Strava awards: Vollering, Jumbo-Visma, GPS artists among 2023 winners

Cycling scoops seven of the 12 awards as riders are recognised for achievements throughout the year

16:20, Thursday 14th December 2023

Patrick Fletcher

Deputy Editor

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Strava Year in Sport Awards

The winners of the 2023 Strava Awards have been announced, and there’s plenty of recognition for cyclists, with Demi Vollering (SD Worx) named Athlete of the Year, Jumbo-Visma named Team of the Year, and the French pair who produced a giant-hearted GPS drawing named ‘Artists of the Year’.

Launched this year, Strava's 'Year in Sport' Awards are designed to showcase and celebrate the achievements of users of the fitness platform, sitting alongside the launch of users’ own in-app wrap of their annual activity data.

There were 12 categories, and cycling won out in seven of them.

Athlete of the Year

The marquee award was Athlete of the Year, which fell to pro cyclist Demi Vollering after a stunning season on the road with the SD Worx team. The Dutchwoman, who uploaded all her race files to Strava, won the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift in the summer, after doing the ‘Ardennes treble’ of Amstel Gold Race, La Flèche Wallonne, and Liège-Bastogne-Liège in the spring.

She also won Strade Bianche and later made the podium of the Gravel World Championships. Vollering saw off competition from para-cyclist Sam Ruddock, as well as two runners, to scoop the award, which was decided in-house by Strava.

Crown Collector of the Year

Annemiek van Vleuten waved goodbye to the peloton in 2023

Vollering’s compatriot and chief rival in 2023, Annemiek van Vleuten, walked away with the Crown Collector of the Year title, for those who have bagged the most QOMs/KOMs on Strava segments. However, the award would appear to be a subjective one, heavily based on Van Vleuten’s retirement, given she beat two riders who bagged more segments.

Her tally of 757 was bettered by Vuelta a España champion Sepp Kuss (815) and Illi Gardner, a British rider who doesn’t race professionally full-time but has become the world’s leading segment bagger, male or female, with an astonishing 2,749 QOMs in 2023. Gardner holds the crowns for both ways up the Col du Tourmalet, taking one in a GCN video in June that withstood the visit of the Tour de France Femmes a month later.

Continuing the pro racing theme, Jumbo-Visma were named Team of the Year in what was a joint award between the men’s and women’s squads, even if the men’s did most of the heavy lifting with a historic clean sweep of the Grand Tours. Meanwhile, Jayco-AlUla’s Teniel Campbell, from Trinidad and Tobago, was named Trailblazer of the Year after becoming the first black rider to race the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.

Artist of the Year

The father and daughter giant heart Strava art

Away from racing, the hotly contested Strava art award saw the French father and daughter pair named Artists of the Year for the giant heart they drew on a tandem bike, as featured on GCN in October.

Frédéric de Lanouvelle and his daughter Mathilde, who was celebrating her 16th birthday, rode 2,162km together around France to set a world record for ‘the world's largest GPS drawing by bicycle (team)'. They beat a giant giraffe from a fellow cyclist, along with Bigfoot and a dragon from a pair of runners, and they also raised 26,000 euros for charity in the process.

Club of the Year and Follow of the Year

The Kings / Queens Rule Together cycling club was crowned the Most Active Club of the Year. The club was founded in Philadelphia in 2019 and has grown to more than 400 members across 22 states and five countries. “This thriving club embraces diversity, motivates its members to stay active and has a blast conquering cycling miles together,” Strava said in its announcement

Finally, the ‘Follow of the Year’, which was the only award to go to a public vote, went to the Dutch YouTuber Average Rob, who has done challenges with the likes of Mathieu van der Poel and Remco Evenepoel on his channel.