The Vélo d’Or awards for 2024 will introduce a new prize honouring bike riders’ social commitment and named after the late Gino Mäder.
A talented climber who died, aged 26, during the 2023 Tour de Suisse as the consequences of his injuries in a downhill crash, Mäder was a keen lifelong activist for humanitarian causes.
Mäder raised money through his cycling and racing for causes like Just Diggit, the NGO working to regreen degraded landscapes through natural solutions. In the 2021 Vuelta a España, Mäder raised 4,000 euros by donating 10 euros for every rider he beat on GC, while in 2022 he contributed 1 euro for every rider he beat on a stage.
This year the Tour de Suisse also introduced an award in Mäder’s name, the #RideForGino Mountain Prize, given to the first rider to cross the highest mountain of the race route.
The winner of the new award will be announced as part of the Vélo d’Or awards ceremony on December 6 at the Pavillon Gabriel venue in Paris.
The Vélo d’Or prize-giving committee said the new award “is in homage to Gino Mäder, the remarkable Swiss rider, whose career was notable both for its sporting achievements, but also his dedication to social and environment causes.”
The finalists for the other prizes on offer this year in the 2024 Vélo d’Or have already been announced, with Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) a hot favourite to win the World Vélo d’Or men’s award.
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Other finalists in that category include Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) and Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty). Candidates for the equivalent womens’ prize include Grace Brown (FDJ-Suez), Kirsten Faulkner (EF -Oatly-Cannondale) and Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime).
Last year the World Vélo d’Or was won by Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Demi Vollering (SD Worx-Protime).
Other prizes on offer include the Eddy Merckx Trophy for Best Classics rider, the Bernard Hinault Trophy for Best French male and and female riders, a trophy for the Best French Para-Cyclist, and a trophy for the world’s best cyclist across all Olympic disciplines.
