 2026. The 10 nominees for both male and female categories have been revealed, featuring the likes of Tadej Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel, Mathieu van der Poel, Wout Van Aert, Jonas Vingegaard and Demi Vollering.
Within the male field, Tadej Pogacar will be the ultimate favourite to take the win, despite the injury that decimated his end of the season. Nevertheless, he has won the Tour de France, Milano-Sanremo, Tour of Flanders, Liége-Bastogne-Liège, Strade Bianche, Tour de Suisse and Tour de Romandie - with a total amount of victories superior to 20.
The fight for the podium will be very interesting, featuring La Vuelta winner Enric Mas; Giro d'Italia winner Jonas Vingegaard - who has also won Paris-Nice and the Volta a Catalunya; Felix Gall who finished on the podium of both is also present.
Time trial World Champion Remco Evenepoel is on the list after several strong performances all throughout the year - with victories at the Tour de France, Clásica San Sebastián, GP de Québec and Amstel Gold Race amongst his tally. Il Lombardia winner Paul Seixas is present, having also finished second to Tadej Pogacar at Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Strade Bianche.
Brandon McNulty earned himself a position on the list after conquering the rainbow jersey at the Montréal World Championships; whilst Tour de France white jersey Isaac del Toro completes the climber list - he has also won the UAE Tour, Tirreno-Adriatico and Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.
Within the classics riders, Wout Van Aert makes his presence felt with a strong Paris-Roubaix win and a green jersey at the Vuelta a España that came with several stage wins; Whilst Mathieu van der Poel completes the list - having won at the Tour de France, but failing to take a win throughout his key goals during the cobbled classics.

Male nominees for 2026 Velo d'Or

Riders
Isaac del Toro
Remco Evenepoel
Felix Gall
Enric Mas
Brandon McNulty
Tadej Pogacar
Paul Seixas
Wout Van Aert
Mathieu van der Poel
Jonas Vingegaard
Tadej Pogacar was leading the Vuelta a España at the time of his withdrawal
Despite his shortcomings, Tadej Pogacar should be the favourite to win the men's 2026 Velo d'Or
When it comes to the female field there is also a very clear outlier within the riders present in Demi Vollering, the reigning World and European Champion; Tour de France Femmes and Giro Donne winner of 2026 - amongst many others. It will be a one-woman show, although several riders have stepped up this year to contest the spot with her.
Lorena Wiebes has maintained her position as the peloton's top sprinter, dominating the competition all-year round. Marlen Reusser has won the World and European time trial titles, as well as races such as Dwars door Vlaanderen and the Tour de Suisse ahead of Vollering.
Paula Blasi conquered La Vuelta Femenina, whilst also taking a key breakthrough victory at Amstel Gold Race Ladies. Notably, Paris-Roubaix Femmes and Milano-Sanremo Donne winners Franziska Koch and Lotte Kopecky are missing from the list.
Juliette Berthet, Kim Le Court, Elisa Longo Borghini, Antonia Niedermaier, Katarzyna Niewiadoma and Anna van der Breggen conclude the list.

Female nominees for 2026 Velo d'Or

Riders
Juliette Berthet
Paula Blasi
Kim Le Court-Pienaar
Elisa Longo Borghini
Antonia Niedermaier
Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney
Marlen Reusser
Anna van der Breggen
Demi Vollering
Lorena Wiebes
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