Pogi Domination: A Look Back at Pogacar’s 2025

Tadej Pogacar, some consider him the modern GOAT, some are even comparing him to the great Eddy Merckx. Pogacar powered through 2025, winning races, breaking records, and being one of the most entertaining riders in the peloton. We will take a look back at some of the major results, wins, and records from his season.

Pogacar kicked off his season in the UAE with two stage wins and the overall classification in the UAE Tour. Before going to Tuscany, he attempted to win Strade Bianche for the third time in his career. Pogacar crashed with 50k to go, leaving Q36.5’s Tom Pidcock all alone at the front; however, the Brit showed great sportsmanship by waiting for Pogacar to catch back up until the final 20 kilometres, when Pogacar distanced his rival on one of the last gravel sectors. Pogacar became the first male world champion to win Strade Bianche in those famous rainbow bands, albeit ripped and torn from his earlier crash.

Pogacar faced one of his biggest rivals in Milan-Sanremo, Mathieu Van der Poel. Pogacar, Van der Poel, and Filippo Ganna were at the front of the race in the final few kilometres, meaning it was coming down to a sprint finish. Van der Poel jumped first with Ganna and Pogacar tucking in behind. However, no one would get past the Dutchman, resulting in Pogacar finishing in third place. Classic seasons had arrived! The start sheet was stacked for the Tour of Flanders with Wout Van Aert, Mads Pedersen, and Van der Poel lining up against the world champ.

However, it would be a dream result for Pogacar, with him riding away to win by over a minute’s gap on second place. The same four giants faced off again at the queen of the classics… Paris-Roubaix, but Van der Poel and Pogacar would light up the race. A costly mistake would see Pogacar lose his bike and hit the deck, allowing Van der Poel to have a gap at the front. Pogacar would make two bike changes whilst trying to chase down his rival, but it resulted in second place at Paris-Roubaix. At the Amstel Gold Race, Pogacar would be unsuccessful again, with a shock winner in Lidl Treks Mattias Skjelmose winning the three-up sprint, beating Pogacar and Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel.

Tadej Pogacar closed out his spring classics at La Fleche Wallone and Liege-Bastogne-Liege. He won both of these Belgian classics, bringing his win tally up to seven wins for the early part of the season. Pogacar then turned his focus back, targeting the general classification at the upcoming Criterium du Dauphine, his final race before the Tour de France. The Dauphine allowed cycling fans to have a sneak peek at what the Tour de France had to offer with rivals Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel on the start line. It was going to be an exciting race, no one expected the GC men to light up the first stage with a flat finish on the cards, everyone expected it to be a day for the sprinters. Jonas Vingegaard attacked with five kilometres to go, Pogacar close on his wheel, Van der Poel tracked these two down, then Evenepoel and Santiago Buitrago. These five were being chased by the peloton, and with a small margin, Van der Poel started the sprint. Pogacar managed to get around him, taking the first stage at the Dauphine, giving him the yellow jersey. Pogacar went on to win stage six and stage seven as well as the general classification at the Criterium du Dauphine. His next race is the most famous race in the world, where he will be dreaming of a fourth Tour de France.

Four days into the 112th edition of the Tour de France, Pogacar got his first stage win after finishing second two days earlier behind Mathieu Van der Poel. Pogacar outsprints the Dutchman to take the stage win. The next day, Pogacar would claim the famous maillot jaune (yellow jersey) with a second place in that day’s time trial, but a big enough time gap over Van der Poel it meant the jersey was his. He also put a big gap into Vingegaard, who had a poor time trial that day. This became an important factor in whether he wanted his team to start to protect the jersey this early on, or tactically give it way before trying to reclaim it later in the mountains.

Pogacar went on to win stage 7 at the top of the Mur de Bretagne, claiming valuable bonus seconds over second-place Vingegaard. A few stages later, they faced the Hautacam, a 13.6km climb with an average gradient of 7.8% with multiple ramps going over 10%. A sprint like leadout, from the Colombian national champion Jonathan Narvaez, was the perfect launch pad for Pogacar to take off, flying up the mountain. He finished over two minutes before rival Vingegaard, meaning Pogacar had built a sufficient lead in the yellow jersey standings, putting Pogacar into defence mode. The thing about Pogacar is that his defence is an attack; the very next day, there was a mountain time trial. This stage was indeed won by Tadej Pogacar, who put an extra 30 seconds into Vingegaard, totalling his lead in the race to over 4 minutes. In the final 8 stages, Pogacar didn’t cross the finish line first but managed to find some bonus seconds to keep adding to his general classification lead. With a fourth Tour de France secured and his total of tour stage wins coming to 21, questions are creeping in on whether he fancies Mark Cavendish’s record.

After two races in Canada following the Tour win, Pogacar was in Kigali for the world championships. An unsuccessful attempt earlier in the week to become the time trial world champion. Pogacar was on the start line of the 2025 road world championships, looking to become a back-to-back world champion. Around 5500 metres of climbing awaited the peloton, with 104 kilometres to go, Pogacar made his move. A three-man group formed with Pogacar’s trade team mates Jaun Ayauso and Isaac Del Toro, with attacks flying. Ayuso was the first to crumble. However, Del Toro would eventually fade, leaving Pogacar to ride to victory all alone, whilst riders turned to think about a podium finish. Tadej Pogacar became the first rider to win the Tour and World championships in one season. However, champion of the world isn’t enough for Pogacar, where he then aimed to become the European Champion as well. 76 kilometres left, Pogacar decides to distance everyone, making a long-distance attack a familiar sight. No one would get close to catching him, allowing Pogacar and his rainbow jersey to win.

With the 2025 season coming to an end, there was one final monument left. Il Lombardia, the race of the falling leaves. Having previously been dominated by Pogacar for the past four years. A fifth would become a record of being the only rider to win five monument classics in a row. 30k’s left, and Pogacar was off. Storer and Evenepoel would give their best effort to catch the Slovenian, but they would not be successful. A record five in a row awaited Pogacar in Bergamo. Bringing an end to a successful season for Tadej Pogacar.