Primoz Roglic has won VĂ©lo magazine's prestigious VĂ©lo dâOr prize for best cyclist of the year. Julian Alaphilippe was awarded the best French rider prize for the second-consecutive year. Roglic won four stages of the Vuelta a España, the race overall, LiĂšgeâBastogneâLiĂšge and was second at the Tour de France this year. Taking the prize from Alaphilippe, Roglic was humbled to win the award: "I went through the list of previous winners and saw it's really an important award," Roglic told L'Equipe.
"I want to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to the people who voted for me. I understood that it was a jury of journalists from all over the world, that's why it really touches me."
Alaphilippe did not come away empty handed, however, as he was awarded the French VĂ©lo dâOr honour after a year that culminated in him becoming world champion in Imola.
"Primoz Roglic amply deserves this trophy. Last year, I had a big, big season to win it. It is in the logic of things that he wins it this year," Alaphilippe conceded.
"Winning the VĂ©lo dâOr Français makes me very happy, itâs nice to see that my results didnât go unnoticed and I was again named best French rider of the year, thus getting another trophy. This season has been a special and different one, with plenty of challenges, but I managed to achieve many of my goals and I can be satisfied with what I did, the world title I won in Italy being, of course, the cherry on the top.
"The rainbow jersey is the most beautiful in the world and wearing it in a few races before the season ended made me realise what a huge honour it is to have it. This gives me a lot of motivation for next year."