Like most of us who live and breathe this sport, I can\u2019t resist the annual ritual of trying to predict the winners.<\/p>\n
But these days, with Tadej Poga\u010dar<\/a> flattening everything in sight, there\u2019s not much originality left in saying \u201cPogi\u2019s going to win again.\u201d<\/p>\n And, pretty much, he did.<\/p>\n Yet predictions are always fun. I\u2019ve always done them, sometimes public, like this one, or among friends with some low-wage bets.<\/p>\n So last winter, rather than trot out a list of predictable predictions, I decided to pedal out onto the proverbial limb and try to sleuth out some of the more outrageous possible outcomes.<\/p>\n So, let\u2019s see how my crystal ball fared against the chaos of another Poga\u010dar-ruled season.<\/p>\n Prediction No. 1: Tom Pidcock stuns the doubters to win the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a Outcome: 3\/5<\/p>\n Well, not too far off on this one.<\/p>\n Maybe I was drinking the Tom Pidcock<\/a> Kool-Aid a bit too much going into this season, but I had a sense that if and when Pidders fully dedicated himself exclusively to road racing, he could take a significant step up.<\/p>\n And he did in a big way with his surprise move to Q36.5, arguably the best transfer in 2024-25. He finally looked like a rider who had found his home.<\/p>\n Pidcock checked off a lot of boxes in 2025, with his first GC win at the AlUla Tour (OK, not a big race, but a win is a win), a gutsy second at Strade Bianche after going toe-to-toe with Poga\u010dar, and starting and finishing two grand tours in one season.<\/p>\n The big target was the Vuelta. I thought Pidcock might pull off the ultimate shocker and win the race.<\/p>\n How? First, by sneaking away early to gain some time on the favorites and then having the legs and chutzpah to fend everyone off.<\/p>\n Of course, with Jonas Vingegaard racing, it was a non-starter that anyone else could win.<\/p>\n Still, Pidcock surprised and came close with third, a breakthrough performance that sets him up for more in 2026.<\/p>\n Will he ever win a Tour de France? Probably not, but he just might be making my (not-so) outrageous predictions again next season.<\/p>\n Prediction No. 2: Tadej Poga\u010dar barnstorms to Paris-Roubaix Outcome: 4\/5<\/p>\n It\u2019s almost difficult to remember that the notion of Poga\u010dar racing Paris-Roubaix sounded borderline insane.<\/p>\n No legitimate Tour de France contender had decided to dance with the cobbles in their prime since the days of Hinault or LeMond.<\/p>\n The conventional wisdom was \u2014 and remains \u2014 that the horrors of the Hell of the North are just too dangerous for a 165-pound watt-bomb GC rider in modern racing.<\/p>\n But conventions exist for Poga\u010dar to smash, right?<\/p>\n His spectacular Roubaix debut made for one of the best days of racing in 2025. Only a late wobble kept him from pulling off the impossible.<\/p>\n I am convinced that he could have cracked Mathieu van der Poel<\/a> on the Carrefour de l\u2019Arbre and gone home with a piece of French granite. MVDP looked like he was on the ropes, and Poga\u010dar appeared to be tightening the vise when he overcooked that corner.<\/p>\n Van der Poel remains the lone rider who can consistently match (and occasionally beat) Pogi head-to-head, though only on favorable terrain. Roubaix is one of them.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s hope for the rematch in 2026. This time, it won\u2019t be so crazy to predict he will win.<\/p>\n Prediction No. 3: Unscathed Chlo\u00e9 Dygert rules the classics Outcome: 2\/5<\/p>\n When Chlo\u00e9 Dygert<\/a> is healthy, few women in the peloton can match her. For pure power and blind-faith conviction, Dygert is in a class of her own.<\/p>\n Two world TT titles and three Olympic medals in team pursuit are a testament to her motor.<\/p>\n After watching her heroic ride in the hellish 2024 Z\u00fcrich worlds, where she nearly won the rainbow jersey, I wagered that 2025 would be her breakout road campaign after being unshackled from the responsibilities of the track.<\/p>\n On paper, the northern classics should be her playground. She can struggle with positioning in the bunch, so that\u2019s why the attritional nature of the classics plays to her strengths.<\/p>\n It didn\u2019t happen that way. After a solid debut to her season in Australia, with a stage win at the Santos Tour Down Under and a podium at the Surf Coast Classic, the stars did not quite align in the gritty roads of northern Europe.<\/p>\n Sixth at Milan-San Remo and eighth at Paris-Roubaix, however, reveal her classics potential.<\/p>\n Still, considering the horrific near-career-ending crash in 2019, simply seeing her back contesting the sport\u2019s hardest road races is remarkable.<\/p>\n I might have to copy-and-paste this prediction for 2026.<\/p>\n Prediction No. 4: Pauline Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot delivers a French Tour de France winner Outcome: 5\/5<\/p>\n
\n![\"Pidcock](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GettyImages-2196486871-720x480.jpg\"\/)
Pidcock of Arabia? The 2025 season couldn\u2019t have started better for Pidcock. (Photo: LOIC VENANCE\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
\n![\"Pogacar\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GettyImages-2209584323-2-720x480.jpg\"\/)
The best showdown of the elite men\u2019s classics in 2025. (Photo: Pim Waslander\/Soccrates\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
\n![\"Chlo\u00e9](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GettyImages-2237719031-720x485.jpg\"\/)
Dygert, shown here at the Rwanda worlds, continues to be impacted by her 2019 crash. (Photo: Dario Belingheri\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
\n![\"Ferrand-Prevot\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GettyImages-2227473599-720x480.jpg\"\/)
France won its first Tour de France in decades. (Photo: JULIEN DE ROSA\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
![\"Primoz](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GettyImages-2227235595-720x480.jpg\"\/)
Rogli\u010d was a bit of an enigma in 2025. (Photo: Dario Belingheri\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n