Demi Vollering and Jonas Vingegaard won this year’s Vélo d'Or awards for men and women, presented in a formal ceremony in Paris on Tuesday evening. It was the first time in the 31-year history of the ‘Golden Bike’ accolades that the winners were revealed in person with a ceremony, rather than a front-page story in Vélo Magazine.
Vollering won the overall Women's WorldTour title in 2023, headlined by her victory at the second edition of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift. Vingegaard took his second Tour de France GC title in 2023 and finished the season as the second-best rider in the UCI World Rankings, just behind Tadej Pogačar.
Eddy Merckx and Bernard Hinault were present as guests of honour at the Pavillon Gabriel, just off the Champs-Élysées, and handed out the special awards that now bear their names.
Multi-time World Champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot and European Champion Christophe Laporte were honoured as the best French riders of the past season, Ferrand-Prevot accepting the Trophée Daniel Morelon for the disciplines of mountain bike, BMX and track. Laporte received the award for best road rider and was on stage to receive the prize from Hinault. Ferrand-Prévot provided a recorded video message.
In the new category of best Classics riders, Lotte Kopecky and Mathieu van der Poel, both world champions on the road this year, were recognised as the winners for women and men with the Eddy Merckx Trophy for their outstanding performances in the last year.
Vollering was the final athlete recognised on the brightly-lit stage at the palatial, recently-renovated event centre. She took the top prize over nominees that included Annemiek van Vleuten, last year’s winner, Kopecky, Elisa Longo Borghini, Alison Jackson, Juliette Labous, Katarzyna Niewiadoma, Gaia Realini, Marlen Reusser and Lorena Wiebes.
Vingegaard beat out nominees time trial World Champion Remco Evenepoel, Pogačar, Primož Roglič, Mads Pedersen, Tom Pidcock, Wout van Aert, Jasper Philipsen, Adam Yates and Van der Poel. The Dane was not able to attend in person, and provided his acceptance speech via video.
“It’s a big honour for me to win the Vélo d’Or award. When I see all the names winning it in the past, it’s a crazy feeling to know now that I am the winner of it,” he said in the recording. “Eddy Merckx was going to give this award to me and it’s very special. He’s such a big icon, and always winning. I’m always trying to do the same, trying to win all the races that I am doing. I am very happy with it, thank you for that.”
The inaugural Vélo d’Or went to Miguel Indurain in 1992, while Laurent Jalabert was recognized as the top French rider.
In 2000, Felicia Ballanger became the first – and only – female recipient of the Vélo d’Or Français. The women’s prizes did not return until 2023, when Annemiek van Vleuten became the first winner of the new Vélo d’Or Femmes.
Tuesday’s event coincided with the 2024 Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift route presentation, which follows the next day with its own formal programme and an all-star cast of professional riders and dignitaries from the Palais des Congrès.
The 2024 Tour de France route presentation, which begins at 10:25 a.m. GMT, will be broadcast in the United Kingdom and around Europe on Eurosport channels 1 and 2 (410, 411 on Sky) and streamed on Discovery+. In the US and Canada, FloBikes will air programming live. Additionally, the route presentation will be aired in the United Kingdom, Europe and in select other territories on GCN+.
