A whirlwind of numbers dance when trying to make sense of the extraordinary runs Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step) achieved to cap off a historic 2025 season in the UCI WorldTour. It concluded on Sunday 19 October as Magnier sprinted to victory in Nanning, home to the final stage of the GREE-Tour of Guangxi. The French youngster again showed his stunning skills to take a fifth win from six stages, while Paul Double (Jayco AlUla) sealed the overall victory in the Chinese event.
A week earlier, Pogačar claimed the last Monument Classic of the year, Il Lombardia. As he crossed the finish line in Bergamo, the Slovenian put forward his right hand, stretching each of his fingers to symbolise his fifth successive victory in the Italian event. Already a history maker with his conquests in previous seasons, Pogačar capped off another stellar year with a Campionissimo’s feat that also meant a 20th success in 2025. He is, again, the best points scorer of the season. His runner-up is none other than Magnier, with a whopping 19 wins – at the age of just 21.
Pogačar’s “best season” to date
Both Magnier and Pogačar started their haul very early in the season, back in February. On his first day of competition, Magnier punched his way to victory in the opening stage of Étoile de Bessèges - Tour du Gard. Meanwhile, the Slovenian icon was already enforcing his rule at UCI WorldTour level, with a successful return in the UAE Tour, a race he had previously won in 2021 and 2022.
Given his stellar record, many of his victories added on to previous successes: a third win at the Strade Bianche and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, a second in the Ronde van Vlaanderen and La Flèche Wallonne… But Pogačar is also a trailblazer, always inspired to conquer new terrain. Milano-Sanremo (3rd) escaped him again, but he’s convinced his aggressive racing will eventually pay off in the Classicissima. And his first attempt at Paris-Roubaix (2nd behind the mighty Mathieu Van der Poel completing his hat-trick) showed he also has the skillset to go after the Hell of the North.
This year, Pogačar claimed the Critérium du Dauphiné, adding another UCI WorldTour stage race to his record after previously conquering the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia, UAE Tour, Tirreno-Adriatico, Paris-Nice, Volta Ciclista a Catalunya and the last edition of the Amgen Tour of California, in 2019. The path was laid out for another successful July, when he claimed his 100th professional victory en route to his fourth yellow jersey triumph in Paris. Three months later, the counter is up to 108 victories, including a second rainbow jersey, a first European Champion title and his fifth Il Lombardia.
“Again, I can say this is my best season so far,” Pogačar rejoiced after putting the final touch to a masterpiece of a year 2025.
Magnier’s rise
Magnier was equally upbeat after winning five of six stages in the GREE-Tour of Guangxi: “I didn’t think it was possible.” And his increasing success - 14 wins in his last 18 race days since mid-September - bolsters his ambitions for the year to come: “The way I ended my season augurs well for the next one, when I hope to continue improving and win some important races for Soudal Quick-Step.”
Magnier took considerable steps in 2025, including a first Grand Tour participation, in the Giro d’Italia, a year after illuminating the Under 23 version of the event. After some specific work to build up to the challenge, Magnier featured in the top-3 on stage six and withdrew ahead of the third week. His first Grand Tour stage win is yet to come. But the Giro already marked a significant turn in his career.
When he travelled to Albania for the Grande Partenza, his only success of the season was stage 1 of the French UCI Europe Tour event Étoile de Bessèges - Tour du Gard. Some ten days after leaving the Giro, he scored a second win, at the Heylen Vastgoed Heistse Pijl (UCI Europe Tour) in Belgium. By then the momentum was rolling, with more success following at the Duracell Dwars door het Hageland (UCI ProSeries – Belgium) and the Elfstedenronde Brugge (UCI Europe Tour – Belgium), before a maiden UCI WorldTour victory in stage 4 of the Tour de Pologne.
Magnier went on to take wins at the GP de Fourmies / La Voix du Nord (UCI ProSeries – France), four stages of Okolo Slovenska / Tour de Slovaquie (UCI Europe Tour), four more stages in the CRO Race (UCI Europe Tour – Croatia) and eventually five stages of the Tour of Guangxi, to make six victories in the UCI WorldTour this season. Other strong results at UCI WorldTour level - at the ADAC Cyclassics (3rd) and the Bretagne Classic - Ouest-France (4th) - also confirmed his knack for the Classics. How many will he take next year?