Tadej Pogacar wins the 2021 Vélo d'Or award

Tadej Pogačar has won the 2021 Vélo d'Or prize, crowning a season which has seen the Slovenian win a second Tour de France as well as two Monuments in Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Il Lombardia.

The UAE Team Emirates leader wins the prestigious French award following his compatriot and rival, Jumbo-Visma's Primož Roglič, who won it in 2020 after taking victory at Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Vuelta a España as well as finishing runner-up to Pogačar at the Tour.

Pogačar beat Roglič into second place for this year's Vélo d'Or which is given by French cycling magazine Vélo and sports newspaper L'Equipe and voted on by international cycling journalists.

In addition to his Tour and Monument successes, Pogačar also won the UAE Tour, Tirreno-Adriatico and the Tour of Slovenia as well as a stage apiece at each race, plus three stages at the Tour de France.

The 23-year-old also topped the UCI rankings this season, with his 5,363 points beating Jumbo-Visma all-rounder Wout van Aert into second place with 4,382 points as Roglič finished third on 3,924 points.

Van Aert finished third in the Vélo d'Or, while Mathieu van der Poel, Annemiek van Vleuten, Mark Cavendish, Kasper Asgreen, Richard Carapaz, Sonny Colbrelli, Egan Bernal, Harrie Lavreysen, and Julian Alaphilippe were also among the nominees.

The Frenchman, who this year took the road world title for the second year in a row as well as winning La Flèche Wallonne and the opening stage of the Tour, takes home the prize for the best French cyclist for the third season in a row. 

The Deceuninck-QuickStep rider beat mountain biker Loana Lecomte and AG2R Citroën's Benoît Cosnefroy to the honour.

There is no separate women's Vélo d'Or award, making it almost impossible for a women to win.