The 2025 Racing Season Recap

In 2025, UAE Team Emirates–XRG didn’t just win — it set the pace of the entire season. From the first cobbled showdowns of the Spring, to the high-pressure heat of July, the team raced with a sense of inevitability, shaping races long before the decisive moments arrived.

In the Classics, Tadej Pogacar of UAE Team Emirates–XRG delivered some of the year’s defining performances, turning the sport’s hardest one-day races into controlled statements rather than their usual chaotic battles. Those victories were not isolated flashes of brilliance, but the outcome of a squad capable of stretching races early, absorbing pressure, and choosing exactly when to strike.

That same authority carried through the to the Summer. At the Tour de France, Tadej Pogacar of UAE Team Emirates–XRG claimed overall victory after three weeks defined by calm execution and collective strength, with the team managing the demands of flat stages, mountains, and time trials with the same clarity of purpose. Depth emerged again at the Giro d’Italia, where Isaac del Toro of UAE Team Emirates–XRG finished second overall, reinforcing the idea that leadership within the team is layered and future-focused, rather than built around a single pillar.

If UAE embodied dominance, EF Education–EasyPost defined dynamism. Throughout the season, the team raced as if opportunity were something to be seized, not waited for. That minds et paid off in the Spring, when Neilson Powless of EF Education–EasyPost landed a major Classics victory at Dwars door Vlaanderen, and again in Grand Tour racing, with Richard Carapaz of EF Education–EasyPost returning to the Giro d’Italia podium. Across different terrains and race scenarios, EF’sresultsreflected a season built on bolddecisions and collective belief.

For Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team, 2025 took shape through accumulation rather than singular peaks. Victories spread across the calendar added up to a year defined by consistency, presence, and resilience — a team repeatedly in the mix, capable of converting opportunities whenever they appeared. Movistar Team followed a similar arc, staying competitive from early-season races through the heart of the WorldTour calendar, collecting stage wins and results that spoke to continuity rather than short-lived form. 

On the women’s side, the season reached its emotional high point at the UCI Road World Championships. Marlen Reusser of Movistar Team Women and Liane Lippert of Movistar Team Women were central to a race that highlighted the team’s presence on cycling’s biggest stage, reminding us again how Movistar’s depth and versatility always come to the surface when the stakes are highest. The Worlds were not a standalone moment, but the clearest expression of a season built around shared leadership and adaptability. 

That global spotlight was followed by another defining image, as Magdeleine Vallieres of EF Education–Oatly claimed the women’s elite road race title at the 2025 World Championships in Kigali, pulling on the rainbow jersey and delivering a landmark result for the team. In stage racing, Elisa Longo Borghini of UAE Team ADQ anchored the season with overall victory at the Giro d’Italia Women, while earlier in the year Noemi Rüegg of EF Education–Oatly set the tone by winning the Santos Tour Down Under general classification — a reminder that success across the women’s calendar came in many forms, and from many directions. 

In 2025, gravel racing continued to evolve into a space where experience, adaptability, and quick-thinking matter as much as pure pace. Across different formats and geographies, the season reflected how diverse the discipline has become and how differently success can be defined within it. 

That variety was clear in Lachlan Morton: Racing across multiple continents and distances, Lachlan’s season moved well beyond a traditional calendar, linking long efforts, exploratory routes, and competitive gravel events into a single, continuous project. From Colombia to Kenya, from the Flint Hills to Europe, his 2025 was defined by range as well as results. 

Team Amani approached 2025 with a dense and genuinely international gravel calendar, racing across Africa, Europe, and the United States. Key moments included the Migration Gravel Race on home soil, alongside a season that consistently pushed the team through the regional boundaries of cycling’s past. Beyond results, a major milestone came with Team Amani becoming the first African women’s squad to earn UCI Continental status — a step that reflected long-term commitment rather than a single race outcome. 

At the front of the field, Karolina Migon delivered a season of top end results. She confirmed her dominance at The Traka with a second consecutive victory and went on to win Unbound, reinforcing her position as one of the most consistent performers in elite gravel racing. 

Not every season followed a clean trajectory.
For Payson McElveen, a strong start was interrupted by a crash at the Sea Otter Classic UCI gravel race in April. The months that followed focused on recovery and rebuilding, turning 2025 into a season of resilience and the hard work required to return to competition.

The 2025 cross-country season unfolded as a year of learning and adjustment for Orbea Factory Team. The team showed competitiveness throughout the calendar, stepping onto national-level podiums and making its presence felt at World Cup level with several top-five finishes. While consistency across the full season proved challenging, those results reflected a group capable of performing at the highest level and continuing to build toward a more stable rhythm. 

In contrast, the clearest high point of the year came through individual excellence backed by a strong team structure. Samara Maxwell, riding on a Fizik saddle with Decathlon Ford Racing Team, delivered a standout season by securing the overall UCI Mountain Bike World Cup title. Across multiple rounds, her consistency and ability to perform under pressure turned results into a decisive advantage, culminating in the most complete achievement the discipline has to offer. 

In 2025, triathlon performance across Fizik-supported athletes took on multiple forms, reflecting a discipline that allows for real range rather than a single competitive pathway. From short-course speed to long-distance resilience, the season showed how elite triathlon can evolve and change without losing its edge. 

At the sharp end of pure pace, Alex Yee continued to redefine the crossover between triathlon and athletics. Already established as one of the fastest runners the sport has ever seen, Yee further underlined his credentials by becoming the second-fastest British marathoner of all time, behind only Mo Farah. It was a reminder that his impact and talent extends well beyond the confines of traditional triathlon formats. 

Consistency shaped the season of Emma Lombardi, whose results told a story of steady presence at the highest level. Regular top-10 finishes across the year, a podium at the WTCS Final, and solid performances in non-WTCS events combined into a campaign built on reliability and progression. 

A more deliberate shift defined the year for Georgia Taylor-Brown. Stepping away from her usual WTCS focus, she redirected her season toward longer formats, taking on IRONMAN 70.3 racing and middle-distance events such as the T100 series. The move marked a transitional phase showcasing her adaptation and endurance as she explored new competitive terrain. 

For the Brownlee brothers, 2025 saw them on two distinct paths: Alistair Brownlee, having stepped away from the traditional professional circuit in 2024, continued to test himself in demanding, standalone events, securing a podium at the Patagonman Xtreme Triathlon and reinforcing his reputation for thriving in extreme conditions. Meanwhile, Jonathan Brownlee remained competitive within the professional field, particularly in long-course and Challenge races, where a second place at Challenge Gran Canaria stood out as one of the season’s strongest results. 

Taken together, the triathlon season reflected a broader shift in the sport: fewer rigid boundaries, more individual paths and a shared commitment to pushing performance across distances, formats, and environments. 

In 2025, Alex Rudeau entered the season carrying the weight of expectation. As the reigning Enduro World Champion, he lined up for his first full year as a privateer, building his own program while racing a calendar that included both European and extra-European rounds. It was a different setup, but the objective remained unchanged: Stay at the top. 

What followed was the season of a mature racer, that balanced control and risk. Rudeau remained consistently competitive across the Enduro World Cup, taking a stage win in Morillon and adding podium finishes in Loudenvielle and Pietra Ligure. That steadiness proved decisive over the course of the year, allowing him to confirm his position at the top of the discipline and secure his fifth consecutive Enduro World Championship title. 

Beyond the World Cup, Rudeau’s season was reinforced by success on home soil, where he claimed the French Elite Enduro national title.  

Across road, gravel, cross-country, gravity, and triathlon, the 2025 season unfolded through different rhythms and priorities, but shared a common thread: commitment and belief. Some years were defined by dominance, others by progression, resilience, or reinvention, but with each demanding its own kind of focus.