Since 2016 Voxwomen supporters have voted for their Road Rider of the Year. In 2018 after the sad passing of Sharon Laws the prestigious award was named after her to continue her memory. Sharon was a fantastic bike rider and a member of the Voxwomen Team. She loved to watch races, see the progression of riders and discuss how races went. This award is an ideal way to remember her.
In 2020 as a result of all the challenges in the world the Rouleur Classic is unfortunately not going ahead. Traditionally the event has been the fantastic host of the presentation of the award so this year we are going to do things a little differently.
Voxwomen has teamed up with partners Peloton to showcase the award and to enable fans to vote. In 2020 we will select two winners to expand the awards and it’s up to you to decide who receives:
The Voxwomen Sharon Laws Road Rider of the Year
The Voxwomen Sharon Laws Young Rider of the Year.
The Voxwomen Team has shortlisted the riders for each of the awards. Now it’s up to you to make a selection and decide who follows the following riders as Voxwomen Sharon Laws rider of the year.
Our previous winners:
2016 Megan Guarnier
2017 Annemiek Van Vleuten
2018 Coryn Rivera
2019 Annemiek Van Vleuten
So, here is our shortlist! Please vote and have a say in who wins this years awards!
Voxwomen Sharon Laws Road Rider of the Year
Lizzie Deignan
After the re-start of the 2020 season there was no holding back Lizzie Deignan. She won GP Plouay in tough conditions, followed up with a special win at La Course by Le TdF and completed the season with a stunning win at Liege Bastogne Liege. Add top 10 places at the World Championships and Flèche Wallonne as well as the overall win in the UCI Women’s World Tour, there is no doubt as to why Lizzie is on this shortlist.
Anna van der Breggen
8 wins in a curtailed season put Anna again on the shortlist of this award. Before lockdown she had already opened her season account at Valenciana. But that just got her season going. By the end of 2020 she had added another Giro Rosa to her palmares as well as double rainbow jerseys in the road and TT, a sixth consecutive Flèche Wallonne and a host of other wins.
Annemiek Van Vleuten
Annemiek is shortlisted again with the possiibility of winning the award for the 3rd time. She started the 2020 season in her usual style by winning Het Nieuwsblad. After the re-start of the season she was unbeatable in the first races taking Klasikoa, Clasica Femenina Navarra, Durango-Durango, and Strade Bianche all in a row. After winning the European Championships she crashed out of the Giro Rosa after taking a stage win but still took 2nd place in the World Championships.
Lisa Brennauer
Lisa had a consistent 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 for the second year running. Her continued strength as an all round rider showed with podium finishes in De Panne and Gent Wevelgem, 4th place in the Tour of Flanders, the World time trial championships and the European championships as well as a top ten in both the World and European road race championships.
Voxwomen Sharon Laws Young Rider of the Year
Liane Lippert
This 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 race championships, 10th in Liege Bastogne Liege and 2nd in Brabantse Pijl. Her consistent performances gave her the UCI Womens Word Tour Young rider classification.
Lorena Wiebes
After a well publicised move to Team Sunweb in June, 21 year old Lorena followed up her win in Omloop van het Hageland with more victories. She secured Grote Prijs Euromat, De Panne and a stage in the Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta to end the season on a high.
Elisa Balsamo
22 year old Italian sprinter Elisa continued her progression on the road. She won the U23 European road race Championship and ended the season with a stage win at the Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta after a fantastic lead out by her Valcar Travel & Service Team.
Mikayla Harvey
22 year old New Zealander Mikayla demonstrated that she is a rider to look out for when she took a fantastic 5th place at the Giro Rosa, ensuring the young riders jersey. With a 7th place in Flèche Wallonne great things are expected of this rider in the future.
How to vote:
Click HERE to vote for your favourite rider. You have until 2nd December to vote.
