Almost completely wrong, because who wants sport to be predictable?
Wiebes. What a legend.
Cor Vos
At the end of 2024, Joe Lindsey and I teamed up to make predictions ahead of the 2025 season, and I am thrilled that I was almost completely wrong about every prediction. Who wants sport to be predictable, after all? My completely off-base takes on what we would see in 2025 only prove what an exciting season it was, which is why I’m going to make some more guesses as to what we can expect in 2026.
2025 WorldTour predictions: which riders will shine brightest?
Predictions are silly; that’s what makes them so fun. In part one of our 2025 crystal-ball gazing, we look at which riders will animate the new season.
First, let’s revisit my five predictions ahead of the 2025 season
How soon will Anna van der Breggen be on the top step of the podium?
Before the season, I expected it would not be long before we saw Van der Breggen claiming victories again. This guess was based on reports by her teammates that she was dropping them in training and her second-place finish at The Traka 100k behind her SD Worx-Protime teammate Marie Schreiber.
It didn’t take long for Van der Breggen to make it onto the podium. She finished third in the opening stage of Setmana Valenciana, her first race back, but it wasn’t until May that she won a race – the fourth stage of the Vuelta a España Femenina.
Van der Breggen took the first win of her comeback at the Vuelta.
That would be Van der Breggen’s only victory of the year, although second in the ITT at Worlds, third in the European road race, third overall at the Vuelta, and second at Strade Bianche is incredible for her first year back in the peloton.
Van der Breggen raced more days than Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (partially due to the Frenchwoman’s Strade Bianche injury), the other big name to return to the road, and was arguably more consistent across the entire season.
Looking to 2026, I expect the former world champion will have more than one victory to her name for the year. The tail end of the season was where Van der Breggen really shone, so she’s clearly getting the hang of being back. SD Worx-Protime will also put more emphasis on her leading the team in general classifications in 2026, with Lotte Kopecky still uncertain about her GC future.
How quickly will Pauline Ferrand-Prévot adjust to the road?
When comparing the returns of Van der Breggen and “PFP,” I thought that the latter would have a harder time re-adjusting to the road peloton. Van der Breggen may have been out of the peloton, but she was still closer to it than Ferrand-Prévot, and as she had coached and directed Demi Vollering to a Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift victory, she had more exposure to what it takes nowadays to succeed.
This post is for subscribers only
Subscribe now
Already have an account? Sign in
Did we do a good job with this story?
👍Yep
👎Nope