There was still no stopping Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) in 2025. After a historic 2024 season, the Slovenian went on to amass 20 more wins this year, including renewed conquests of the UCI World Championships’ rainbow jersey and the Tour de France’s yellow jersey, to dominate the men’s UCI World Ranking for the fifth year in a row. He accumulated 11,680 points, 25 more than in his previous campaign.
An absolute leader, Pogačar naturally propels UAE Team Emirates-XRG to the summit, as they rule the UCI World Ranking for teams for the third year in a row. But he is far from being alone, with two teammates also featuring in the top five of the individual UCI World Ranking: Mexican Isaac Del Toro (3rd) and Portugal’s João Almeida (5th). With dominant performances on all continents since the start of the year, the Emirati outfit has claimed a historic 95 victories during the 2025 road season, reaching an extraordinary tally of 40,637.65 points (against 37,407 last year). Team Visma | Lease a Bike also improved, reaching 22,876.74 points to finish second ahead of Lidl-Trek (21,267.43 points).
Second in last year’s individual UCI World Ranking, Belgian star Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) dropped to 6th in 2025, a year marked by injuries but also fresh historic conquests. With compatriots such as Wout van Aert (10th in the individual ranking), Arnaud De Lie (11th) and Jasper Philipsen (17th) also among the best performers of the season, they won the UCI World Ranking for nations for the fifth consecutive year. Belgians amassed some 17,986.29 points to get the better of Denmark (17,191.16 points) and Slovenia (14,953 points).
One-day races: Pogačar’s delight
Always chasing new territories and races to conquer, Pogačar achieved a historic Classics campaign, from spring to autumn, thereby ruling the UCI World Ranking for one-day races with a stunning 6,725 points. Milano-Sanremo (3rd), Paris-Roubaix (2nd) and Amstel Gold Race (2nd) narrowly escaped him, but the Slovenian once again conquered Strade Bianche, Ronde van Vlaanderen, La Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, illuminating hills and cobbled sectors with his rainbow jersey.
The end of the season was just as spectacular, if not more so, with another masterclass in Kigali (Rwanda) to remain the road race UCI World Champion, a first victory at the UEC European Championships, a second at the Tre Valli Varesine and a fifth consecutive at Il Lombardia. His hit ratio in 2025 is astonishing: 13 participations in one-day races with 12 top-three results including eight victories. Before him, no rider had ever stepped on the podium of all five Monuments in a single season. He now aims to be fourth to win them all in his career, after Belgians Roger De Vlaeminck, Rik Van Looy and Eddy Merckx.
To do so, Pogačar will need to overthrow Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), winner again in Sanremo (for the 2nd time) and Paris-Roubaix (3rd consecutive victory). Along with his two triumphs in Monuments and more success in the Ename Samyn Classic and the E3 Saxo Classic, as well as a podium in the Ronde van Vlaanderen (3rd), the Dutchman is placed 4th in the 2025 UCI World Ranking for one-day races, behind Del Toro (winner of 11 one-day races, at just 21 years old) and Evenepoel, who kept on racking up individual time trial (ITT) glory (he notably won National, Continental and UCI World Championships) and was Pogačar’s runner-up in the road races of the UCI Road Worlds and the UEC European Championships, as well as Il Lombardia.
Stage races: Vingegaard on top
Danish star Jonas Vingegaard tops the UCI World Ranking for stage races in 2025 after a season that saw him finish second in the Tour de France and in the Critérium du Dauphiné (both times behind Pogačar) after winning the Volta ao Algarve em Bicicleta to start his season. He was forced to drop out of Paris-Nice with concussion but finished the season strongly, not least with a win in La Vuelta Ciclista a España, his third Grand Tour victory after the 2022 and 2023 Tour de France.
With 5,944.14 points, the Dane rules the UCI World Ranking for stage races, ahead of Pogačar (4,955 points) who celebrated victories in the UAE Tour (his 3rd), the Critérium du Dauphiné (a new addition to his list of wins) and the Tour de France, where he claimed a fourth overall victory. History awaits him next year, beckoning him to join Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain with a record-matching fifth success.
Although Pogačar got the better of his close rival Jonas Vingegaard in the Tour de France, the two of them have occupied the 1st and 2nd places at the end of each of the last five editions, shaping an unprecedented duel in the event’s history.
Third in the UCI World Ranking for stage races is Almeida (4,326.07), who came second to Vingegaard at La Vuelta.