Tadej Pogacar wins even without running
Tadej Pogacar and Lotte Kopecky win the Vélo d'Or
After a 2024 season to frame, with successes at the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France, not forgetting those at Milan-San Remo, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the Tour of Lomardia and again at the World Championships in Zurich in the road race, Tadej Pogacar rejoices in another success, this time without needing to cross a finish line before his opponents: the Slovenian è in fact the winner of the Vélo d'Or, the cycling equivalent of the Golden Ball.
Pogacar won the individual trophy in the men's section, inaugurated in 1992: è his second success, after the one in 2021. On Friday, the women’s Vélo d'Or was also awarded, which went to Belgium’s Lotte Kopecky, who had finished second in the first two editions (women have received the award since 2022).
As for Pogacar, 2024 è was a year as a "cannibal", disturbing an important nickname in cycling: in addition to the victories already mentioned, successes in the Strade Bianche, the Tour of Catalonia (general classification and four stage wins), in six fractions in both the Giro and the Tour, the Montreal GP and the Tour of Emilia should also be noted.
For Kopecky, on the other hand, the award è came in a season in which the Belgian cyclist won the World and European road championships, as well as Olympic bronze in Paris 2024 and victories in the UAE Tour (where she also won a stage), the women's Strade Bianche, Nokere Koerse, Paris-Roubaix, Tour of Britain (with two stage wins), Belgian road and time trial championships. She also won a stage in the Giro Donne 2024.
