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Super official Pro Cycling Stats Awards 2025
Super official Pro Cycling Stats Awards 2025
08 October 2025, by Mark van der Linden
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2025 is o-v-e-r. Yep, it realy is... Now that the 2025 road cycling season has officially wrapped up, it’s about time for the super-official (ahem) Pro Cycling Stats Awards. In the spirit of fun, this article hands out honors like the Zubeldia Trophy, the Kirsipuu Cup, and the Kelderman Prize. Congratulations to all the winners—and remember, don’t take any of this too seriously!

Let's go!
Haimar Zubeldia Trophy

We could’ve called this one the Louis Meintjes Award — but in the end, it’s Haimar Zubeldia who lends his name to this prestigious honor. The prize goes to the rider who most often finished between 5th and 15th place… without ever actually winning (yet).
Figure 1. Haimar Zubeldia Trophy
# Rider Times between 5th and 15th
1 JEGAT Jordan
30
2 TEUNISSEN Mike
23
3 MENTEN Milan
22
4 TEJADA Harold
22
5 CHAMPOUSSIN Clément
22
6 PENHOËT Paul
22
7 PARET-PEINTRE Aurélien
21
8 ZANONCELLO Enrico
21
9 GALL Felix
21
10 VAN WILDER Ilan
21
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Wilco Kelderman Medal

In the same spirit as the Zubeldia Trophy, we proudly present the Wilco Kelderman Medal. This one really needs no explanation — it goes, of course, to the rider who finished in the top 10 most often without ever winning and managed to crash at least three times this season.
Vincenzo Nibali Diploma

And then there’s the award named after the craftiest shark in the peloton. The Vincenzo Nibali Diploma is reserved for the GC rider who most often decided to mix it up with the sprinters in a bunch sprint. A bold move, rarely successful or actually necessary, but always entertaining — like a shark hunting in the wrong ocean.
Figure 3. Vincenzo Nibali Diploma
# Rider #top-30s in stages that ended in bunchsprint
1 PIDCOCK Thomas
11
2 BILBAO Pello
10
3 TIBERI Antonio
8
4 VAUQUELIN Kévin
8
5 MCNULTY Brandon
8
6 ONLEY Oscar
4
7 HINDLEY Jai
4
8 EVENEPOEL Remco
4
9 BUITRAGO Santiago
4
10 POGAČAR Tadej
3
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Óscar Sevilla Cup

We’re hopping all over the place at this year’s PCS Awards Gala and have now arrived at the category for the not-quite-retired-yet riders. Naturally, this one’s named after our dear friend of the show, Óscar Sevilla.

The Spanish veteran just wrapped up what must be his 412th semi-professional season, delighting ecstatic cycling crowds in the Dominican Republic and Panama with yet more glorious victories.

But who, in 2025, was actually the oldest rider to win a UCI race — and will walk away with the prestigious Óscar Sevilla Cup?

Figure 4. Óscar Sevilla Cup
# Rider Age when winning Race
1 MANCEBO Francisco48 + 319dTour du Sahel | Stage 1
2 PRADES Benjamín41 + 278dTour de Banyuwangi Ijen | Stage 4
3 SAFARZADEH Saeid39 + 252dTour of Iran (Azarbaijan) | GC
4 BECERRA Eduin39 + 113dVuelta al Táchira en Bicicleta | GC
5 LAGAB Azzedine38 + 155dGrand Prix Sonatrach
6 TAARAMÄE Rein38 + 122dGrand Prix Ordu
7 KRISTOFF Alexander38 + 34dArctic Race of Norway | Stage 2
8 CARUSO Damiano37 + 300dVuelta a Burgos | Stage 4
9 POELS Wout37 + 215dPresidential Cycling Tour of Turkiye | GC
10 HENAO Sergio37 + 117dJamaica International Cycling Classic | GC
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Greg Van Avermaet Honorable Mention

Next up is an award specially introduced for a certain Belgian TV channel — because no race or cycling discussion is complete without dropping the name of the king of kings: Greg Van Avermaet.

Technically, this prize should go to the rider most often mentioned in a melancholy voice during springtime commentary, but since we’ll only be adding that statistic to the website next year, the GVA Honorable Mention goes instead to the rider who scored the most points in Belgian one-day races.

Figure 5. Greg Van Avermaet Honorable Mention
# Rider Points in oneday races in Belgium
1 POGAČAR Tadej
775
2 PEDERSEN Mads
655
3 MERLIER Tim
572
4 MAGNIER Paul
499
5 VAN DER POEL Mathieu
450
6 VAN AERT Wout
423
7 PHILIPSEN Jasper
418
8 MILAN Jonathan
375
9 DE LIE Arnaud
332
10 FRETIN Milan
330
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Peter Sagan Belt

Next, the gala turns into a full-blown fashion show as special guest Peter Sagan struts down the runway, proudly showcasing all the distinctive leader jerseys he’s collected over his career. At the end, he’ll award the Peter Sagan Belt to the rider who wore the most different jerseys this season — because style points matter just as much as race points.
Kenny van Hummel Encouragement Award

Alright, alright, folks — back to somewhat more “serious” business. Well, serious if you count the grimaces of riders slogging up mountains just to finish within the time limit. For them, we proudly present the Kenny van Hummel Encouragement Award. This honor goes to the rider who’s been OTL’d the most times this year — proof that perseverance is sometimes its own reward.

Alexander Kristoff Rosette

As we bid farewell to one of our favorite Stavanger Stallions, it only felt right to dedicate a prize to him — Alexander Kristoff. Few riders in the peloton can stay as calm and collected as the Norwegian sprinter, even when things get absolutely chaotic.

And being calm and collected isn’t just useful in the final sprint — it also helps during the pre-race neutralization. Since Kristoff covered the most kilometers between the départ fictif and départ réel last year, this award will forever bear his name.

The Alexander Kristoff Rosette goes to the rider who clocked the most kilometers in the neutral zone before KM0.

Figure 7. Alexander Kristoff Rosette
# Rider Total KM neutral Ø per race
1 GARCÍA CORTINA Iván
494
6.2
2 WATSON Samuel
482.6
6.8
3 LIENHARD Fabian
469.9
6.6
4 EDDY Patrick
462.2
6.1
5 STEWART Jake
457.2
6.3
6 SEPÚLVEDA Eduardo
454.8
5.8
7 SOLER Marc
450.4
5.9
8 BUCHMANN Emanuel
442.3
6.1
9 ARMIRAIL Bruno
440.4
6.3
10 SAMITIER Sergio
436.4
5.5
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Jaan Kirsipuu Prize

With the Jaan Kirsipuu Prize, we’re staying in the region — well, sort of. Jaan Kirsipuu. No one scored points better in French races where climbing wasn’t too much of a problem. The “Mr. Coupe de France” lends his name to this award for the rider who collected the most points in the less demanding Coupe de France races. So, who will be the Jaan Kirsipuu of 2025?

Figure 8. Jaan Kirsipuu Prize
# Rider Points in oneday races ps<100 in France
1 JEANNIÈRE Emilien
275
2 VENTURINI Clément
263
3 BRENNAN Matthew
210
4 COSNEFROY Benoît
180
5 TRONCHON Bastien
180
6 KUBIŠ Lukáš
150
7 ASKEY Lewis
141
8 VAUQUELIN Kévin
139
9 COQUARD Bryan
131
10 LAPEIRA Paul
128
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Jakub Mareczko Plaque

If he had ever spent a season racing in France, Jakub Mareczko would probably have claimed the Jaan Kirsipuu Prize — but this Italian deserves an award all his own. We debated whether it should go to the rider who wins the most races nobody’s watching, or to the rider who collected the most points in Asia. In the end, it’s the latter.
Figure 9. Jakub Mareczko Plaque
# Rider Points in races in Asia
1 SALBY Alexander
444
2 MALUCELLI Matteo
427
3 MULUBRHAN Henok
422
4 POGAČAR Tadej
369
5 TSARENKO Kyrylo
308
6 DOUBLE Paul
300
7 BILBAO Pello
272
8 MAGNIER Paul
255
9 RIKUNOV Petr
243
10 CICCONE Giulio
230
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Tim Naberman Ribbon

As we said — don’t take any of this too seriously. Every rider has their place and purpose in the peloton… and on the team bus. But some stats are simply too fascinating not to hang an award on. And in this case, that hanger is named Tim Naberman — the Dutchman who holds the active record for the most professional race days without scoring a single PCS point (apart from the basic finisher points in top-tier races).

The Tim Naberman Ribbon is awarded to the rider with the most race days this season without earning a single PCS point -  specialists in showing up, working hard, and somehow staying off the scoreboard.

Figure 10. Tim Naberman Ribbon
# Rider Races without points
1 PALENI Enzo
77
2 KNOX James
68
3 KRUIJSWIJK Steven
65
4 PAPON Victor
64
5 EYOB Metkel
63
6 OWSIAN Łukasz
61
7 DÍAZ Alex
61
8 LANGELLA Lenaic
61
9 DEBEAUMARCHÉ Nicolas
59
10 RIERA Joan Albert
59
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De Jongh–Leukemans Medal

Time for the bad-luck award. Steven de Jongh and Bjorn Leukemans went head-to-head for naming rights to this one. But if Italian races can squeeze four names into a single Gran Premio Qualcuno – Memorial di Qualcuno (which, fun fact, sounds suspiciously like “GP Turkey” in Dutch), then we figured we could play that card too.

The De Jongh–Leukemans Medal goes to the rider who spent the most race days in soaked socks.

Figure 11. De Jongh–Leukemans Medal
# Rider Racedays with rain
1 MARIT Arne
20
2 HEPBURN Michael
19
2 TILLER Rasmus
19
2 IZQUIERDO Clément
19
3 DE GENDT Aimé
18
3 LIENHARD Fabian
18
3 SWIFT Ben
18
3 KIELICH Timo
18
3 VAN BOVEN Luca
18
3 GERMANI Lorenzo
18
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Mikkel Frølich Honoré Certificate

And now it’s time for a special prize — for riders who could really use an extra language or two. At first, we thought of naming it after Eduardo Sepúlveda. The Argentine hails from Rawson, a town founded by Welsh immigrants, which probably makes him the only rider in the peloton who can actually understand Owain Doull when he switches to full-on Welsh.

But in the end, we went with Mikkel Frølich Honoré. The Dane reportedly spends his scarce free time — when he’s not at basketball games — learning new languages. At least, that’s what his EF team claims.

And for the riders eligible for this award, those extra languages might come in handy: the prize goes to the rider with DNFs in the greatest number of different countries. Because if you’re going to abandon, it helps to know how to ask for directions back to the team bus.

Figure 12. Mikkel Frølich Honoré Certificate
# Rider DNF countries
1 ERIKSSON Jacob
10
2 KAMP Alexander
9
3 VAN TRICHT Stan
8
4 GREEN Siméon
7
5 DURBRIDGE Luke
7
6 KOCH Jonas
7
7 HUYS Laurens
7
8 TESSON Jason
7
9 GRONDIN Donavan
7
10 VANDENABEELE Henri
7
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Bauke Mollema Cheque

Long days in the car on the way to your holiday destination. Kids in the backseat who can’t entertain themselves. “Are we there yet?” Fights. Boredom. Chaos.

Well, with Bauke Mollema in the backseat, none of that is a problem. The Dutchman dives into a book and you don’t hear a peep from him for the rest of the trip.

That’s why we introduce the Bauke Mollema Cheque, awarded to the rider with the greatest total travel distance between races this year — to stock up on new books for the coming season.

Figure 13. Bauke Mollema Cheque
# Rider Total transition KM
1 MULUBRHAN Henok
121145
2 BALDACCINI Davide
99820
3 GATE Aaron
94732
4 ĐURIĆ Đorđe
92997
5 BURNETT Josh
92049
6 SILVA Guillermo Thomas
90250
7 SAMUDIO Carlos
88862
8 SCHMID Mauro
87060
9 EULÁLIO Afonso
84389
10 GONZÁLEZ Roberto Carlos
84134
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Djamolidine Abduzhaparov Award

If your nickname is The Cowboy of Tashkent and you were known for being, let’s say, a little all over the place in a sprint, then you’re the perfect poster boy for our newest prize — awarded to the rider who collected the most yellow cards this season.

Wout van Aert Order of Merit

Sometimes, silly statistics catch our eye. And, well, we just happened to be looking for a wonderfully useless hook to hang our last award on.

So here’s the stat: Wout van Aert has, at this very moment, won exactly as many professional road races as he’s finished second in. That doesn’t quite make him the “Eternal Second,” but he does come in second… a lot. Exactly as often as he wins, in fact. And when both numbers sit at 51, that’s quite something.

Anyway, we’ve compiled a list of riders who earned the most prize money this season without winning — second in a mountain sprint, third in a youth classification, and so on. In short: the Wout van Aert Order of Merit.

Figure 15. Wout van Aert Order of Merit
# Rider Prizemoney (€)
1 VINGEGAARD Jonas
306550
2 DEL TORO Isaac
189946
3 LIPOWITZ Florian
129405
4 ONLEY Oscar
128965
5 ALMEIDA João
102647.5
6 POGAČAR Tadej
94330
7 PIDCOCK Thomas
87379
8 GALL Felix
86268
9 CARAPAZ Richard
86095.5
10 PEDERSEN Mads
65317
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