Velo d’Or award goes to superstar Pogacar after a huge season.

The Velo d’Or, which means “men’s rider of the year,” was given to Tadej Pogacar on Friday for winning the Giro d’Italia, the Tour de France, and the world championships.

A group of 40 journalists chose Lotte Kopecky, the Belgian world winner, to win the women’s Velo d’Or.

In 2024, Slovenian Team UAE rider Pogacar was far ahead of his competitors. He won the Tour de France again, making it three wins in a row, and his first Giro d’Italia, the world title, in Switzerland after skipping the Olympics.

Irish rider Stephen Roche was the last person to win the Triple Crown, in 1987.

There were a crazy 25 wins for Pogacar, including two of the one-day Monuments, the Tour of Lombardy and Liege-Bastogne-Liege.

Pogacar said he was more grateful the second time around when he won his second Velo d’Or after 2021.
The 26-year-old said, “I was still young.”

“As the years go by, we understand how important things are.” “It makes me proud that all my hard work has been noticed,” he said.
“It’s almost impossible to have another year like this,” the Slovenian said. “But I will do my best.” He won six stages on his own in both the Tour de France and the Giro.

Pogacar has won 88 races since joining UAE in 2019, and his huge deal with the Gulf-backed team lasts until 2030. Kopecky, who was 29 years old at the time, won 16 races and kept the world title.

“This was something I really wanted to add to my list of awards,” she said.