Who ruled the peloton in 2025? UAE team-mate joins Tadej Pogacar at the top of annual rider ratings but Belgian duo absent
Published 30/12/2025 at 11:14 GMT
Once again, there’s no place at the top table for a certain Belgian superstar as Tadej Pogacar tops our rider rankings for the third year running. All in all, there are six new entries into our top 10 rider list, with France’s Pauline Ferrand-Prevot among the fresh blood as well as Mexico's Isaac del Toro. Live coverage of the 2026 cycling season will be on TNT Sports and discovery+.
Pogacar, Van der Poel, Pedersen - Best finishes from 2025
Video credit: TNT Sports
No guesses for who tops the standings once again in the annual TNT Sports rider ratings – but it’s who misses the cut that might be more of a talking point.
With only 10 spots available amid a medley of high performers, there’s no way to accommodate every piece of excellence or barnstorming ride over the course of 2025.
It is perhaps sufficient enough a spoiler to admit here – before we run through the top 10 in reverse order – that no Belgian riders make a list that includes just one Slovenian and takes on new arrivals from Portugal and Mexico.
As in previous years, there is no exact science to the list. It’s a far cry from the official UCI rankings or those you might see on certain stats-based websites.
If you disagree with any of the decisions, then feel free to (mildly) troll our cycling correspondent Felix Lowe – aka @saddleblaze on X – who is quite accustomed to public scorn and widespread opprobrium while posting images of swimming pools and chateaux on social media.
Once the top 10 has been revealed, an explanation as to why six riders have dropped out after starring in 2024 follows, as well as an honourable mention to those on the threshold and knocking on the door. For a reminder of previous selections, click the link below or here. But now, let’s bring you the best 10 riders of 2025 in reverse order.
10. Simon Yates (New Entry)
Results: Giro d’Italia winner, Stage 10 of the Tour de France
With the exception of a couple of dreamy hours on the Colle delle Finestre and an afternoon in the Massif Central, Simon Yates’s first season as a super-domestique at Visma-Lease a Bike was largely uneventful. But it was the manner in which the 33-year-old Briton wrested the pink jersey off the slender shoulders of Isaac del Toro that will linger long in the memory bank.
Seven years after his implosion on the Finestre saw him relinquish the maglia rosa to compatriot Chris Froome in dramatic fashion, Yates came full circle and banished his demons on the same lofty gravelled peak, completing the first ever sub-hour ascent in the climb's history.
If his collapse in 2018 came after a string of stage wins in Italy, his very success in 2025 was the result of riding under the radar and keeping his powder dry. Yes, his glory owed a lot to the efforts of his team-mate Wout van Aert – and, yes, this cathartic triumph (and his Tour stage win two months later) should not, in the eyes of many, have kept World TT champion Remco Evenepoel from this list.
But while Evenepoel’s multiple wins against the clock were to be expected, Yates’ clinical and poignant performance on the Finestre was the stuff of legend. It’s no exaggeration to say that Yates delivered the season’s defining and most satisfying story.
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‘He rode a beautiful Giro d’Italia’ – How ‘masterful’ Simon Yates captured career-defining win
Video credit: TNT Sports
9. Mathieu van der Poel (Down 4)
Results: Milano-Sanremo, E3 Saxo Classic and Paris-Roubaix winner, Stage 2 of the Tour de France
There’s no disguising that 2025 was far from his most successful season. His Tour stage win aside, the Dutchman failed to build on his emphatic spring campaign. But the way Van der Poel stuck with Tadej Pogacar on the Cipressa alone was almost enough to warrant a place in the top 10. With Filippo Ganna in pursuit, the duo broke Gabriele Colombo and Alexander Gontchenkov’s record from 1996 by 24 seconds, climbing the Cipressa in 8:55 at a mind-boggling 38 km/h.
Van der Poel’s Classicissima heroics earned the 30-year-old a second Sanremo crown while his supremacy over the cobblestones denied the otherwise all-conquering Pogacar another Monument at Roubaix.
If, between them, these two riders have now won the last nine major Classics, then Van der Poel was clearly the only obstacle separating his rival from an unprecedented clean sweep of all five Monuments in a single season.
Sandwiching these stand-out performances, Van der Poel added another E3 win before taking the third spot on the podium at Flanders. For all his consistency, his Dauphine was fruitless, but victory in Stage 2 of the Tour de France saw him secure the second yellow jersey of his career, which he lost but then won back in true swashbuckling style.
His season admittedly petered out after quitting the Tour ahead of Mont Ventoux, although a stage win at the Renewi Tour in August added a bit of gloss. That he comes lower in the rankings despite winning more races than 2024 reflects the calibre of performances of those above him in 2025.
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‘We’re living in a golden age’ – Watch Van der Poel’s best moments of 2025
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8. Lorena Wiebes (New Entry)
Results: Le Samyn, Milano-Sanremo, Gent-Wevelgem, Binche Chimay Binche winner; stages in UAE Tour, Giro d’Italia, Tour de France, Tour of Britain
No one has won more races in 2025 than the Dutch sprinter, whose 24 wins rolled from February through to October of a stellar season and saw her break the 100-barrier for career triumphs. Not only did the SD-Worx-Protime sprinter double up at both the Giro and Tour, she kicked the season off with a hat-trick at the UAE Tour and no less than five wins – plus the overall – at the Simac Ladies Tour.
Throw in the Dutch national championships and numerous Classics – notably on the via Roma for a maiden Milano-Sanremo triumph – and there was no doubting Wiebes’s status as the fastest female finisher on two wheels. Supremely consistent and rarely far away from the podium throughout the year, Wiebes is a worthy new addition to the top 10.
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‘Generational talent’ – Wiebes reaches 100 career victories in style at Gent-Wevelgem
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7. Joao Almeida (New Entry)
Results: Overall wins at Itzulia Basque Country, Tour of Romandie, Tour de Suisse; runner-up of La Vuelta
Forget his team’s slightly toothless support for his red jersey push at La Vuelta and concentrate on the many positives from Almeida’s season: his 10 wins and overall titles from Itzulia, Romandie and Suisse. And it’s not as if finishing second to Jonas Vingegaard in Spain was an out-and-out failure – just that UAE Team Emirates seemed more content in racking up the stage wins than they did in getting behind the 27-year-old’s GC bid.
Runner-up, too, in the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana and Volta ao Algarve at the start of the season, the Portuguese took a stage in Paris-Nice before his Swiss GC double. The disappointment of seeing his Tour cut short by injury became a distant memory once the Vuelta got going, with Almeida memorably winning on the Angliru while coming within 1’16" of Vingegaard at the top.
Yes, there were shades of his team-mate Isaac del Toro’s capitulation at the Giro – and both riders did little to quell the suspicion that UAE can only win a Grand Tour with their main man. But such were Almeida’s performances as both a stage racer and Pogacar’s super-domestique that he was offered a two-year extension to his contract.
All in all, a promising year for a rider who has seen off the internal threat from (now former) team-mate Juan Ayuso and who still may have his best years ahead of him.
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'La Vuelta is alive!' - Almeida pips Vingegaard to thrilling Stage 13 win
Video credit: TNT Sports
6. Pauline Ferrand-Prevot (New Entry)
Results: Paris-Roubaix and Tour de France Femmes winner
What a return to the road from the French star, who landed two of the sport’s biggest prizes after a six-year hiatus from the Women’s WorldTour.
Swapping Canyon for Visma, Ferrand-Prevot took one race – the UAE Tour – to find her feet before taking a podium in Strade Bianche. After missing out on the top 10 at Sanremo, she came second in Flanders before soloing to glory in the Roubaix velodrome.
The Vuelta didn’t go as planned, but the 33-year-old bounced back in style at the Tour, securing the yellow jersey on the penultimate day after riding clear to win on the Col de la Madeleine. A second win on the final stage to Chatel added the cherry on the cake as Ferrand-Prevot became the fourth different winner – and the first Frenchwoman – of the rebooted TDFF.
Visma-Lease a Bike may have missed out on the men’s title twice in a row now, but in the peerless Ferrand-Prevot they still tasted the top step of the podium.
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Ferrand-Prevot shows 'she is a superwoman' after incredible comeback
Video credit: TNT Sports
5. Mads Pedersen (New Entry)
Results: 14 wins including Gent-Wevelgem, Tour de la Provence and Tour of Denmark; points classification at the Giro’Italia and Vuelta a Espana
Back in the top 10 for the first time since 2022, the Danish powerhouse had an imperious year despite not featuring at the season’s blue riband event, the Tour de France.
Pedersen turned an ostensible setback into an opportunity by winning four stages at the Giro on his way to the ciclamino jersey – repeating the feat at the Vuelta, where he won a stage and took the green jersey.
On top of that, the 29-year-old scooped a medley of wins – 14 in total – most notably at Paris-Nice and Gent-Wevelgem. His solo glory at Wevelgem only tells part of the story of a highly competitive spring, where Pedersen podiumed at E3, Flanders and Roubaix, took seventh in Sanremo and fifth at Dwars door Vlaanderen.
A second Tour de la Provence triumph and a third Tour of Denmark crown added yet more gloss, as did the Danish national time trial title. Pedersen once again proved himself to be one of the strongest all-round talents in the peloton in 2026, rising to the top where the likes of Wout van Aert and even (at times) Mathieu van der Poel struggled. Pogacar aside, is there a more complete rider in the WorldTour right now?
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Watch as Pedersen flies over finish line celebrating after dominant Stage 15 sprint
Video credit: TNT Sports
4. Demi Vollering (Up 4)
Results: 11 wins including La Vuelta a Espana, Strade Bianche and European Championships
The Dutch star may have missed out on a second Tour de France Femmes title, but her consistency across the season sees her rise four places from last year. It did not take long for the 29-year-old to strike gold for her new FDJ-Suez team, Vollering soloing to glory in the opening stage of the Setmana Ciclista Volta Feminina de la Comunitat Valenciana to sew up the overall title on day one.
A solid spring saw Vollering podium at Omloop, La Fleche Wallonne and Liege-Bastogne-Liege, take fourth in Milano-Sanremo and a victory over the white roads of Strade Bianche. A trident of emphatic Hispanic overall wins at La Vuelta, Itzulia and Catalunya followed before Vollering missed out to home favourite Marlen Reusser in the Tour de Suisse.
A nasty high-speed spill in Stage 3 at the Tour all but ended her chances of a second TDFF crown but Vollering recovered to take second place. After a bronze in the Rwanda TT, she then made light of her Worlds road race frustration by winning the European Championships road race by a country mile, then narrowly missed out on a final-day win at Tre Valli Varensine.
Yes, there were setbacks. But no all-rounder was as consistent in the women’s peloton as Vollering, who showed her class once again in 2026.
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Demi Vollering soloes to first European title in women's road race
Video credit: TNT Sports
3. Jonas Vingegaard (Up 4)
Results: Vuelta a Espana and Volta ao Algarve winner, Tour de France and Criterium du Dauphine runner-up
A season that saw the Dane compete in just five stage races and a single one-day race – which he failed to finish – was very much chalk to Pogacar’s cheese. But even chalk has its uses – and Vingegaard can now write ‘Vuelta victor’ on his blackboard of accomplishments.
Winning the Vuelta saw the 28-year-old notch another victory of sorts, given he pipped Pogacar to that particular accolade. Should he go on to win the Giro in 2026, then Vingegaard will be able to say that he beat his big rival to a rare Grand Tour clean sweep, a legacy that's not to be baulked at.
Still, we all know that the true yardstick of success is the Tour – and, for a second year running, Vingegaard found himself out-classed by the Slovenian. Vingegaard nevertheless showed flashes of his former self on his way to finishing 4’24" behind via four third-places and four second-places. This followed his five second-place finishes in the Dauphine, contributing to yet another runner-up spot behind Pogacar.
Vingegaard had tasted stage success in both the Volta ao Algarve - where his victory in the final time trial sealed him the overall title – and Paris-Nice, where a crash in Stage five, two days after Visma’s TTT win, ended his race early and put his Tour preparations on the back-foot once again.
It remains to be seen if Vingegaard will gamble his Tour condition yet again by racing the Giro in 2026. After he salvaged his season with a professional victory amid testing circumstances in the Vuelta – notching three stage wins along the way – Vingegaard will have raced three Grand Tours on the bounce should he turn up for the grande partenza in Bulgaria.
But with Pogacar in such form, the Dane may see the Giro as a chance to get one over his rival in a different way, all while easing the pressure ahead of the Tour’s grand depart in Barcelona next July.
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Vingegaard powers away to take victory on Stage 20 to effectively seal La Vuelta glory
Video credit: TNT Sports
2. Isaac del Toro (New Entry)
Results: Giro d’Italia runner-up, Tour of Austria and Vuelta a Burgos winner, double national title, victories in Milano-Torino, Giro dell’Emilia, Gran Piemonte, Giro del Veneto
A massive breakthrough season for the 22-year-old Mexican saw Del Toro emerge as UAE Team Emirates leader at the Giro d’Italia after Juan Ayuso imploded early on and Adam Yates struggled to find top gear.
Del Toro had already won Milano-Torino and the white jersey at Itzulia when he rocked up for the Giro’s grande partenza in Albania fairly low down on UAE’s pecking order for the maglia rosa. But a masterful ride over the white roads of Tuscany saw Del Toro take the pink jersey in Siena despite being beaten to the line by Wout van Aert.
When the Mexican finally got his win, in Stage 17 to Bormio, he extended his slender lead over rivals Richard Carapaz and Simon Yates. Del Toro was 43" clear of the Mexican and 1’21" ahead of the Briton entering the decisive penultimate stage, where his dillydallying mind-games with the former as the latter rode clear on the Finestre lost him the race.
A lesser rider might have let this get to his head, but Del Toro picked himself up and went from strength to strength for the remainder of the season. Not only did he win both the Tour of Austria and Vuelta a Burgos stage races, he put in a steaming run in the Italian autumn classics the likes of which has never been seen before – notching seven one-day wins in the space of five weeks.
Dual victories on home soil in the Mexican national road race and time trial championships put the icing on the cake of Del Toro’s remarkable year, where he refused to let his naivety on the Colle delle Finestre be the defining moment of a season in which he contributed to Ayuso’s departure from UAE while laying down his own GC credentials going forward.
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'Next big thing' Del Toro draws Pogacar comparisons with epic solo win at Gran Piemonte
Video credit: TNT Sports
1. Tadej Pogacar (No Change)
Results: 20 wins including a fourth Tour de France crown, a fifth consecutive Il Lombardia, a third Ronde van Vlaanderen, a third Strade Bianche, and a second successive World road race title
For a third year running, the Slovenian superstar comes out on top – and there can be no arguments, no debate, no opposition. Not only did Pogacar soar to a fourth Tour de France title in style, only Mathieu van der Poel stopped him from winning all five Monuments in the same season.
Working out how to win Milano-Sanremo and Paris-Roubaix will give Pogacar enough to chew on over the winter and could become one of the most interesting subplots of the next few campaigns – alongside his quest to complete his Grand Tour grand slam with a maiden Vuelta win after his likely joining of the five-Tour club.
But, for now, let's bask in peerless Pogacar’s brilliance in 2025, which kicked off with a spring classics campaign in which he finished on the podium in all seven of his races, taking wins at Strade Bianche, Flanders, the Fleche and Liege. If the Dauphine was a sign of things to come, his Tour glory proved even more convincing – Pogacar having effectively wrapped things up before the final week with his fourth stage win, a pulsating race against the clock to Peyragudes.
A knee injury – which he kept under wraps – covertly threatened to derail his race, but such was Pogacar’s lead over Vingegaard that he still won by over four minutes in Paris. He ended the year with another World title in Rwanda, a fifth Lombardia on the bounce, and a European jersey that he will never wear by virtue of being clad in the rainbow bands once again in 2026.
Frankly, no one comes close to him in professional cycling.
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Watch the moment Pogacar makes history with fifth successive Lombardia title
Video credit: TNT Sports
Those who narrowly missed the cut
Despite amassing 31 wins between them, there’s no place for France’s Paul Magnier and Britain’s Matthew Brennan. The young sprint duo showed imperious form all year, with Magnier keeping Soudal Quick-Step team-mate Tim Merlier on his toes and Brennan performing well enough to edge out rival Olav Kooij, who leaves Visma-Lease a Bike for Decathlon.
British duo Oscar Onley and Tom Pidcock also enjoyed stellar seasons, the former finishing fourth in the Tour and the latter securing a maiden Grand Tour podium with third at the Vuelta. Sprinter Jonathan Milan took nine wins and the green jersey in his debut Tour, Matteo Jorgenson won a second successive Paris-Nice title, Marlen Reusser notched 11 wins including a TT treble at the Worlds, Europeans and Swiss national championships.
Juan Ayuso, for all his baggage, won Tirreno-Adriatico and stages at both the Giro and Vuelta, while Magdeleine Vallieres soloed to glory in the women’s road race at Rwanda after a largely innocuous season in the women’s peloton. But it’s the absence of Belgian duo Remco Evenepoel and Wout van Aert that will probably be deemed the most contentious of the lot.
Van Aert endured a frustrating spring campaign – so many close-but-no-cigars – before finally taking a win in Siena at the Giro. He was also instrumental in team-mate Simon Yates’s overall victory, relaying up with the Briton on the descent of the Finestre. Scooping the final stage of the Tour in Paris provided another stand-out moment in a season which – let’s be honest – could have done with more.
As for Evenepoel, he spread his seven wins throughout the season and cemented his position as the best time triallist in the business. That his only win that didn’t come against the clock was in his first race of the season at De Brabantse Pijl speaks volumes; if the 25-year-old is going to rise above his current (admittedly) lofty plateau at Red Bull, he will need to improve in all other areas.
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Highlights: Vallieres upsets the odds to storm to victory in Kigali
Video credit: TNT Sports
What about those absent from last year’s top 10?
We have already dwelled on the fate of Belgian’s Remco Evenepoel (second in 2024) and so there’s no need to return to that prickly conversation.
After recording zero wins in 2025, it’s no surprise that Eritrean sprinter Biniam Girmay (ninth in 2024) also dropped out of the reckoning. Second in the opening stage of the Tour at Lille, last year’s green jersey never finished higher in the rest of the race and will be hoping for a return to form at his new NSN team next term.
Australia’s Ben O’Connor (sixth in 2024) took a superb win over the Col de la Loze to save his otherwise disappointing Tour de France, but he was largely unable to repeat the form that saw him enjoy two weeks in the red jersey at the 2024 Vuelta.
Denying O’Connor the overall victory in that Vuelta, Primoz Roglic (fourth in 2024) also didn’t crack the top 10 after a season in which his only victories came in the Volta a Catalunya. Meanwhile, Lotte Kopecky (third in 2024) may have won the Tour of Flanders, but the Belgian world champion only added two more wins across the season despite having seen off Demi Vollering at Team SD Worx.
And finally, there’s no return to the top 10 for Australia’s Grace Brown (10th last year) but the reason’s quite simple: the 33-year-old retired at the end of 2024 after her Chrono des Nations victory.
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