We won’t be speculating here about the men’s prize, since it is as foregone a conclusion as was the recent Il Lombardia and will have the same winner. But the women’s prize is far from certain, with a number of riders able to stake a claim for the award. Here is the list of nominees:
* Grace Brown (AUS, FDS-Suez)
* Kristen Faulkner (USA, EF Oatly-Cannondale)
* Lotte Kopecky (BEL, SD Worx-Protime)
* Elisa Longo Borghini (ITA, Lidl-Trek)
* Evita Muzic (FRA, FDJ-Suez)
* Katarzyna Niewiadoma (POL, Canyon-Sram)
* Pauliena Rooijakkers (NED, Fenix-Deceuninck)
* Demi Vollering (NED, SD Worx-Protime)
* Marianne Vos (NED, Visma-Lease a Bike)
* Lorena Wiebes (NED, SD Worx-Protime)
But first, I’d like to say that for me, the female rider of the year is the 22-year-old Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck) who won the world mountain bike cross-country title in 2024 and then, in her first year in road racing, won the U-23 road race world championship, won a stage and the best young rider competition in the Tour de France Femmes (TdFF), and finished in the top 10 of no fewer than seven one-day races, including third-place finishes in the classic Ronde van Drenthe and Trofeo Alfredo Binda. A remarkable year by any measure but she hasn’t been nominated. However, she will be soon, I’m certain of that.
As for the riders who actually have a chance to win the Vélo d’Or, Kopecky should be considered the favourite, if only because she won the Elite Women’s Road Race World Championship for the second year in a row. She also won the Strade Bianche Donne, the Tour de Romandie Féminin, Paris-Roubaix Femmes, the UAE Tour Women, the Tour of Britain Women and the recent Simac Ladies Tour.
Kopecky also won the European time trial championship, finished second in the World Gravel Championship and, just a few days ago, won silver at the Track World Championships in the Elimination competition. She is also the number 1 woman rider on UCI’s World Rankings list, well ahead of Vollering, last year’s Vélo d’Or, and Longo Borghini. That’s quite a year, even if she finished a disappointing third in the Olympic road race, behind Faulkner and Vos, and sixth in the time trial in Paris.
By her own very high standards, Vollering has had a disappointing year, losing the TdFF by a mere 4 seconds to Niewiadoma after crashing and losing 1:47 to the eventual winner on stage 5. She finished third in Strade Bianche Donne and second in La Flèche Wallonne Féminine, races she won last year. So her victories in the Vuelta España Femenina, Vuelta a Burgos Feminas and Itzulia women probably won’t be enough for her to repeat.
A sentimental case could be made for Vos who, at the age of 37, had a marvellous year, winning the TdFF Škoda Green Jersey, the Vuelta España Femenina points classification, the UCI World Gravel Championship, the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya Femenina and three spring classics. But sentiment shouldn’t, and rarely does, play a part in awards, though I’m sure no one would complain if she did receive the Vélo d’Or.
The same applies to Brown who won the time trial gold medals in the Summer Olympic and world championships in the final season of her career. She was also victorious in Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes, the world championship mixed-relay team time trial and the recent Chrono des Nations.
For a sprinter, Wiebes has had a very good year, taking home four green jerseys, winning the Gent-Wevelgem, the Ronde van Drenthe and the green and yellow jerseys at the RideLondon Classique and Baloise Ladies Tour. But if the Vélo d’Or were to go to a sprinter this year, it would be to Vos.
Finally, Niewiadoma had a very good year, finally getting back to winning races again after falling short for quite some time. But her impressive TdFF victory and her win in La Flèche Wallonne Fémininewon’t be enough to sway the judges.
That leaves Longo Borghini who won the Giro d’Italia Women, the Giro dell’Emilia Internazionale Donne Elite, the Tour of Flanders, and La Flèche Brabançonne. These are excellent results but not as impressive as those of Kopecky and Vos.
It’s pretty clear that, going on results alone, Kopecky should receive the 2024 Vélo d’Or, which would reward not only her performances this year but also her high level of riding over the past few years. Last year, she was awarded the Eddy Merckx Trophy Women for being the best classics rider of the year. But she is clearly more than that.
However, Vos has had a magnificent career and her year was certainly good enough for voters to award her a final honour before she retires. But I hope they remain clear-eyed and give the honour to the best woman rider of the year, rather than the best of all time.
