Voxwomen and Peloton readers and fans have decided their women’s cycling riders of the year in a month long campaign attracting thousands of votes. The votes cast were the highest number in history and for the first time a new Young Riders award has been introduced.
The curtailed, revamped and shortened women’s cycling season provided fans with some stunning action and highlighted riders with the ability to be consistent over a condensed period of time.
The shortlists of riders were:
Rider of the Year
Lizzie Deignan Trek Segafredo
Anna van der Breggen Boels Dolmans
Annemiek Van Vleuten Mitchelton Scott
Lisa Brennauer Ceratizit – WNT Pro Cycling
Young Rider of the Year
Liane Lippert Team Sunweb
Lorena Wiebes Team Sunweb
Elisa Balsamo Valcar Travel and Service
Mikayla Harvey Equipe Paule Ka
After voting closed on December 2nd the Voxwomen team are pleased to announce the winners.
The Voxwomen Sharon Laws Rider of the Year 2020 is Lisa Brennauer of Ceratizit – WNT Pro Cycling
Lisa had a fantastic season ending with a win at the Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta, taking a podium on stage 1. The former world time trial champion then won the individual time trial and consequently went on to take the overall victory. Her continued strength as an all round rider showed with podium finishes in De Panne and Gent Wevelgem, 4th place in Flanders, the world TT champs and the European championships.
She succeeds Megan Guarnier, Annemiek Van Vleuten and Coryn Rivera as previous winners.
With the growth of women’s cycling, more and more young riders are emerging as talents in the peloton. The first ever winner of the Voxwomen Sharon Laws Young Rider of the Year is Liane Lippert of Team Sunweb, soon to be Team DSM.
The 22 year old rider really showed that she meant business in 2020 by finishing 2nd at the Tour Down Under and following it up with a win at the Cadel Evans Ocean Road Race. When the season re-started she finished 5th at the World Road Championships, 10th in Liege Bastogne Liege and 2nd in Brabantse Pijl. Her consistent performances secured her the UCI Womens Word Tour Young rider classification.
The prestigious awards are named after Sharon Laws. Sharon was a British rider who was very popular in the peloton. As an Olympian and a multiple British Champion as well as winner of road stages in races like the Tour de L’Aude she was versatile enough to win the Absa Cape Epic Mountain Bike race. She sadly passed away in 2017 after being diagnosed with cervical cancer. The award is to keep her memory and legacy alive. She had worked for Voxwomen throughout her illness and was a valued member of the team helping to grow women’s cycling.
