Tadej Pogacar did very well again in 2025 and crushed the peloton with his outrageous domination.
A few days ago, the Vélo d’Or ceremony was held at the Gabriel Pavilion in Paris. And who triumphed in the prestigious setting of the Champs-Élysées, once again? Tadej Pogacar of course! Like last year and 2021, the champion of the UAE Team Emirates team was named best rider of the 2025 season, and best classics rider (Eddy Merckx Trophy) following the votes of a panel of 40 journalists from 25 countries.
20 victories, “his best season”
How could it be otherwise given the crazy year produced by the Slovenian glutton? Insatiable, “Pogi” left almost nothing to the competition. Just a few “crumbs”… Realize, the 27-year-old cyclist was on fire throughout the year and won 20 victories. His 2025 hunting list: the UAE Tour (+ 2 stages), the Strade Bianche, the Tour of Flanders, the Flèche Wallonne, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the Critérium du Dauphiné (+ 3 stages), the Tour de France (+ 4 stages), the World and European Championships, the Three Varesian Valleys and the Tour of Lombardy.
Well, he did a little worse than in 2024 (25 successes) but he says he had “his best season”. Out of 17 different events contested, Pogacar finished on the podium 15 times. He only “flinched” at the Grand Prix du Québec (29th) and in the time trial of the World Championships (4th). Obviously leader of the UCI ranking, the Slovenian has almost twice as many points as his runner-up, Jonas Vingegaard, 2nd in the Tour de France whom he relegated to 4’24!
A record 5th Tour targeted for 2026
If his performances question some, Tadej Pogacar, somewhat tired at the end of the exercise and who belatedly revealed a knee injury, does not care. In 2026, he will seek a 5th Tour de France (he would then equal the record of Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Jacques Anquetil and Miguel Indurain) and will try his luck again on Paris-Roubaix (2nd in 2025 behind Mathieu van der Poel), while he will finally try to break the deadlock on Milan-San Remo. The young champion will also try his hand at the Tour de Romandie and the Tour de Suisse. Always with the idea of one day thinking about the Giro-Tour de France-Vuelta triple the same year…
