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Cycling Weekly has opened reader voting for its 2026 International Rider of the Year award, with six riders on the shortlist. Voting closes on Nov. 15, and the magazine says it will publish the result in its Dec. 3 edition.
Cycling Weekly has opened voting for its 2026 International Rider of the Year award, asking readers to select a winner from a six-rider shortlist. Voting closes on Nov. 15, and the magazine says the result will be published in its Dec. 3 edition, making the award a reader decision rather than a ranking based solely on wins or standings.
The shortlisted riders are Demi Vollering, Remco Evenepoel, Tadej Pogačar, Marlen Reusser, Paul Seixas and Lorena Wiebes. Cycling Weekly says the selection reflects both riders who dominated the season and riders who reached a new level, rather than simply counting victories. The source invites readers to cast a vote through the poll accompanying its article.
The magazine’s season summaries point to distinct cases for each nominee. Vollering won the Giro d’Italia, Tour de France Femmes and road world title, alongside major one-day races. Pogačar took a fifth Tour de France title and won events including the Tour of Flanders, Milan–San Remo and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Evenepoel finished second overall at the Tour de France and won the world individual time trial title and Amstel Gold Race.
Reusser won the world and European individual time trial championships and the Tour de Suisse. Seixas, described by the magazine as a 19-year-old in his first full professional season, won Il Lombardia and placed fourth on his Tour de France debut. Wiebes recorded 25 victories according to Cycling Weekly, including two Tour de France Femmes stages; the magazine counts 30 wins if points classifications are included.
Six Different Cases for the Award
The shortlist puts different kinds of achievement before voters: Grand Tour and world championship success, one-day race results, time-trial dominance, a breakthrough season and a high volume of sprint wins. The choice is therefore not presented as an automatic reward for the highest number of victories or a single ranking position.
That distinction matters because the nominees’ campaigns were built around different strengths and competitive settings. Readers choosing between them can weigh peak results against consistency, improvement and the scale of a rider’s contribution across the season. The poll also gives the award a direct reader-participation element, while the eventual result will show how voters assess those competing achievements.
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How Cycling Weekly Framed the Shortlist
Cycling Weekly introduces the award by asking readers who they consider the best rider in the world at present. Its accompanying summaries describe the reasons each rider was selected and provide a snapshot of major results and UCI ranking positions. Those rankings are included as reported by the magazine, but the article says the award is not simply about the number of wins.
The six profiles span road racing and time trialling across the women’s and men’s calendars. Vollering and Pogačar are presented as dominant champions; Evenepoel’s case includes consistency across stage races and one-day events; Reusser’s focuses on time trials and stage-race performance. Seixas represents rapid progress early in a professional career, while Wiebes’ profile centres on sprint victories and stage-race points competitions.
“The winner of our 2026 International Rider of the Year award will be decided by you, the Cycling Weekly reader.”
— Cycling Weekly
Poll Details and Final Result
The source identifies the six nominees and voting deadlines, but does not state how many votes have been cast, whether interim totals will be made public, or how the poll handles a tie. It also does not provide a detailed explanation of the voting method beyond directing readers to the poll.
The season achievements in the article are Cycling Weekly’s summaries and selection rationale; they are not an independent assessment of which rider was objectively the best. Until voting closes, the winner is not known. The available information does not indicate how close the contest is or whether the publication will release a full vote breakdown.
Voting Closes on Nov. 15
Readers can cast a vote through the poll linked in Cycling Weekly’s article before Nov. 15. The publication says it will reveal the result in its Dec. 3 edition. It has not specified in the source whether the winner will be announced earlier online or whether further voting information will be released before then.
Key Questions
Who is shortlisted for the 2026 International Rider of the Year award?
The six nominees are Demi Vollering, Remco Evenepoel, Tadej Pogačar, Marlen Reusser, Paul Seixas and Lorena Wiebes.
How can readers vote?
Cycling Weekly directs readers to cast a vote through the poll accompanying its article. The supplied report does not give further details about the poll’s mechanics.
When does voting close?
Voting closes on Nov. 15, according to Cycling Weekly.
When will the winner be announced?
Cycling Weekly says the result will appear in its Dec. 3 edition. The source does not confirm whether the winner will be announced online before that date.
Is the award based only on a rider’s number of wins?
No. Cycling Weekly says the award is not simply about victory totals and points to season-long progress and the level of performance as part of its rationale for the shortlist.
Source: cyclingweekly.com
