The French Vélo Magazine has announced the finalists for its yearly Vélo d'Or award, with 10 men and 10 women up for the prestigious season-end prize.
On the men's side, it's no surprise that Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) heads the selection, with the Slovenian in line for his third Vélo d'Or trophy after another dominant road racing season.
The women's field could see Demi Vollering (FDJ-Suez) come away with her second trophy after winning the prize in 2023, though Pauline Ferrand-Prévot(Visma-Lease a Bike) is the favourite to come out on top.
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Pogačar, who won the award in 2021 and last year, is the overwhelming favourite to win again at the ceremony in Paris on December 5. The 27-year-old won 20 races during the 2025 season, including the Tour de France, World and European Championships, the Tour of Flanders, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Strade Bianche, Il Lombardia, La Flèche Wallonne, and the Critérium du Dauphiné.
He'll face competition from Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep), who won national, world and European time trial titles during his final season at Soudal-QuickStep. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), who won Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix, and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), Tour runner-up and Vuelta a España winner, are also in the running.
The men's shortlist is completed by Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep), Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), Simon Yates (Visma-Lease a Bike), Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), and Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost).
Over in the women's competition, Ferrand-Prévot looks to be the hot favourite after winning Paris-Roubaix and becoming the first Frenchwoman to win the modern iteration of the Tour de France Femmes.
Vollering – who won the European road title, La Vuelta Feminine, the Volta a Catalunya, Strade Bianche, and Itzulia Women in addition to taking second at the Tour – is another major contender.
Sprinter Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime), who won the most races in the world this season with 25, including Milan-San Remo, Gent-Wevelgem, and four stages of the Giro and Tour, is also in the running. Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime), who won the Tour of Flanders but struggled with a back injury at the Giro and Tour, is a major omission from the shortlist, meanwhile.
Other women in the running for the prize include Mischa Bredewold (SD Worx-Protime), Kim Le Court-Pienaar (AG Insurance-Soudal), Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck), Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ), Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto), Marlen Reusser (Movistar), and Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike).
Elsewhere, five rider shortlists for the Eddy Merckx Trophy – which rewards the best Classics rider of the season – have also been finalised.
Pogačar and Van der Poel look set to go head-to-head for the men's award, with Pedersen, Evenepoel, and Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) also on the list. In the women's shortlist, Wiebes and Ferrand-Prévot figure to be the favourites, while Vollering, Pieterse, and Le Court-Pienaar are also in the running.
