Pogačar faces tough competition in race for 2027 Velo d'Or, including van der Poel and Seixas

The French sports newspaper has recognized Pogačar’s brilliant season with a nomination. The Slovenian rider from UAE Emirates-XRG won 22 races, and he could have achieved much more had he not crashed in the Vuelta a España and been forced to end his season early. As a result, he was unable to compete in the World Championships and the European Championships.

Another nominee for the Velo d'Or comes from Pogacar's team. Isaac del Toro earned a nomination after winning the UAE Tour, Tirreno-Adriatico, and the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. He also finished third in the Tour de France and claimed the white jersey of the best young rider on his debut.

There are plenty of other general classification contenders among the nominees. Take Remco Evenepoel, for example—the runner-up in the Tour de France and winner of the World Time Trial Championship, the European Road Championship, and the Clásica de San Sebastián.

Felix Gall made his breakthrough riding for Decathlon CMA CGM, finishing second in the Giro d'Italia and third in the Vuelta a España. In the Vuelta a España, Enric Mas—after Pogačar dropped out—was the overall winner riding for Movistar. He, too, has been nominated.

In the list of nominees, we also see world champion Brandon McNulty (also of UAE Emirates-XRG) and Paul Seixas (also of Decathlon). McNulty is, of course, showing off his rainbow jersey, and Seixas challenged Pogacar several times in 2026. He finished fourth in his first Tour and won the Tour of Lombardy.

Jonas Vingegaard has also been nominated—we’d almost forget that he won the Giro d’Italia in 2026. That completes the list of general classification riders, leaving two classics specialists on the nomination list.

Mathieu van der Poel tops the list, even though he missed out on many classic victories this year. He did, however, win two stages in the Tour de France. As the winner of Paris-Roubaix, Wout van Aert, of course, cannot be left off the list either.