Tadej Pogačar and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot swept the board at the Vélo d'Or awards in Paris on Friday night, each winning two trophies to close their successful 2025 seasons.
After years away from road racing, Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike) returned to the sport this season after dominating mountain biking, winning World and Olympic titles.
Announcing her return last year, the French woman stated her ambition to win the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, and did so at her first attempt, a feat that earned her not only the main Vélo d'Or but also the very first Jeannie Longo Trophy for the best French female road rider.
Not only did Ferrand-Prévot win the Tour de France, but she also had a strong Spring Classics campaign, winning Paris-Roubaix and finishing second at the Tour of Flanders.
Pogačar’s season was also remarkable. Not only did the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider win a fourth Tour de France title, but he bagged a second consecutive rainbow jersey at the World Championships in Rwanda, the European road title, a fifth straight Il Lombardia win, and many other wins.
His successes in 2025 continued throughout the season. He started the year winning the UAE Tour and added the Critérium du Dauphiné yellow jersey to the Tour one he later won in July.
However, it was his results in one-day races that arguably impressed most, the Slovenian winning Strade Bianche, the Tour of Flanders, La Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, as well as taking podium places at Milan-San Remo and the Amstel Gold Race.
Perhaps his best Spring Classics ride was at Paris-Roubaix, where he finished second at his first attempt behind an irresistible Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck). Those performances saw Pogačar win the Eddy Merckx Trophy for the best Classics rider, the women’s version of which went to Dutch sprinter Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime).
Wiebes had a remarkable season; she was never beaten in a head-to-head sprint for victory, adding 25 victories to her already remarkable palmarès, including wins at the first women’s Milan-San Remo for 20 years, Gent-Wevelgem and the Classic Brugge-De Panne.
Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) was France’s top finisher at July’s Tour de France, taking seventh place overall in Paris and maintaining his place in the top 10 from day two in Boulogne-sur-Mer. Vauquelin, who will move to Ineos Grenadiers for 2026, bagged excellent results throughout the year and was awarded the Bernard Hinault Trophy for the best male French rider.
The Paracycling Vélo d'Or went to Alexandre Léauté of VCP Loudéac for the second year in a row, adding to his success in both road and track racing at the World Championships.
Matteo Trentin (Tudor) won the Gino Mäder Prize for work off the bike in pursuit of environmental and social causes. The Italian has organised events in support of sick children, including the recent Beking Criteriums and the accompanying fundraising gala. He also works in schools around Monaco to raise awareness of sustainable mobility and travel.
The award was created at last year’s Vélo d’Or in memory of Gino Mäder, who died in a crash during stage 5 of the 2023 Tour de Suisse.
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