Why Van der Poel was not awarded the Velo d'Or - despite being the number one choice for 16 out of 36 journalists

On Monday, Lionel Messi won the prestigious football trophy Ballon d'Or for the eighth time in his career, but the cycling version of this award was already presented last Tuesday in Paris. Jonas Vingegaard, winner of the Tour de France, had the honor of taking home the award, ahead of Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogacar.

There were some criticisms about the award, which was celebrated with a gala by Vélo Magazine for the first time. The Velo d'Or is awarded based on the votes of a global jury of journalists, each of whom submits a top five list of their best riders of the year. In total, 36 journalists, from America to Rwanda and Japan to the Netherlands, sent in their lists.

Vingegaard received 142 points from the jury, while Van der Poel and Pogacar lagged behind with 133 and 126 points, respectively. This has already prompted quite a bit of online criticism from some prominent figures, given the accomplishments of the Dutchman (Milan-San Remo, Paris-Roubaix and the World Championships) and the Slovenian (Paris-Nice, Tour of Flanders, Amstel Gold Race, La Flèche Wallonne and Tour of Lombardy) this year. In fourth, fifth, and sixth places were Belgians Remco Evenepoel, Jasper Philipsen and Wout van Aert.

Van der Poel received most number 1 spots, by far, but Vingegaard was constant factor in the top three for the Velo d'Or

In the November issue of Vélo Magazine, the French magazine displayed all the awarded votes, revealing some interesting facts. Surprisingly, there were four journalists who did not include Van der Poel in their top five at all, costing the Dutchman some valuable points. On the other hand, almost half of the voters (16 out of 36) gave Van der Poel the first place. Vingegaard was only pushed forward as the best rider of 2023 eight times.

How then was it possible that Vingegaard ended up receiving the award? The Jumbo-Visma Dane was primarily a constant in the list. No fewer than 34 journalists granted him a spot among the top three, which ultimately yielded him more points than the competition. If you were to look only at the first-place rankings, then Van der Poel would have won - by a landslide.

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