{"id":252457,"date":"2025-11-09T04:38:17","date_gmt":"2025-11-09T04:38:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/252457\/"},"modified":"2025-11-09T04:38:17","modified_gmt":"2025-11-09T04:38:17","slug":"the-top-10-moments-in-the-mens-worldtour-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/252457\/","title":{"rendered":"The top 10 moments in the men\u2019s WorldTour season"},"content":{"rendered":"

Already ready for Omloop? Yeah same. To keep the excitement ticking over we\u2019ve ranked our ten favourite moments from road season.<\/p>\n

Including the incredible rise of British stars, an Ian Stannard-esque Classics performance and a Giro d\u2019Italia finale to rival The Traitors, let us know what you\u2019d switch.<\/p>\n

Related questions you can explore with Ask Cyclist, our AI search engine.If you would like to ask your own question you just need to , or subscribe<\/a>.<\/p>\n

10. Egan Bernal vs Mikel Landa<\/p>\n

\"\"Tim de Waele\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The unc-tion! Mikel Landa pulled out his classic Landismo flair on a Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a stage that, when combined with the resurgance of Egan Bernal, made it one to remember.<\/p>\n

The day was one of a few marked by pro-Palestine protesters, with a new finish line gantry constructed due to disruption at the planned end point, trimming 8km off the route but a winner would still be named.<\/p>\n

With Soudal-QuickStep\u2019s Landa, it was a case of a 35-year-old rolling back the years to showcase the attacking drive that has made him a cult hero. For Ineos Grenadiers\u2019 Bernal, the Colombian was hunting his first win since the 2021 Giro d\u2019Italia after a remarkable comeback from a life-threatening crash. <\/p>\n

Two scrappy riders going mano-a-mano in such unique circumstances. In the end, it would be Bernal that kicked past Landa for a somewhat muted victory in what could\u2019ve otherwise been one of the most talked about stages of the year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

9. Matthew Brennan announces his presence and then some<\/p>\n

\"\"Christian Kaspar-Bartke\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Matthew Brennan was only promoted from Visma-Lease a Bike\u2019s development team to the WorldTour squad at the turn of the 2025 season, but went on an immediate run of form in March with four consecutive victories in Le Tour des 100 Communes, GP Lillers, GP Denain and the Volta Catalunya. And it was far from a blip.<\/p>\n

The 20-year-old\u2019s two stage wins at the Tour of Norway were interspersed with two second places, causing him to sweep the overall, youth and points classifications. He wasn\u2019t done yet. More stages followed at the Tour de Pologne, Lidl Deutschland Tour and on home roads at the Tour of Britain to end the year tied with Olav Kooij for most victories for Visma this season (11). The future \u2013 and the present \u2013 is bright.<\/p>\n

8. Tom Pidcock climbs to first Grand Tour podium<\/p>\n

\"\"Unipublic \/ Cxcling \/ Antonio Baixauli<\/p>\n

Tom Pidcock<\/a> has really found a home for himself at Q36.5 Pro Cycling after stepping away from Ineos Grenadiers. The team received a wildcard invitation for the Giro with Pidcock as their leader, carrying form from Ardennes Week to Albania.<\/p>\n

This was Pidcock’s Giro debut and he started strong thanks to a fifth place on a hilly opening day, then scored a podium finish on Stage 5. A couple more top ten stage placings followed as he rode to 16th overall. The team didn’t get the call up for the Tour de France but made it to the start line of the Vuelta in Italy (yeah sounds weird doesn’t it).<\/p>\n

It was here he truly came into his own. He was the best man on the road behind Jonas Vingegaard on Stage 9, pushing himself up to fourth overall on Valdezcaray and third the following day in Bilbao. He could\u2019ve even taken more time had the stage been ridden to its intended conclusion. Another smattering of top ten finishes later combined with clever racing not pushing it too far \u2013 such as riding for second place on the Alto de El Morredero instead of challenging for the stage win against Giulio Pellizzari \u2013 and he had consolidated third overall for his best Grand Tour finish to date.<\/p>\n

And his first Grand Tour podium was a coolbox. Memorable at least. <\/p>\n

7. Lipowitz vs Onley<\/p>\n

\"19\/07\/2025A.S.O.\/Billy Ceusters<\/p>\n

An enthralling fight for the yellow jersey it might not have been, but the final spot on the podium was an entirely different battle<\/a> that pitted young rider against young rider. Florian Lipowitz steered the ship for Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe with Oscar Onley at the forefront for Picnic-PostNL.<\/p>\n

The pair showcased their potential with performances that surpassed their ages on the Hautacam<\/a> and on Superbagn\u00e8res<\/a>. The pendulum swung this way and that. Lipowitz had been standing on the Tour\u2019s podium since the end of Stage 14. Onley paced himself to try and turn the tide on Stage 19 and when Lipowitz ran out of steam, the Scot had energy to burn and tightened the gap between the pair to just 22 seconds. In the end, Lipowitz would find more time on La Plagne and secure his podium spot by just over a minute.<\/p>\n

It was a real turning of the tide moment for the German. This was his country\u2019s first podium since Andreas Kl\u00f6den in 2006. For Onley, it was a marker of just how high his ceiling could be. He finished fourth at the Tour at just 22 years of age. Not many people can say that.<\/p>\n

6. Tadej Poga\u010dar makes his debut at Paris-Roubaix<\/p>\n

\"\"Jeff Pachoud – Pool\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

There aren\u2019t many races Tadej Poga\u010dar hasn’t won. The only Monument he hadn’t even started before 2025 was Paris-Roubaix. On paper it\u2019s one that suits him the least with a distinct lack of climbing metres and its wealth of injury-risking bone-vibrating cobblestones.<\/p>\n

His arrival was teased for a while but no one really believed it would happen until they saw it and by the time the cobblestones approached, he’d racked up his usual smattering of big wins including the Tour of Flanders the week before and a close run at Milan-San Remo.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately for everyone else, he was far more at home in Hell than most expected, and he found himself at the front of the race with just Mathieu van der Poel for company. But as the race approached its dramatic climax, Poga\u010dar would go too hot into a corner, had to dust himself off and never saw Van der Poel again. But still, a second place on debut is a very impressive feat \u2013 even for Poga\u010dar.<\/p>\n

5. Neilson Powless stings the bees<\/p>\n

\"\"Tim de Waele\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Cast your minds back to early April. Dwars door Vlaanderen took the peloton its usual hilly cobble course, serving its regular warm-up for the Ronde. But no one could imagine what would unfold on the roads between Roeselare and Waregem.<\/p>\n

Visma-Lease a Bike suffocated the head of the peloton and set such a fierce pace that it split the group and Matteo Jorgenson, Wout van Aert and Tiesj Benoot team time-trialled away to what remained of the breakaway, and that was quickly whittled down to the three teammates and Neilson Powless. Just the one pink EF Education-EasyPost kit amid a swarm of yellow.<\/p>\n

It was a strange tactical blunder from a team that prides themselves on professionalism. Instead of rolling attacks to shake Powless off and roll home to the win, they ended up giving him a free ride to the line, relying on Van Aert’s sprint. However Powless promptly embarrassed them all by channelling Ian Stannard at Omloop Nieuwsblad in 2015<\/a> to outsprint Van Aert and win. Outrageous.<\/p>\n

4. Luck of the Irish at the Tour de France<\/p>\n

\"16\/07\/2025A.S.O.\/Charly Lopez<\/p>\n

Duracell bunny Ben Healy thrives out of containment. After circling a hilly Stage 6 with a big red marker, he bounced to a stage win having ditched his breakaway buddies in the last 43km. He then gave spectators a Bastille Day show with a third place to become the first Irishman in almost 40 years to wear the yellow jersey.<\/p>\n

The rest day gave him some time to absorb the feeling before Poga\u010dar rose up the standings, overtaking Healy after Stage 12. He wasn’t done though, Healy valiantly continued his GC fight, consistently knocking around the top ten, and probably his most impressive performance of the race came on Stage 16 as the Tour returned to Mont Ventoux. He lit up the action up the Giant of Provence and found himself sprinting for the stage against Valentin Paret-Peintre. The win wasn’t to be but what a show it was. <\/p>\n

3. Isaac del Toro\u2019s monstrous year<\/p>\n

\"\"Luca Bettini\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Saying that Isaac del Toro surpassed expectations is an understatement. The 21-year-old opened his account this year by sprinting to victory at Milano-Torino for his first one-day win. The floodgates then opened.<\/p>\n

Del Toro made his debut at the Giro d’Italia in May riding in support of team leaders Adam Yates and Juan Ayuso. Yates fell away early and never finished a stage within the top ten. The Strade Bianche stage then saw the cream rise to the top and the Mexican found himself fighting Wout van Aert for the victory in Siena. He had arrived.<\/p>\n

While his UAE team had been reluctant to give him full leadership, he kept plugging away and was comfortable in pink before a bee took umbrage to Ayuso, forcing him to abandon the race. Del Toro was now officially the team leader and a certified threat for the overall victory.<\/p>\n

He held on through the time-trial, over the Monte Grappa and through to the final week. He was on the precipice of writing his name into history as one of the youngest riders to win the Giro among such greats as Fausto Coppo and Gino Bartali.<\/p>\n

Close but no cigar. For reasons I\u2019ll get into Del Toro would lose his lead at the very end. He\u2019d still finish second overall by 3min 56sec in a result he definitely would’ve been happy with three weeks prior. <\/p>\n

That wouldn\u2019t be the end of it though. The bull rampaged further into the season, amassing stage race wins at the Tour of Austria and Vuelta a Burgos, was untamed in Italy with seven one-day victories in September and October and put in a valiant display behind his trade team leader at the World Championships. Isaac del Toro has truly arrived.<\/p>\n

2 Simon Yates\u2019 redemption<\/p>\n

\"\"Tim de Waele\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The Colle delle Finestre<\/a> was not a friend to Simon Yates in 2018 when, while leading the Giro, the climb became his worst enemy. It could\u2019ve been the defining point for his first Grand Tour victory. Instead he imploded, losing almost 40 minutes as Chris Froome pulled off t.he unthinkable<\/p>\n

This year he kept himself in the shadows as Del Toro took centre stage. His presence was barely felt as he let the race unfold in front of him. That was until Stage 20 when the chance to banish his demons arrived.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s nowhere to hide on the Finestre with its max gradient of 16% hitting riders in the face after just 1km and countless twisting hairpins leading towards its gravel summit. Whenever it can throw at you, it will.<\/p>\n

For Del Toro, it would help launch his rival to glory. Yates worked his way towards a determined Richard Carapaz, who had attacked from the bottom but couldn’t shake Del Toro off his back wheel. It\u2019s a long way to the top, so Yates took his time and rode his way back into contention.<\/p>\n

His first attack didn\u2019t work. Neither did his second, nor his third. The fourth time was the charm and he simply drifted off the front. It was a slam dunk. What the feuding pair behind had failed to consider was that Visma-Lease a Bike had sent Van Aert up the raod as a satellite rider. When Yates linked with the Belgian, it was game over. Redemption.<\/p>\n

1. A Montmartre spectacle<\/p>\n

\"\"Etienne Garnier – Pool\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

For so long, the final stage of the Tour de France had been a sprinting battleground. One last opportunity for the fast men to shine having dragged their bodies over ferocious mountains, this their reward for lasting three long weeks. But that tradition would be broken in 2025.<\/p>\n

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Champs-\u00c9lys\u00e9es hosting the end of the Tour, organisers decided to shake things up by drawing inspiration from the Olympic road race. The punchy ascent of the C\u00f4te de la Butte Montmartre (1.1km, 5.9%) would be taken on three times, the last coming just 6km from the finish line. Perfect for a breakaway. Perfect for a late attack. Perfect for a Classics man. Perfect for\u2026 Van Aert.<\/p>\n

Despite the rain neutralising the GC fight, Poga\u010dar’s inability to let someone else win a race meant it wasn’t going to be easy. It set up the spectacle of the season: a doggedly determined Van Aert bashing the pedals, successfully dropped Poga\u010dar on the final climb and soloing to Champs-\u00c9lys\u00e9es glory. It was a completely alternate experience to his win here in 2021 when he was the king of the sprinters. Here, he rolled in alone. Another glittering moment in the Belgian’s career.<\/p>\n

Other contenders:<\/p>\n

Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) claimed the biggest victory of his career after slaying the two giants of Evenepoel and Poga\u010dar at Amstel Gold Race. Kicking off Ardennes Week in style, Skjelmose had to wait for confirmation of his victory before dedicating it to his late grandfather.<\/p>\n

Paul Seixas (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) might have been the youngest rider in the WorldTour this season, but he certainly didn\u2019t act like it. The Frenchman became the youngest winner of the Tour de l\u2019Avenir at 18 years old before impressing with a bronze medal in the European road race and finishing with a strong seventh place at Il Lombardia. He is the future of French cycling.<\/p>\n

K\u00e9vin Vauquelin (Ark\u00e9a-B&B Hotels) enjoyed the season of his career so far with overall victory at \u00c9toile de Bess\u00e8ges and R\u00e9gion Pays de la Loire Tour followed by second places at La Fl\u00e8che Wallonne and the Tour de Suisse. He turned up the dial at the Tour de France, immediately emerging as a candidate for a top ten finish and ending the race in seventh overall. He’s signed a contract for Ineos Grenadiers for next year.<\/p>\n

Torstein Tr\u00e6en (Bahrain Victorious) briefly led the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a three years after his recovery from testicular cancer.<\/p>\n

Irish rider Rory Townsend (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) enjoyed the biggest win of his career at the Hamburg Cyclassics, holding his breakaway effort to beat sprinters Arnaud de Lie (Lotto) and Paul Magnier (Soudal-QuickStep).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Already ready for Omloop? Yeah same. To keep the excitement ticking over we\u2019ve ranked our ten favourite moments…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":252458,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[26024,4985,20995,105105,101,6549,56,54,55,20998],"class_list":["post-252457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-classics","tag-cycling","tag-giro-ditalia","tag-monuments","tag-sports","tag-tour-de-france","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-vuelta-a-espana"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=252457"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252457\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=252457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=252457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}