The 2023 road season has reached its conclusion and we want to hear from you! Who has impressed you the most over the past campaign?
Your opinion counts and every vote matters so with that in mind comes our first award... Breakthrough Rider of the Year.
Firstly of course, the nominees.
Ben Healy
A tremendous campaign from the talented young Irishman, Healy took a total of five wins including stage 8 of the Giro d'Italia and the road race at the Irish National Championships. Although he wasn't able to win one, it was arguably his performances in the Spring Classics that most impressed however. Finishing 2nd at Brabantse Pijl, 2nd at Amstel Gold Race and 4th at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Healy proved himself as one of the most talented one day racers in the peloton today during 2023.
Joshua Tarling
Just 19 years old, Tarling could hardly have dreamed of a better debut campaign at World Tour level. Crowning himself British National time-trial champion and European time-trial champion, Tarling very nearly took the World Championships in Glasgow too, settling for a bronze medal. Finishing the season in style, Tarling got revenge on Remco Evenepoel with victory at the Chrono des Nations.
Derek Gee
One of the stars of the Giro d'Italia, Gee impressed everyone with his never-say-die attitude during the race. Although he was sadly unable to take that elusive stage win, four second-place finishes and ending the race second overall in both the points classification and the King of the Mountains classification, the Canadian lit up his first career Grand Tour.
Arnaud De Lie
10 wins in total, including his first career win at World Tour level in Quebec, De Lie really seemed to take a step up in 2023. Finishing the year at a very high-level, De Lie was a key component in Wout van Aert's second-place finish at the European Championships with some even believing if the roles had been reversed, De Lie could have taken victory himself.
Jonathan Milan
Just his third year at World Tour lever, Milan took on a Grand Tour for the first time in his career at the Giro d'Italia and it's fair to say he was quite impressive. Having to wait just two stages for his first Grand Tour stage win, Milan managed to take overall victory in the points classification. His form during the year also earned the 23-year-old a big money move to Lidl-Trek.
Felix Gall
The saviour of AG2R Citroen Team's Tour de France, Gall was a consistently high-level performer throughout the year. Top-10 general classification finishes at each of the Itzulia Basque Country, the Tour of the Alps and the aforementioned Tour de France, the 25-year-old Austrian stepped up a level in 2023 and now looks set to lead his over the coming seasons.
Puck Pieterse
Just 21 years old, Pieterse was one of the stars of the cyclocross campaign towards the start of this year. Finishing second behind her compatriot Fem van Empel at the cyclocross World Championships, the Dutchwoman also made her first steps into a career on the road, achieving a very creditable 5th placed finish at Strade Bianche Donne.
Gaia Realini
Stepping up to women's World Tour level in 2023 with Lidl-Trek, Realini had an incredibly successful campaign with a number of great results such as second overall at the UAE Tour Women, 3rd at Fleche Wallone, 7th at Liège-Bastogne-Liège and a very impressive podium finish at both the Giro d'Italia Donne and La Vuelta Femenina.
Read also
So who do you think should win? Use the poll below to cast your vote!
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- Yeah, unreal.
parisbound0008-11-2026 - there needs to be space in life for pointless comments!Ketterechts08-11-2026
- That is a very lazy way of putting it but so far on this website it seems like everyone is happy to look at everything lazily, even things that annoy them intensely. All they want to do is state their feeling and position but ask most to analyse a problem or come up with solutions or improvements and you’re stunned by silence. Nobody even really knows how this all happens. It’s very simple and quick to just say the UCI did it but I bet you they didn’t, I bet you not more than 2 people were involved, more likely just 1. The UCI may be ultimately responsible but it is not their decision, this is about hierarchy, power and delegation. The fact that protest is possible also means it isn’t over and that MORE people could get involved for a thorough review which could throw up anything. It is highly likely it was a sole commissar who decided and has that power in a first round. Therein might lie the problem the UCI has to consider, is it acceptable to give so much authority to one single person when it is quite possible for them to have a natural bias or be too easily susceptible to imposed bias. Who is to say an individual in this position isn’t susceptible to collaboration with outside players with interests in the results, nations, families, teams, betting companies, etc. On the one hand we have sports where these problems have been worked on way more to reduce such problems, on the other hand we have sports with far stricter and more draconian rules not even concerning safety or obstruction that nobody really questions like false starts or stepping out of lane or zones in athletics. If cycling hastowork on itself, it would be good if protagonists (all kinds) would start doing a little more than just moaning over outcomes.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Yes, so why not make comments less pointless?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- What a race! I didn't expect Vanthourenhout to collapse like that, and Wyseure did take the fight to Nys, but there was no doubt at the end. I also wonder what Aubin Sparfel would be capable of were he to race in the elites now. In the U23 ranks he is making good work of Giel Lejeune, who himself is among the better riders in the elites, and a top 10 contender in the big races (3rd at Kleebergcross, 8th at Berencross and 5th at Heerderstrand). In the French Cup, Sparfel is significantly better than Romain Debord (8th at Koppenbergcross and 10th at the Euros) and Rémi Lelandais (12th at Koppenbergcross and 19th at the Euros).
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - There really was nothing in it. Schreiber was so much faster, and Brand was fighting to stay in the wheel in the sprint. Schreiber did move a bit, but to say she closed the door doesn't make sense because Brand couldn't enter it anyway, abd she wasn't impeded.Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
- Thibau Nys does exactly what Iserbyt is calling forRafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
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