Founded in 1992 by Vélo Magazine, the Vélo d’Or is cycling’s biggest prize, awarded annually to the best male and female cyclists in the world. Additional categories recognise the best cyclists in all of the Olympic disciplines, including track cycling.
The prize is awarded by the same group that owns L’Équipe, who also organise the famous footballing equivalent, the Ballon d’Or, and celebrates the efforts of riders across track, road, BMX, and mountain biking, as well as para-cycling.
Harrie Lavreysen was in world-beating form at the Paris Olympics this summer, where he won three gold medals in the individual sprint, team sprint and keirin to lead the Netherlands’ gold rush on the track, bringing him to a career total of five Olympic golds.
He backed that up with another three gold medals at the UCI World Championships in October, charging to victory once more in the individual sprint, team sprint, and 1km time trial.
The Dutchman is one of cycling’s most decorated sprinters and the most successful track cyclist at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships of all time, with a phenomenal 16 UCI World titles.
Harrie Lavreysen could not attend Friday’s ceremony due to his ongoing participation in the UCI Track Champions League, where he leads the Men’s Sprint category and is on track for yet another title in 2024 to cap off a spectacular year.
But he sat down with us before the ceremony to discuss his achievements and reflect on another brilliant season.
“2024 has been an amazing year for me,” he said. “The key moments of course are the Olympics in Paris where I won three gold medals. It was my goal for a really long time, and I was really happy that I could make my goal.
“After that I still had to do the UCI Track World Championships, I’m really happy to also win three gold medals there. I became the record holder for most gold medals in track cycling at the Worlds, so pretty big things! An amazing year, I’m really happy with everything.”
Harrie’s season isn’t over yet, with the UCI Track Champions League underway and the 27-year-old in pole position to take another series win tonight. He has previously lifted the UCI Track Champions League Sprint trophy twice and could make it a hat-trick this weekend in London. With one round left, the Dutch legend leads his rival by 13 points.
At just 27, Harrie Lavreysen looks set to continue dominating the sport and his rivalry with Matthew Richardson may be one for the ages. But he never imagined he would reach the heights of the sport and win the Vélo d’Or.
“As a kid, I never thought about track cycling – I was always BMX racing. But winning five Olympic titles – I think no kid can dream of that! The Vélo d'Or is an amazing prize, of course it’s the biggest prize in cycling. I’ve always looked at the winners and I’m happy my name came up, it’s really cool.
“I want to thank everybody who gave something to my career, all the trainers, coaches, staff members but also family, friends, the fans, everybody who did something for my career. I’m really thankful and really happy to get this prize.”
Congratulations to Harrie and to all the winners!
