Cycling, like any sport, is often about winning. The winners make the headlines, they're who we remember, they get the glory. But as anyone who watches cycling knows, racing is actually about much, much more than winning.
Whether it's the riders who commit their careers to being domestiques and helping others, or those who don't win often but are always in the thick of it and consistently finish in the top 10, there are plenty of riders who have achieved more than they get credit for.
It was an open-ended question, and one that could go in many ways. Here are our answers – let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
Julie Van De Velde
Picked by Kirsten Frattini (Deputy Editor)
Results rarely tell the whole story, and for a rider like Julie Van De Velde, they fail to capture the magnitude of her performances while racing for her trade team AG Insurance-Soudal in 2026.
Her performance at the Tour de France Femmes was among the most remarkable of the year, demonstrating strength and sportsmanship as she supported Sarah Gigante's bid for stage wins and the yellow jersey.
It is widely known that Gigante struggles with some of the more technical aspects of racing in the peloton and on tricky descents. In these areas, Van De Velde supported her teammate, putting Gigante in the best possible position to conserve energy, avoid crashes, and generally stay in the game.
Anyone watching the nine-day race this year would have easily recognised the Belgian rider, wearing bib no. 96, almost shadowing Gigante, steadfastly by her side every single day, closing gaps and making sure she was in the best possible position heading into technical sections or into the base of major climbs.
Whether this was a directive from the AG Insurance-Soudal team car or Van de Velde's own ambition to support her teammate is unclear, but she went above and beyond in her domestique role, helping Gigante secure sixth place overall in the French Grand Tour.
Edoardo Affini
Picked by Matilda Price (Assistant Features Editor)
As soon as I started thinking about this topic properly, I realised that there are an almost infinite number of riders that could be my answer. Probably most of the women's peloton don't get the plaudits they deserve, as well as loads of male riders riding in the era of Pogačar dominance.
An answer I've settled on, though, is Edoardo Affini, who is an extremely strong and loyal domestique at Visma-Lease a Bike, as well as an impressive time trialist in his own right. I think what makes a rider a real unsung hero is when they literally give up their own chances for someone else, and I think Affini does that to an extent. He's a time trialist capable of winning at WorldTour level – his results prove that – but he spends more of his time working for others, not focusing on himself.
This year, he's been a key part of Olav Kooij's lead-out, an important Classics worker for Wout van Aert, and a shepherd for Jonas Vingegaard during the Tour de France. His results sheet might not show it, but he's done some heavy lifting for a lot of Visma wins and podiums this year, a lot of the time without recognition.
Marlies Mejías
Picked by Jackie Tyson (North American Production Editor)
It's almost impossible to avoid seeing Marlies Mejías dart her way to the front of bike races across North America. She scored more than 44 podiums this season, 24 of them wins.
So why would such a successful rider, who excels on the road as well as the track, be underrated? She represented Cuba on the track at the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games, and became the first Cuban woman living in the country to sign a professional cycling contract with an international team. But then her ability to shine on a global stage vanished.
The Cuban-born sprinter had her first child in 2019 and was removed from the Cuban National Team for being pregnant. She then began a long process of setting up a home with her husband and daughter in Virginia and restarting her career with Virginia's Blue Ridge-TWENTY28, her travel restricted outside the US due to visa restrictions.
Mejías was welcomed back to Cuba this year for the first time in seven years to compete at Road Nationals. She promptly swept titles in the time trial and road race.
Now with Mejías back on the international stage, and her eagerness to gain a spot on the Cuban National Team for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, she should be back in the spotlight beyond domestic US racing and talked about as a threat in any sprint.
Silvan Dillier
Picked by Dani Ostanek (Senior News Writer)
Mathieu van der Poel and Jasper Philipsen take the big wins at Alpecin-Deceuninck, but the pair rely on a cluster of near-ever-present teammates for their greatest triumphs in the biggest races of the calendar. At the spring Classics and the Tour de France, the team's support squad usually contains the same faces – such as Silvan Dillier, Gianni Vermeersch, and Jonas Rickaert.
This entry could've been about any of the trio, but 35-year-old Dillier has been a mainstay of the team's squads in the spring and summer. Once upon a time, he was a Giro stage winner and Paris-Roubaix runner-up, while in the past five years he's been on hand for seven of the team's nine Monument victories – at Milan-San Remo, Flanders, and Roubaix – and has also played a part in each of Alpecin-Deceuninck's 12 Tour de France stage wins over the past five years.
The two leaders – the top Classics rider and sprinter around – grab the headlines, but they'd likely have won a lot less without their engine room.
Lauretta Hanson
Picked by Simone Giuliani (Australian Editor)
I have to reiterate Matilda's words, that when it comes to unsung heroes, it's hard to choose because there are so many. That's particularly the case when you dip into the realms of women's cycling, as it's not often that you even get to see a broadcast of the early stages of the race to witness the efforts of the hard-working teammates that are making sure their leaders are primed and maintaining their energy for the moments where they need it most.
Still, the glimpses that we do get, either via broadcast or on the ground, combined with the regular words of praise that circulate from those inside the sport, make clear that one of those riders who takes the utmost pride in doing an exemplary job of turning herself completely inside out for her teammates is Lauretta Hanson.
Her commitment to the sport and helping others is demonstrated in many ways other than those in race moments as well. There was her very last minute dash to the Tour de France Femmes this year that left her missing a friends wedding in Ireland to make sure her Lidl-Trek team wasn't caught short when Amanda Spratt became ill at the last minute, but also her openness on the saddle issues that resulted in her having labia surgery in an effort to shine a light on it so others wouldn't suffer in silence. On top of that, there is the Lauretta Hanson Quiet Achiever Scholarship, the title of which really says it all.
Tiesj Benoot
Picked by Tom Wieckowski (Tech Writer)
Tiesj Benoot is a rider who deserves to get more credit and recognition for his consistent riding, teamwork and performances in general.
Benoot is without doubt a talented rider; you don’t win Strade Bianche and amass a very impressive collection of results, including top 10s in various monuments and World Championships road races, without being a seriously gifted rider.
Look through Benoot’s results over the last few years, and they are impressive, consistent and oddly varied. From February till late into the year, he’s often right up there in the races he rides and is often working for a team leader.
He’s consistently delivered for Visma-Lease a Bike over the last several years, and it feels familiar to see him going to work at the head of their yellow train. Perhaps his new start next year with Decathlon CMA CGM will provide more opportunities to boost his palmarès.
Imogen Wolff
Picked by Pete Trifunovic (Engagement Editor)
Finishing in the top-25 of Gent-Wevelgem, the Tour of Flanders, and Paris-Roubaix Femmes would be a display of healthy consistency from any rider. When it's in your debut pro season and at the age of just 19, it's remarkably impressive. Imogen Wolff might not be attracting the same headlines as Cat Ferguson and Zoe Bäckstedt in British cycling circles, but her performances on cycling's biggest stages suggest she has a ceiling just as high.
She scored her first pro win on the third race day of her season at the Vuelta a Extremadura Femenina, and then put in stellar domestique shifts for her Visma-Lease a Bike leaders in two of the biggest stage races, leading out Marianne Vos at the Vuelta España Femenina and supporting Pauline Ferrand-Prévot en route to her fairytale Tour de France Femmes win. Wolff is certainly one to watch when the Spring Classics come back around.
Gianni Vermeersch
Picked by James Moultrie (News Writer)
It's hard to say a rider who's been a vital cog in a team as successful as Alpecin-Deceuninck doesn't get the appropriate credit, but I still feel like Gianni Vermeersch's importance to the success of Mathieu van der Poel and Jasper Philipsen isn't talked about enough.
Van der Poel has won eight Monuments so far in his illustrious career, and Vermeersch has started seven of them, also taking the start in Philipsen's Milan-San Remo victory in 2024.
While just starting wouldn't necessarily mean he influenced the race, Vermeersch's contribution has been quite the opposite, often as the third man behind the two great leaders, chasing down any would-be attackers and launching bursts of his own to tire out Alpecin's rivals.
This was best shown in Paris-Roubaix 2024, when he rode like a man possessed, marked pretty much every attack that followed his two leaders, and still finished sixth as they soared to a 1-2. Also a former and the first Gravel World Champion, and a capable race-winner in his own right, his presence will be sorely missed in 2026, having secured a move to Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe.
Don't forget to share your underrated riders in the comments below!
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.