A lot happened in women’s cycling in 2025. Milan-San Remo returned, Anna van der Breggen and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot came back for more, and a host of riders made big leaps.
We look at eight who made the biggest splash this season away from the shining lights of Ferrand-Prévot, Demi Vollering and Elisa Longo Borghini.
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Sarah Van Dam (Ceratizit Pro Cycling)
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Canadian rider Sarah Van Dam had a breakthrough year for Ceratizit this season, her efforts earning her a three-year deal with Visma-Lease a Bike from next year. She kicked off the year at the Tour Down Under then shone in 1.1 races, podiuming at the Ronde de Mouscron and Festival Elsy Jacobs à Garnich with top five finishes at Festival Elsy Jacobs à Luxembourg, Pointe du Raz Ladies Classic and La Classique Morbihan.
Van Dam carried this form into more WorldTour stage races for her season’s best results, with a third place at Itzulia and top five at the Tour of Britain before a sixth place on a hilly stage at the Giro d’Italia.
Cat Ferguson (Movistar)
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2025 marked Cat Ferguson’s first full year in the WorldTour and she came out of the gates swinging with an impressive podium finish at Trofeo Alfredo Binda and top tens at both Brabantse Pijl and Stage 3 of La Vuelta Femenina. The 19-year-old won the Navarra Women’s Elite Classic before returning home to the Tour of Britain, winning Stage 3 around Kelso and almost coming away with her first WorldTour stage race victory, ultimately finishing second by just four seconds to FDJ-Suez’s Ally Wollaston.
After racing to tenth at the Simac Ladies Tour, she closed the season with victory at the Vuelta Ciclista Andalucia.
Sarah Gigante (AG Insurance-Soudal)
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Sarah Gigante stamped her name on plenty a climb this year, starting with a breakout Giro where she won two stages on the summit finishes of Pianezze and Monte Nerone to propel her to the mountains jersey and a third place overall – her best yet in a Grand Tour.
She then shot into second place at the Tour with her strong showing on the Col de la Madeleine, runner-up on the day to Ferrand-Prévot with a large gap to the rest of the field. Some apprehension to descending on the Col de Joux Plane saw her dropped from the podium and down to sixth overall – still a mighty result.
Unfortunately she suffered yet another injury to sideline her for the rest of the season.
Kim Le Court-Pineaar (AG Insurance-Soudal)
A.S.O./Thomas Maheux
It was a phenomenal year for AG Insurance-Soudal. Kim Le Court-Pienaar was another to experience a breakthrough year with consistently strong performances throughout the Classics culminating in a huge win at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, where she won the four-woman sprint to became the first African rider to win a Monument.
Then came the Tour. She raced to second on the opening stage’s punchy finish, pipped to the post by Marianne Vos. But following that with a third place the next day pushed her into the maillot jaune, making history again by becoming the first African to lead the race. A brief lease elsewhere followed but she wasn’t done. Stage 5 was backloaded with some punchy climbs, and Le Court-Pienaar edged out Vollering (just) to become the first African to win a stage at the Tour de France Femmes and reclaim the race lead in the process. She held it all the way until Ferrand-Prévot’s tirade in the mountains.
Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck)
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Puck Pieterse set the Classics ablaze. During only her second run at spring on the road, she finished just off the podium at Omloop Nieuwsblad and Omloop van het Hageland, then raced into the top ten at Strade Bianche, Trofeo Alfredo Binda, Milan-San Remo, Dwars door Vlaanderen and the Tour of Flanders, and came a close second place at Trofeo Oro in Euro.
She was knocking on the door for her first Classics win and was regularly the only rider able to follow Vollering on her attacks. She kicked off the Ardennes with a podium at Amstel Gold Race but the crowning glory came at La Flèche Wallonne where she kicked away on the brutal Mur de Huy for a famous victory. She then closed the week with a second place at Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Prepare yourself for next season.
Marlen Reusser (Movistar)
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Marlen Reusser has been able to step in to the GC spotlight more with her move from SD Worx-Protime to Movistar. Second to former teammate Vollering at the Setmana Ciclista Valenciana and La Vuelta Femenina, the Swiss rider claimed two consecutive wins in the Vuelta a Burgos and Tour de Suisse on the way to the Giro.
In Italy she claimed victory on the opening stage time-trial, lending the maglia rosa to Lidl-Trek’s Anna Henderson before pulling the pink threads back on after Stage 4. But on the final two stages that the lead slipped from her grasp. Reusser dropped to second place, overtaken by Elisa Longo Borghini after being dropped on the Monte Nerone. There would no change in the rankings on the final day and Reusser would end the race second by 18secs.
It was later revealed Reusser was ill during the Giro and her Tour ended before it had really began as she became the first abandonment of the opening stage as a result of more illness. But there was hope on the horizon, and a rainbow…
Reusser had been hunting the World Championship ITT title for a while. Her time finally came in Kigali when she set a blistering pace to earn the rainbow jersey by 52 seconds ahead of the Netherlands’ Anna van der Breggen. She wasn’t finished, she made it a double at the European Championships, trouncing the field to earn her fourth title.
Magdeleine Vallières (EF Education-Oatly)
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Magdeleine Vallières shocked the cycling world when she stormed to the women’s World Championship title. Even though Vallières had only bagged one professional win before that day, she came to the final climb in a front group of three and broke clear, rocketing to the biggest win of her career so far.
It was Canada’s first gold medal in the UCI Road World Championships, just one year before it hosts in 2026.
Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime)
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No one could compare to Lorena Wiebes in the sprints this season. She won in every stage race entered this season including the UAE Tour, Vuelta a Burgos, Tour of Britain and Simac Ladies Tour and added two sprint triumphs in both the Giro and Tour.
The Classics were fruitful too. Le Samyn, Brugge-De Panne and Gent-Wevelgem were strong wins but her biggest scalp was victory in the returning Milan-San Remo. She swept up 25 wins this year – half of SD Worx-Protime’s total, and finished the year as Gravel World Champion too.
