The end of the year is a time that always ushers in a lot of reflection. Some thoughtful self-reflection, and a whole lot of app-based reflection, looking back on exactly how many times you listened to a song, or how many kilometres you rode on your bike.
Whilst I can’t share a full Cyclingnews Wrapped – although we published over 350 articles with ‘Pogačar‘ in the headline – I have spent some time digging through all of the biggest stories per month of this year, to build a picture of how the 2025 season unfolded, and what the defining moments were.
These 12 headlines are from stories that really cut through the noise of the sport’s endless news cycle, and really got the whole cycling world talking – in good ways and bad ones. From safety concerns to a body weight debate at the Tour de France Femmes, and from doping questions to gravel drama, 2025 really had it all.
It’s always enlightening to look back at stories from some time ago, as you often find that topics that were once just speculation or chatter actually ended up turning into material change (or at least, attempts at it), and this is what happened with this story.
Gear restrictions have been floated in the past, but Wout van Aert made a real statement as he came out in favour of them, as such a high-profile rider and one who was still recovering from a high-speed crash at the Vuelta a España.
The story clearly interested cycling fans, too, as thousands of you read this one, and the topic of gear restrictions ticked on through the season, with various people weighing in on whether it was a good idea or not.
The issue came to a head in the summer when the UCI announced their plans to run a gear restriction test, planned for the Tour of Guangxi. To say that the proposal was poorly received would be an understatement, as the test, which was only going to be that, a test, not a long-term implementation, became the topic of a legal case, with the Belgian Competition Authority ultimately ruling that the UCI were not allowed to run the test.
So the test didn’t happen, and gear restriction remains an underexplored safety precaution, though the UCI might look at doing further tests. But whatever happens, this topic from the start of 2025 may well continue into 2026, too, as the sport continues its mission to be…
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