MA BIRDGE 2025 IN REVIEW deceusinci

A year of cycling in 60 pages – CW looks back at the last 12 months

- Chris Marshall-Bell

What Christmas issue of Cycling Weekly would be complete without a review of the year? You'll no doubt remember the big stories of 2025, from the continued domination of Tadej Pogačar and Mathieu van der Poel, to the Tour de France appearing on our TVs, for free, one final time. But instead of just revisiting the key moments of the season, we wanted to go back and find out what went on behind the scenes, how events unfolded and, with the benefit of hindsight, what they meant for those involved.

Of course, there is too much going on in one season to cram into 60 pages, so everything else falls into our monthly reviews - including some of the gems that get forgotten. Who remembers Filippo Ganna's earlyseason win being annulled after half the peloton got sent the wrong way at the finish, or Wout van Aert finally paying over half a million euros in compensation to a team he never joined way back in 2018? All these, and many more are catalogued over the coming pages.

So sit back and enjoy the 2025 season one final time.

January

Cycling goes behind a paywall

Just a few months after the news that ITV would lose th rights to cover the Tour de France from 2026 onwards, it was announced that Eurosport would be disappearing in the UK and Ireland, and that all cycling coverage would move to TNT Sports. A previous £6.99 subscription package for Discovery+ was gone, replaced by a £30.99 TNT Sports subscription.

Tut, tut, don't be naughty

For decades, yellow cards have been issued to footballers, rugby players and athletes in other sports, and in 2025 cycling finally got in on the act.