Tadej Pogacar and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot win 2025 Vélo d’Or awards

Tadej Pogačar and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot have been named as the men’s and women’s Vélo d’Or winners for 2025 at a ceremony in Paris.

There was little suspense about either of the awards due to the stratospheric seasons enjoyed by each rider. 

Pogačar claimed 20 victories in 2025, including a fourth Tour de France and a second successive road World Championships. He also won the Tour of Flanders, Strade Bianche, Flèche Wallonne, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Il Lombardia, the European Championships and the Critérium du Dauphiné in one of the most dominant seasons in cycling history.

After previously claiming the award in 2021 and 2024, Pogačar draws level with Chris Froome on the roll of honour, and he is closing in on Alberto Contador’s record tally of four Vélo d’Or awards. The Vélo d’Or was first awarded in 1992, when Miguel Induráin was the winner. Like football’s Ballon d’Or, the prize is decided by a poll of international journalists. 

Ferrand-Prévot claims the Vélo d’Or Femmes for the first time, having previously placed third for her off-road exploits in 2022. 

The Frenchwoman made a comeback to road racing in 2025 after signing for Visma | Lease a Bike, and she made an immediate impact by winning Paris-Roubaix in April. She proceeded to claim the Tour de France Femmes with a towering climbing display.

The Vélo d’Or Femmes was inaugurated in 2022, and Ferrand-Prévot is preceded on the roll of honour by Annemiek van Vleuten, Demi Vollering and Lotte Kopecky.

In terms of the other awards, Pogačar and Lorena Wiebes were the recipients of the Men's and Women's Eddy Merckx trophies for best Classics rider. 

Meanwhile, Kévin Vauquelin secured the Trophée Bernard Hinault, as best French male rider of the year, thanks to his Tour de France exploits in the summer, beating the likes of Paul Magnier, Paul Seixas and Valentin Paret-Peintre to the award. Ferrand-Prévot also won the Trophée Jeannie Longo as the best French female rider of 2025.