Tadej Pogacar and Demi Vollering star in Blazin’ Saddles top 10 riders of 2023 - but who gets top spot?

Updated 01/01/2024 at 11:01 GMT

The second of our end-of-year reviews weighs up the best performers of 2023 with our now traditional countdown from 10 to 1. It’s no surprise to see both newly-crowned world champions Mathieu van der Poel and Lotte Kopecky feature in the list – but have they done enough to take over from Remco Evenepoel and Annemiek van Vleuten as the best placed men’s and women’s riders?

'That is special' – Pogacar makes it hat-trick of wins at Il Lombardia

Four new entries appear in our definitive list of the top 10 riders of 2023 with representation for both the new men’s and women’s world champions, Mathieu van der Poel and Lotto Kopecky. But with Jumbo-Visma completing an historic clean sweep of Grand Tour wins and Tadej Pogacar walking away with two more Monuments stuffed in his swelling jersey pocket, it proved to be a real battle for the number one spot.

There is no exact science to the list. It’s a far cry from the official UCI rankings or those you will see on certain stats-based pro cycling websites. If you disagree with any of the decisions, then tough luck. But feel free to take your frustration out with our cycling correspondent Felix Lowe – aka

Tour de France

Roglic: Tour de France not an obsession, but my responsibility to go for it

18/10/2023 at 12:09

– on X (formerly Twitter), who is preparing himself for prickly messages and general outrage…

Following the list, we explain why four riders dropped out of the top 10 from 2022 despite their various successes over the course of another enthralling year. For a reminder of previous selections, click the links below. But now, let’s bring you the best 10 riders of 2023 in reverse order.

10. Jasper Philipsen (New Entry)

Results: 19 wins including Scheldeprijs and four stages of the Tour de France, plus the green jersey

Jasper Philipsen

Image credit: Getty Images

If he entered this year’s Tour de France with the ironic moniker “Jasper Disaster” around his neck following his exploits in the Netflix documentary Unchained, Philipsen was soon having the last laugh after swooping to four superb sprint wins and the green jersey.

As established sprinters in the mould of Fabio Jakobsen, Caleb Ewan, Arnaud Demare and Dylan Groenewegen faltered around him, the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider proved himself to be the fastest man on two wheels in the current peloton. No rider stood atop the podium more than the 25-year-old in 2023 and it will be interesting to see how Philipsen builds on this breakthrough season next year.

Jasper Disaster? More like Born-again Philipsen…

9. Wout van Aert (Down 6)

Results: Winner of E3 Saxo Classic, Tour of Britain, Belgian National Championships ITT; runner-up World Championships men’s road race and European Championships road race

Wout van Aert in the Tour de France 2023

Image credit: Getty Images

A year of frustration for the Belgian all-rounder saw Van Aert net just five wins, which represented something of a dearth given his usual pinballing performances. Had he foreseen the scarcity of his visits to the top step of the podium, Van Aert may have thought twice about letting Jumbo-Visma team-mate Christophe Laporte edge clear for victory at Gent-Wevelgem.

Indeed, that marked the first of eight runner-up spots for Van Aert, which the 29-year-old matched with an equal number of third-place finishes – most notably at Milano-Sanremo and Paris-Roubaix. Given the nature of his emphatic win in E3, the results of his spring were clearly disappointing. Throw in a fourth place in the Ronde and it’s now three years and counting since his first and only Monument win – the 2020 Milano-Sanremo.

And although he went on the attack on multiple occasions in the Tour, Van Aert only had two second places and two third places to show for his efforts before retiring to attend the birth of his second child four days before team-mate Jonas Vingegaard’s overall win. A silver medal in the Worlds road race was a bitter pill to swallow – not least because gold went to his big rival Mathieu van der Poel. But Van Aert did win the Tour of Britain – albeit three weeks before yet another silver medal in the European Championships.

All in all, Van Aert would have rued a multitude of missed opportunities in 2023. But he still had a huge say in practically every race he entered and was a key component of Vingegaard’s second Tour win. There’s never a dull moment when he’s racing.

8. Sepp Kuss (New Entry)

Results: Winner of La Vuelta and Stage 6; 12th Tour de France; 14th Giro d’Italia

Jonas Vingegaard, Sepp Kuss and Primoz Roglic - Vuelta a Espana

Image credit: Getty Images

The American may not have won the Vuelta without the good nature and/or compliance of his team leaders, but they arguably may not have won their previous two Tours and three Vueltas without Sepp Kuss.

It was the result none of us saw coming and one that came into being when Kuss infiltrated the breakaway in Stage 6 before riding to a famous stage win at the Observatorio Astrofisico de Javalambre. Two days later, Kuss was in red – which he kept all the way to Madrid despite some internal conflict on the Alto de l’Angliru.

Coming off the back of top 15 finishes in both the Giro and Tour – all while burying himself for Messrs Roglic and Vingegaard – there was something poetic and just about the loyal 29-year-old mountain domestique getting his time in the limelight.

No one is pretending that Kuss is a better all-round rider than his Jumbo-Visma team-mate Wout van Aert. But the unexpected nature of his landmark Grand Tour wins – plus the tireless teamwork he displayed all season – means he clearly had a better year than the Belgian. And on this kind of form, it should arguably be Kuss – and not Van Aert – who gets to Lease a Bike for Visma at next year’s Giro.

7. Lotte Kopecky (New Entry)

Results: 14 wins including World Championships women’s road race, Ronde van Vlaanderen, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad; runner-up in Tour de France, Amstel Gold, Strade Bianche Donne

Belgium's Lotte Kopecky shows off the rainbow stripes in 2023

Image credit: Getty Images

Denied a second successive Strade Bianche win by SD Worx team-mate Demi Vollering after that controversial sprint in Siena, Kopecky’s season went from strength to strength. Not only did the 28-year-old Belgian pick up 10 more wins than she did in 2022, Kopecky also secured the rainbow bands ahead of Vollering in Glasgow.

Her early season form was exceptional with wins in Omloop, Danilith Nokere Koerse and the Tour of Flanders, second in Amstel Gold, and a seventh place best-of-the-rest in Paris-Roubaix. Having done the national double in June, Kopecky rode most of the Tour de France Femmes in yellow before relinquishing the maillot jaune to Vollering on the Tourmalet.

But a stellar second place overall underlined the progress she has made as a rider – which she went on to cap with the overall win in the Simac Ladies Tour in September. A season to savour.

6. Primoz Roglic (Up 2)

Results: 15 wins including Tirreno-Adriatico, Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, Giro d’Italia, Vuelta a Burgos, Giro dell’Emilia; 3rd Vuelta a Espana

Primoz Roglic of Jumbo-Visma celebrates his victory in the 106th Giro dell'Emilia 2023

Image credit: Getty Images

Once again, the Slovenian was one of the main animators of the year, leaving it late to secure his first Giro d’Italia victory despite a heart-in-mouth chain drop in the deciding Monte Lussari time trial. That alone saw him wrest pink from the shoulders of Geraint Thomas while putting to bed the demons that have taunted him since losing the 2020 Tour de France on La Planche des Belles Filles.

Earlier in the spring, Roglic won three stages on the bounce to secure Tirreno-Adriatico and then another two en route to Catalunya success. His all-round ability means Roglic never slipped below sixth place throughout the Giro, which he won by just 14 seconds on Welsh veteran Thomas.

If an overall victory in the Vuelta a Burgos followed, Roglic was denied a chance of pushing for a record-equalling fourth Vuelta crown when team-mate Sepp Kuss unexpectedly soared into the red jersey in week one. The 34-year-old was unhappy with the team management’s decision to back Kuss and clearly felt that he had the legs to win himself.

Being muzzled in Spain was the straw that broke the camel’s back and Roglic has since been allowed to tear up his contract and join Bora-Hansgrohe. Time will tell if the move results in him featuring in next year’s top 10 list or if his star will fade once he leaves the Jumbo family.

5. Remco Evenepoel (Down 4)

Results: 13 wins including three stages of La Vuelta, two stages of the Giro, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, UAE Tour, World Championships men’s ITT

Remco Evenepoel shows off the Belgian colours of national champion in 2023

Image credit: Getty Images

After a low-key start to the season at San Juan, Evenepoel was soon back to winning ways with victory in the UAE Tour. He resumed his rivalry with Primoz Roglic at Catalunya but came off second best – by just six seconds – before blasting to a second successive win in La Doyenne.

Victories in both the Giro’s time trials saw the Belgian swap his rainbow stripes for a maglia rosa that he never got to wear beyond the Stage 9 podium: Covid forced him out on the first rest day and left fans wondering what may have been.

Evenepoel’s win in the Belgian national championships meant he had another jersey to wear when he relinquished his world title in Glasgow – but his triumph in the men’s TT means he will still get to wear rainbow bands next year.

Evenepoel completes hat-trick of wins in Vuelta with solo victory on Stage 18, Kuss retains red

Another long-range attack in San Sebastian reminded us of what a stellar talent the 23-year-old is. And although he cracked in Stage 13 of the Vuelta, Evenepoel won three magnificent stages and came runner-up on three occasions as well – all off the back of numerous breakaways that saw him secure the blue polka dot jersey as a consolation.

While 2023 was very much a learning curve for a sumptuous talent still working out his capabilities, Evenepoel did enough to win more than most – while also netting 11 second places. Cracking on the Aubisque and the Tourmalet in the Vuelta will be a worry for a rider looking to make his Tour de France debut in 2024. But it will also help prepare him for the big challenges that still lie ahead in a career that continues to provide excitement with every turn of the pedal.

4. Demi Vollering (New Entry)

Results: 17 wins including Strade Bianche Donne, Amstel Gold, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, Tour de France Femmes, Dutch National Championships; runner-up Ronde van Vlaanderen, La Vuelta Femenina, Itzulia Women, Tour de Suisse

Demi Vollering of The Netherlands and Team SD Worx in yellow during the Tour de France Femmes 2023

Image credit: Getty Images

In the year that Annemiek van Vleuten hung up her cycling shoes, Vollering very much emerged as her natural successor. Her opening race at Omloop aside, Vollering was undeniably the rider of the spring thanks to a series of five one-day wins (Strade Bianche, Dwars door Vlaanderen, Amstel Gold, La Fleche Walloone and Liege) and two second places (Ronde van Vlaanderen and De Brabantse Pijl).

If Vollering has taken over the mantle of queen of the peloton from Van Vleuten, it was the Dutch veteran who kept her compatriot at bay in La Vuelta despite her apprentice’s excellent wins at Mirador de Penas Llanas and Lagos de Covadonga.

More second places followed in Itzulia and the Tour de Suisse, although Vollering won the Vuelta a Burgos and then the Dutch championships on the eve of the Tour de France Femmes. Here, on the legendary Tourmalet, Vollering came of age with an emphatic performance that showcased her capability of winning major stage races as well as one-day classics.

Highlights: All the best action from Strade Bianche Donne as Vollering seals dramatic win

Victory in the Tour de Romandie added the cherry on the cake of a superb season, for which the image of the Dutch all-rounder riding in the wake of a stray horse in the dust of the Tuscan sterrati will perhaps remain the most emblematic. With Van Vleuten gone, Dutch cycling and the women’s World Tour has a new thoroughbred ready to run rings around her opposition.

It will be fascinating to see how the dynamic and rivalry between SD Worx team-mates Vollering and Lotte Kopecky evolves in 2024 after the latter denied the former – by just seven seconds – the world title that would have surely seen her snare the top spot in this list.

3. Jonas Vingegaard (Up 2)

Results: 15 wins including O Gran Camino, Itzulia Basque Country, Criterium du Dauphine, Tour de France; runner-up in La Vuelta, plus two stage wins

Jonas Vingegaard | Tour de France 2023

Image credit: Getty Images

The Dane may have won L’Equipe’s Velo d’Or but a second Tour de France win at a canter – however impressive – doth butter few parsnips in this more exacting list of high achievers.

Vingegaard matched his rival Tadej Pogacar’s three-stage haul from Andalucia with a hat-trick of his own in O Gran Camino in February. But when the pair went head-to-head in Paris-Nice two weeks later, the Slovenian was head and shoulders above his Danish counterpart.

Solid victories in both Itzulia and the Criterium du Dauphine – coupled with Pogacar’s injury from Liege – meant the pendulum had swung by the time the duo resumed their yellow jersey showdown in July. What followed was one of the best Tour performances seen from Vingegaard – from any Tour rider, ever, in all fairness – irrespective of any lingering doubts over Pogacar’s fitness.

Having taken the maillot jaune from Jai Hindley in the Pyrenees in Stage 6, Vingegaard’s lead was gradually whittled down to just 10 seconds on the eve of his astonishing time trial. No one expected to see the defending champion take 1'38" from Pogacar let alone the best part of three minutes from team-mate Van Aert. And if it was one day later, on the road to Courchevel, where Pogacar’s chances unquestionably went up in smoke, the match had been struck in that otherworldly ITT.

Vingegaard 'puts Tour to bed' with stunning time trial victory

A victory in the Vuelta would probably have followed had team-mate Sepp Kuss not found himself in the red jersey early in the race while Vingagaard – battling back from illness – was still finding his feet. Judging by his performances on the Tourmalet, in Stage 16, and on the Angliru, in Stage 19, Vingegaard had the legs to do the double.

By bowing to external pressures pushing for Kuss’s cause, Vingegaard clearly did the right thing within the team. It also, crucially, kept sweet a loyal team-mate integral in both his Tour wins to date. But in doing so, fans were denied what could have been an intriguing inter-team dual between him and Primoz Roglic.

2. Mathieu van der Poel (Up 8)

Results: Milano-Sanremo, Paris-Roubaix, Baloise Belgium Tour, World Championships men’s road race

Mathieu van der Poel wins a criterium in the rainbow jersey in 2023

Image credit: Getty Images

There was no winning at Mur de Huy to scoop the yellow jersey, nor was there getting into the breakaway practically every day of the Giro. There wasn’t even a third Flanders triumph. But when Van der Poel did win, he did so emphatically and with consummate panache, while looking like a matinee idol.

The first of just six victories came on the via Roma after the Dutchman broke clear from a stellar trio of Filippo Ganna, Tadej Pogacar and Wout van Aert to complete the quickest ever ascent of the Poggio in Milano-Sanremo. Weeks later – after finishing runner-up at both E3 and the Ronde – Van der Poel finally won an elusive Roubaix cobblestone trophy after soloing clear in style.

Besides a stage and the overall victory in the Baloise Belgium Tour in June, the summer proved a little barren for the 28-year-old. But while things never really clicked on a personal level at the Tour, Van der Poel was an integral cog in the team effort that saw Jasper Philipsen sprint to four stage wins for Alpecin-Deceuninck.

Top five Van der Poel wins of 2023 – from classics to World Championships

The best was still to come, however, as Van der Poel defied his old rival Van Aert as well as that man Pogacar and the 2019 champion Mads Pedersen to take gold in Glasgow. Even a crash on one of the tight corners of the punishing and slippery street circuit was not enough to take the wind from the sails of new world champion – although it did bugger up his right shoe.

His final triumph of the year in the Super 8 Classic was hardly one to write home about but it did enable Van der Poel to taste glory in the rainbow bands after a classy five-up sprint. It’s unlikely that the so-called curse of the rainbow jersey will be a thing in 2024 when a rider of Van der Poel’s stature is in charge.

1. Tadej Pogacar (Up 3)

Results: 17 wins including Vuelta a Andalusia, Paris-Nice, Ronde van Vlaanderen, Amstel Gold, Fleche Wallonne, Il Lombardia; runner-up in Tour de France, plus two stage wins

Tadej Pogacar of Slovenia and UAE Team Emirates celebrates at finish line as race winner during the 107th Ronde van Vlaanderen

Image credit: Getty Images

A best rider who failed to win a Grand Tour? Or a best rider who won more Monuments than anyone else in 2023 while threatening to win a third yellow jersey? We’ll go with the latter. So, all hail Tadej Pogacar, your best rider of the year. By a country mile.

Sure, Jonas Vingegaard got the better of him in the Tour. Considerably. But so what. The achievements of the Slovenian showman in the spring alone put him in the shop window for this award. It’s not since the days of Hinault and Merckx that we have had an all-round force of such strength and versatility competing for both stage race scalps and one-day triumphs – tearing up the rule books in the process. Unlike those two historic titans, Pogacar does what he does with grace and good humour – smiling whether he wins or loses.

After coming up short in 2022, Pogacar beat the classics specialists at their own game in the Ronde with a devastating attack on the Oude Kwaremont. He did this after winning the Vuelta a Andalucia with his eyes closed and then humbling Vingegaard in Paris-Nice. With Flanders in his pocket, Pogi went on to win Amstel Gold with an 83km breakaway before adding La Fleche Wallonne to his swelling palmares.

Hopes of an Ardennes clean sweep were dashed at Liege when an uncharacteristic crash ended his fine run and kept him off the bike for a couple of months. With that in mind, it is perhaps no surprise he was caught short by Vingegaard in the Tour. But two stage wins, two second places and three thirds meant Pogacar was glorious even in his greatest defeat.

‘Blast off!’ - Pogacar rides away from Vingegaard on Col de Joux Plane

Clearly running on empty in Glasgow, Pogacar still had enough to deny a faster finisher in Mads Pedersen the bronze medal. A super solid Italian autumn campaign then culminated with a record-equalling third successive Il Lombardia crown on which he signed off for the season. Bosh.

Look, the stats speak for themselves: Pogacar was, hands down, the most entertaining and most effective and – beyond the sprinters – winningest rider of 2023. This is a guy who, in his first 21 days of racing, had a 57% win rate, a guy who, over the course of the season, only finished outside the top 50 twice, and who, in his 49 race days, only dropped outside the top 10 on 18 occasions.

Numbers like that make him untouchable. And he’s only going to get better.

Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard after the Tour de France 2023

Image credit: Getty Images

What about those absent from last year’s top 10?

Four riders who featured last year failed to make the cut this time round: Biniam Girmay (ninth), Mads Pedersen (seventh), Lorena Wiebes (sixth) and Annemiek van Vleuten (second).

After his breakthrough 2022, Eritrea’s Biniam Girmay only topped the podium on two occasions and his much-feted Tour de France debut was hardly a picnic, the 23-year-old’s best result being third place in Stage 7 to Bordeaux. Luckily, time is on Girmay’s side and 2024 could see him return to his previous heights for Intermarche-Wanty.

Mads Pedersen’s victory in Stage 6 of the Giro in Naples saw the 27-year-old Lidl-Trek powerhouse complete his Grand Tour clean sweep of stages in under a year. The Dane added another Tour de France stage in a year that saw him taste success on seven occasions. If he didn’t make this year’s list, then he was certainly knocking on the door in 13th place.

Twelve wins – including successes in both the Tour and Giro – and no fewer than 16 second places made for another excellent year for Lorena Wiebes – the third prong of SD Worx’s indomitable trident. The 24-year-old Dutch star has cemented her place as one of the best – if not the best – sprinter in the women’s peloton and missed out on a place in the top 10 by a whisker, just trailing Philipsen in the standings.

Last year’s runner-up, Annemiek van Vleuten was unable to match her lofty 2022 heights this past season, but the 41-year-old Dutch all-rounder still won the Vuelta and the Giro and Tour of Scandinavia in her final year as a pro at Movistar. Nestled between Wiebes and Pedersen in 12th place in this list, Van Vleuten’s professionalism and verve will be sorely missed by everyone.

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