Vote for the best women's rider of the 2026 cycling season: Vollering, Blasi, Niewiadoma, and more
Women's Cycling
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Follow us on GoogleThe 2026 road season is over, and already plans are falling into place for next season. The Giro d'Italia Women 2027, and Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift 2027 official routes have already both been revealed. But 2026 has been yet again a fantastic year on the roads, and we are not quite ready to let it go. Tell us your opinions by voting and commenting: who was the best rider in the women's peloton this year?
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1. Demi Vollering 🇳🇱
Who could top this list other than golden girl Demi Vollering, who has had a meteoric season. She sits comfortably at the top of the UCI rankings, having won two Grand Tours this season. She is nearly 4,000 points ahead of second-placed Niewiadoma.
Vollering won two Grand Tours this season
She also took the European and World Champion titles, as well as winning plenty of spring races, including Omloop Nieuwsblad, the Tour of Flanders, and Flèche Wallonne.
Highlights:
- Tour de France GC win
- Giro d'Italia GC win
- World Championship title
- European Championship title
2. Lorena Wiebes 🇳🇱
Fellow Dutchwoman Lorena Wiebes sits fifth in the UCI ranking. Wiebes won the points classification at the Tour de France Femmes and UAE Tour Women, as well as the GC at the Tour de Pologne.
Wiebes won the Tour de France Femmes green jersey
She ended the season by winning three stages and the general classification of the Tour of Chongming Island. She also collected a fair few stage wins across the season, including in the Vuelta a Burgos, the Tour de France, the Tour of Britain, and the UAE Tour.
Highlights:
- Tour de France Femmes points classification win
- Tour of Chongming Island GC win
- 4x stages at Tour of Britain Women
- Tour de Pologne Women GC win
3. Kasia Niewiadoma 🇵🇱
Kasia Niewiadoma only took one win this season, on stage 7 of the Tour de France Femmes. However; the second highest ranked in the UCI list, she did have a lot of success.
Niewiadoma came second at the World Championships on Montréal
Niewiadoma came second in a large number of races, including the World Championship road race, the general classification of the Tour de France Femmes, and the Amstel Gold race. She also came third in the GC of the Tour de Suisse.
Highlights:
- 2nd on GC at Tour de France Femmes
- 2nd at World Championship road race
- Stage at Tour de France
- 2nd at Strade Bianche Donne
4. Paula Blasi 🇪🇸
Paula Blasi has been in headlines recently for her transfer to Movistar, but she has had plenty of headlines this year for her results too. The 23-year-old won the Vuelta España Femenina, the Amstel Gold Race, and the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya Femenina. She also won the mountains classification at the Vuelta.
Blasi won the Vuelta in 2026
Blasi also came fifth in the GC at the Tour de France, and second in the youth classification. She also came third in the Tour Down Under.
Highlights:
- Vuelta a España GC win
- Vuelta a España mountains classification win
- Amstel Gold Race win
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5. Elisa Longo Borghini 🇮🇹
Elisa Longo Borghini opened her 2026 season by winning the UAE Tour Women, following that up with a fourth place at Strade Bianche, and a third place at the Tour de France.
Longo Borghini won both national jerseys this season
She won a stage of the Giro d'Italia, and a stage at the Tour de Suisse. She also won her national championship road race, the World mixed time trial championship, and the national individual time trial championship.
Highlights:
- National ITT championship win
- National road race championship win
- World mixed TTT championship win
- UAE Tour GC win
6. Noemi Rüegg 🇨🇭
Noemi Rüegg is possibly a dark horse in this list. The 25-year-old Swiss rider won the Tour Down Under for the second year in a row. She also won the opening stage of the Vuelta España Femenina.
Noemi Rüegg opened the season with a win in Australia
Rüegg came second at the Milano-Sanremo Donne, and third in the Tre Valli Varesine for the second time.
Highlights:
- Santos Tour Down Under GC win
- Vuelta a España stage win
- 2nd at Milan-Sanremo Donne
7. Lotte Kopecky 🇧🇪
Lotte Kopecky is seventh in the UCI rankings, but she has had some success in 2026. She won the points classification at the Vuelta España Feminina having won stage four. Kopecky also won Milano-Sanremo Donne in March.
Kopecky also enjoyed success on the track
Aside from that Kopecky produced respectable results in other races, coming fourth in the Ronde van Vlaanderen, fourth at Paris-Roubaix, and third in the points classification at the Tour de France Femmes.
Highlights:
- Milano-Sanremo Donne win
- Vuelta a España points classification
- 2nd at Belgian National Championships
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8. Charlotte Kool 🇳🇱
Kool is fifteenth in the UCI World Rankings. She took six wins across the season, including Omloop van het Hageland, and a stage in the Baloise Ladies Tour.
Kool has had a consistently decent season
Kool aslo came second in the points classification of the Eneco Tour, came seventh at Paris-Roubaix, and second at Binche Chimay Binche pour Dames.
Highlights:
- Baloise Ladies Tour Stage win
- Veenendaal - Veenendaal WE win
- Omloop van het Hageland win
9. Marlen Reusser 🇨🇭
Marlen Reusser was one of the few riders able to beat Demi Vollering, taking the European individual time trial title in October. She also won the World individual time trial in Montréal.
Reusser won the ITT world title
Reusser also won the Tour de Suisse GC and points classification, and Dwars for Vlaanderen. She is consistently the best time trialist, winning the ITT stage in the Tour de Suisse.
Highlights:
- World Time Trial Championship title win
- European Time Trial Championship title win
- Tour de Suisse Women GC and ITT stage
10. Franziska Koch 🇩🇪
The German national time trial and road race champion Franziska Koch has had a good season. Her breakout result was beating the Visma | Lease a Bike pair at Paris-Roubaix to take the win.
Koch won against a Visma two-up at Paris-Roubaix
She also came third at Strade Bianche Donne, second in the points classification at the Vuelta España Femenina, and third at the World ITT Championships.
Highlights:
- Paris-Roubaix win
- 3rd at Worlds ITT Championship
- National road and time trial championship title wins
11. Someone else...?
This is by no means an exhaustive list, and we are sure we have missed some of your favourites. Puck Pieterse for example, or perhaps Kim Le Court-Pienaar, or Sarah van Dam. Let us know who you think was the best rider in the women's peloton this year by voting, or commenting down below! 👇
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Clarice WebsterEditor
Clarice has been following cycling her whole life, wroting about Thibaut Pinot (among others) for her university magazine while earning her masters in Journalism. She is passionate about furthering equality in sports coverage, and has taken huge inspiration from pillars of women’s cycling like Beryl Burton, Marianne Vos, and Laura Kenny.
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Latest Comments
- Is the Giro the race that happens before the Tour? And does winning the mountains jersey mean Carapaz scored the most points on climbs? Which race was everyone’s favourite?bikebuffj05-11-2026
- How did Mathieu van der Poel miss the list? His classics results surely put him in the conversation.sprocketspiny05-11-2026
- McNulty deserves more credit than his ranking suggests. A world title and all that work as a domestique make for a superb season.tourdeforce905-11-2026
- Seixas winning Lombardia at 20 is astonishing. The “next Pogačar” label feels a bit premature, though—let him build his own story before piling on the comparisons.andrewf05-11-2026
- Pogačar’s palmarès is ridiculous, but Van Aert deserves a special mention for Roubaix. Beating Tadej in the velodrome was one of the moments of the season.cyclechamp4505-11-2026
- I’m still learning the calendar: is cyclocross mainly preparation for the spring classics, or does he race it as a separate goal as well? I’d love to see him back in the mud.jeremya04-11-2026
- The article makes it sound as if Roubaix is the only classic where he has a realistic shot. He’s been close in Flanders too, and one good tactical day can change everything.jennifer1904-11-2026
- Milan-Sanremo and Roubaix is a pretty special pair of Monuments. Any clues yet on which cyclocross races he’ll target?andrewf04-11-2026
- He’s right to be realistic about Flanders with Pogačar and Evenepoel around, but you can’t count Van Aert out on those roads. If he gets the right opportunity, he has the engine and experience to take it.davidm04-11-2026
- That Roubaix win felt like such a release after all the near-misses. Brilliant to hear that joy outweighed relief for Wout.patriciaw04-11-2026