Last season, Kopecky successfully defended her world championship title in the road race in Zurich, won the women's Paris-Roubaix and finished second overall in the Giro d'Italia.
Pogacar was the first rider since Marco Pantani in 1998 to win the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France double, became world road champion and won the Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Tour of Lombardy monuments. Kopecky and Pogacar also received the Eddy Merckx Trophy as the best Classics rider of the season for their performances. While Pogacar received his award on site at the Pavillon Gabriel in Paris, Kopecky, who was at an SD Worx - Protime team camp, thanked him via a recorded video message. The awards are organised by the Velo Magazine. For the former awards, 40 cycling journalists from 25 countries were eligible to vote. They also voted for the Dutch track sprinter Harrie Lavreysen as the world's best rider in Olympic cycling disciplines.
Other awards were also presented at national French and Olympic level: The Daniel Morelon Trophy for the best rider from France in Olympic disciplines went to Pauline Ferrand-Prevot. The best road cyclist from France was awarded to Romain Bardet and the best para-cyclist from France to Alexandre Leaute. 30 French journalists were eligible to vote for each of these three awards.
Gino Mäder Award presented for the first time
The Gino Mäder Prize was also awarded for the first time, which honours people who are committed to social or environmental issues, which Mäder, who died in an accident at the Tour de Suisse in 2023, also did. The award went to Luis Angel Mate from Marbella in southern Spain, who ended his career in September and then cycled the 650 kilometres from the finish of the Vuelta a Espana in Madrid to his home country. During the 2022 Tour of Spain, Mate also pledged to plant a tree in the Sierra de Bermeja region near his home in response to the forest fires there for every kilometre he rode in a breakaway group.
Velo d'Or 2024 at a glance
- Velo d'Or Men - Best Road Cyclist of the Year: Tadej Pogacar
- Velo d'Or Women - best female road cyclist of the year: Lotte Kopecky
- Best classic rider: Tadej Pogacar
- Best female classic rider: Lotte Kopecky
- Best road rider from France: Romain Bardet
- Best rider in Olympic disciplines from France (MTB, BMX and track): Pauline Ferrand-Prevot
- World's best rider in Olympic disciplines (MTB, BMX and track): Harrie Lavreysen
- Best para-cyclist from France (track and road): Alexandre Leaute
- Gino Mäder Prize, which honours solidarity actions or social concerns: Luis Angel Mate
The previous winners of the Velo d'Or
- 1992: Miguel Indurain
- 1993: Miguel Indurain
- 1994: Tony Rominger
- 1995: Laurent Jalabert
- 1996: Johan Museeuw
- 1997: Jan Ullrich
- 1998: Marco Pantani
1999: Lance Armstrong2000: Lance Armstrong2001: Lance Armstrong- 2002: Mario Cipollini
2003: Lance Armstrong2004: Lance Armstrong- 2005: Tom Boonen
- 2006: Paolo Bettini
- 2007: Alberto Contador
- 2008: Alberto Contador
- 2009: Alberto Contador
- 2010: Fabian Cancellara
- 2011: Philippe Gilbert
- 2012: Bradley Wiggins
- 2013: Chris Froome
- 2014: Alberto Contador
- 2015: Chris Froome
- 2016: Peter Sagan
- 2017: Chris Froome
- 2018: Alejandro Valverde
- 2019: Julian Alaphilippe
- 2020: Primoz Roglic
- 2021: Tadej Pogacar
- 2022: Remco Evenepoel
- 2023: Jonas Vingegaard
- 2024: Tadej Pogacar
Best classic rider
- 2023: Mathieu van der Poel
- 2024: Tadej Pogacar
Velo d'Or Ladies
- 2022: Annemiek van Vleuten
- 2023: Demi Vollering
- 2024: Lotte Kopecky
Best classic rider
- 2023: Lotte Kopecky
- 2024: Lotte Kopecky
*Lance Armstrong was stripped of his five Velo d'Or awards as a result of his doping offences.
