Cycling end-of-year awards 2025: Best rider, breakout star, and ones to watch in 2026

The cycling season is long over but the new one is just around the corner; no sooner will the riders have had their fill of mince pies and festive family arguments than they’ll be off again, mostly to sunnier climes to kick off their pre-season.

But before that it’s time to take a look back at the good, bad and ugly of 2025.

Which riders impressed? Which promising youngsters burst onto the scene and are set to give the likes of Tadej Pogacar nightmares in a couple of years’ time? Which races will live long in the collective memory, for better or for worse?

Find out with The Independent’s (entirely objective) end-of-year awards.

Rider of the year (men)

It’s not the most original choice, but it’s really the only viable one. Tadej Pogacar was once again not just head and shoulders above the entire rest of the peloton, but basically out of sight – often literally, as he disappeared up the road the minute it kicked uphill.

This year he racked up a fourth Tour de France title, equalling Chris Froome’s achievement; another three Monuments, including a record fifth straight Il Lombardia; a seemingly effortless win at the Dauphine; a maiden European road race title; and an emphatic defence of his rainbow jersey to cap off a near-perfect year for the Slovenian superstar.

While he was unstoppable in the high mountains he didn’t get everything his own way in the Classics, with Mathieu van der Poel winning another two Monuments, at Paris-Roubaix – his third in a row – and Milan-San Remo. Seeing Pogacar fume after missing out on the latter gave us confirmation he’ll be back for another attempt in 2026, when Van der Poel is likely to prove his toughest competition once again.

Rider of the year (women)

Pauline Ferrand-Prevot set her sights on winning the Tour de France within three years when she returned to the road after a long and brilliant off-road career; she ended up winning it at the first time of asking. Her outstanding achievement meant she was the first French rider to win the Tour in 40 years, and galvanised the entire nation, which turned out in force to cheer her home after a dominant run in the mountains. And she won Paris-Roubaix on her first attempt, too.

In a very different field of battle to Pogacar but about as dominant, Lorena Wiebes finishes the year in a strong second place for best women’s rider. And that’s pretty much the only second place she got all season, with a win rate of nearly 50 per cent: 25 wins total from 53 race days, 19 of those victories at World Tour level. If there was a sprint, she won it, with the points jerseys at the Tour de France and Giro d’Italia as a bonus. Next year she ought to start races with a handicap just to make things interesting.

Breakout star of the year

Visma-Lease a Bike’s Matthew Brennan really took the cycling world by storm this year. The Brit won four days in a row at the age of just 19 to kick off this season, finishing with a ridiculous haul of 14 victories, including two at the Volta a Catalunya and the general classification at the Tour of Norway.

Now 20, the Darlington native is not just speedy but also a born racer, with a canny tactical brain and a level head on his shoulders. He’s likely to only get better from here.

On the women’s side, 29-year-old Mauritian Kim Le Court achieved a dream season after years of fighting to get to the World Tour.

She made history for Mauritius in 2024 as its first rider to reach cycling’s elite level, and this year broke new ground, becoming the female African rider to win a stage of the Tour de France and to wear the yellow jersey, and after top-five finishes in Milan-San Remo, the Tour of Flanders and La Fleche Wallonne, took an emotional maiden Monument victory at Liege-Bastogne-Liege.

Race of the year

The Giro d’Italia. The first grand tour of the year really had it all: a wide open field, drama within UAE over who exactly was team leader, a glorious comeback win for Wout van Aert in the incredibly beautiful town of Siena after an injury-hit 2024, and redemption for Simon Yates on the very mountain which condemned him to defeat in 2018.

Seven years ago he lost the maglia rosa on the Colle delle Finestre as Chris Froome set off on a race-winning move the Bury man could not follow. Seven years later he was strongest by a mile on the same climb, aided by an inspired van Aert turning himself inside-out for his teammate, and a healthy dose of tactical nonsense behind. It was glorious.

Surprise of the year

Mattias Skjelmose beating Pogacar and Remco Evenepoel in a three-up sprint for glory at Amstel Gold can’t have been on many bingo cards; nor can the fact that Evenepoel and Skjelmose actually caught up to the Slovenian after he set off on a long-range attack. Even if it never happens again, Skjelmose will always have that on his Wikipedia page.

Moment of the year

In women’s racing this happened right at the beginning of the season and wouldn’t be bettered. At Omloop Nieuwsblad the entire peloton refused to shoulder the burden of chasing down the breakaway and only realised far too late that they’d killed off any chance of hauling it back. Cue delightfully joyous scenes as Belgian rider Lotte Claes took her first – and to date only – pro win at one of the biggest races on the calendar.

Canada’s Magdeleine Vallieres upsetting the bookies and the race favourites at the World Championships with a stunning breakaway win, before she was swarmed by delighted teammates, was a close second.

On the men’s side, let’s go with Ben Healy’s entire Tour de France adventure, as he became the first Irishman to wear the yellow jersey since Stephen Roche in 1987. He won stage six, bagged another couple of top-three finishes, and lit up the race in general with his all-out-attacking approach. The 25-year-old was expected to fade in the high mountains but continued to impress and left France ninth overall, as well as with a legion of new fans, before taking third at the World Championships in case anyone needed confirmation he’s the real deal.

Team spirit award

The Dutch women’s squad were always going to be the strongest team at the Gravel World Championships and any number of them could win it, leading to an every-woman-for-herself strategy… and the utterly bizarre sight of Yara Kastelijn chasing down Shirin van Anrooij, who had looked nailed-on to win until the final kilometre, and teeing up Wiebes to sprint to glory.

Cut to van Anrooij – among the most dependable and selfless domestiques out there – heartbroken over being gazumped by her own teammate, and missing out on a medal entirely. Kastelijn eventually issued a sheepish apology.

Winner of the ‘not all change is bad’ category

Cycling, more so than most sports, is one for the purists, fiercely resistant to any sort of change. There was plenty of muttering – including from this writer – when the Tour de France rule book was ripped up and the traditional final stage sprint finish on the Champs-Elysees discarded, in favour of several ascents of the tricky Montmartre climb, after its success in the Olympics road race last year.

Well, this sceptic was happy to be proved wrong: Montmartre provided not just a stunning backdrop to the end of the Tour, with the roadside thronging with fans, but also one of the best days of racing for the entire year – and the only time that Pogacar was dropped on a climb all season, by van Aert. The Belgian’s win on the slick cobbles of Paris was an instant classic and a resounding vindication of the Tour organisers’ decision. Next year should be a nice combination of tradition and modernity, with Montmartre retained but a few more kilometres on the flat added to give the hardier sprinters a chance.

Villain of the year

ITV, for not renewing their coverage of the Tour de France. This year’s Tour was the last on free-to-air TV and the likes of Gary Imlach, Ned Boulting and David Millar made it a brilliant swansong. But the decision not to renew condemned swathes of fans to being unable to watch pro cycling, subjected many more to extortionate price hikes in the switch to TNT Sports, and removed any hope of the Oscar Onleys and Brennans of the future discovering cycling by just turning on the telly, all in one fell swoop.

Disappointment of the year

Often it wasn’t the racing itself that was in the spotlight this year, but safety concerns and worrying race organisation mishaps. Multiple times riders went the wrong way on poorly-signposted roads, leading to embarrassing and potentially dangerous scenes as they ended up on the wrong side of finishing straight barriers, while several teams pulled out of Etoile des Besseges over safety concerns as regular road traffic kept straying onto the course.

That’s to say nothing of the protests which caused havoc at the Vuelta, with protestors getting in the riders’ faces, causing stage cancellations, crashes and withdrawals, and worst of all, reportedly throwing thumbtacks into their path. Let’s hope for better in 2026.

Ones to watch in 2026

Aside from Brennan, Healy and Le Court many more riders made their mark in 2025 and are ones to watch next season. French wunderkind Paul Seixas is a major talent but will have to deal with the overbearing pressure of his national press.

Britain’s Oscar Onley finished fourth at the Tour de France and impressed with a mature and measured general classification bid; he looks to be Britain’s next big hope and has duly moved to Ineos Grenadiers to attempt to fulfil that.

Mexican starlet Isaac del Toro finished second at the Giro d’Italia – only his second-ever grand tour – and should have more opportunities at UAE Team Emirates-XRG after the high-profile departure of Juan Ayuso to Lidl-Trek.

Also on the British front, 19-year-old Cat Ferguson has had a fine first season at World Tour level, finishing second overall at the Tour of Britain and winning a stage, and has the mentality to go far in 2026. Australia’s pint-sized climber Sarah Gigante, third at the Giro and sixth at the Tour, is another major threat, if she can sort out her descending.

Predictions for 2026