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.
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.
