Cyclist
The big wins that cycling’s top riders are still missing
The one that got away. It isn’t just a Katy Perry song. For some in the peloton, it’s a space on their palmarès reserved for a certain race or classification yet to be secured.
Whether it’s the final Monument to slot into the Infinity Gauntlet or the missing link of a Grand Tour trinity, there’s at least one major race evading all the big names in the peloton.
With that in mind, here we’ve assessed what cycling’s biggest riders are still searching to tick off. Can they do it in 2025?
Tadej Pogačar: Milan-San Remo and Vuelta a España
In the past three years, Tadej Pogačar has come fifth, fourth and third at Milan-San Remo. By that reckoning, he should come second this year and finally snag the win in 2026. But that will mean him finding a way to drop the likes of Mathieu van der Poel on the Poggio.
Pogačar has blamed the parcours for his lack of victory, saying it isn’t hard enough, and he’s got a point. He thrives on the most testing terrain and, while he can sprint competitively with most of the Classics riders, he still can’t overhaul the specialist sprinters – or Van der Poel.
Then there’s the Vuelta a España. The 26-year-old is a three-time winner of the Tour de France and won the Giro d’Italia on his debut last year but hasn’t been back to the Vuelta since his first appearance in 2019 where he came third in his first year as a pro.
There are a lot of big names in the UAE Team Emirates squad who wouldn’t be happy if the Slovenian decided to do all three Grand Tours in a season as it would snuff out all their own ambitions in the process. João Almeida and Adam Yates looked a promising pair at the Vuelta in 2024 but Almeida was forced to abandon before Stage 9 with Covid-19 and Yates began to slide out of the top ten in the second week. Their highest placed rider ended up being Pavel Sivakov in ninth place, over ten minutes down on winner Primož Roglič. So maybe Pogačar should’ve turned up anyway.
There’s no doubting he could win the Vuelta now if he wanted to. He says it’s been about maintaining the status quo in the team, but with the Giro now won, he’ll be leaving that to his teammates in 2025 with one eye on another Grand Tour double.
Primož Roglič: Tour de France
The Tour de France has been cruel to Primož Roglič – between crashes, mechanicals and injuries, it’s like someone’s been out to get him, whether it be that fateful day on La Planche des Belles Filles in 2020, or pulling out before Stage 9 in 2021 because of injuries sustained in a crash, or abandoning after Stage 14 in 2022 because of injuries sustained in a crash or abandoning before Stage 13 in 2024 because of injuries sustained in a crash. Or…
Does Roglič put too much pressure on himself? Athletes certainly aren’t immune to such circumstances. That’s why sports psychologists exist. It’s almost as if he wants it so bad that it’s counting against him.
It’s all the more baffling since he typically picks himself back up to head full speed towards the Vuelta, as evidenced by his victories in 2020, 2021 and 2024. A dominating force in Spain he may well be, but there’s something that just stops him from the top step of the podium in France.
And at 34 years of age, with Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard showing no sign of slowing down, will this race always be the one that got away?
Wout van Aert: Paris-Roubaix
Wout van Aert has several glaring omissions from his racing CV. He’s a Giro stage win short of the full collection of Grand Tours he’s won a stage at, and somehow has only won one Monument in Milan-San Remo. But the one that stands out – the one that actually has got way – is Paris-Roubaix. It’s not for want of trying. He raced to second and third in 2022 and 2023 respectively, the latter coming after he had gone clear on on the Carrefour de l’Arbre only to puncture before the sector finished.
Who knows what could have unfolded on the cobbles from Compiègne to the Vélodrome André-Pétrieux in 2024, but he was on a good run of form prior to the injuries he sustained at Dwars door Vlaanderen that ruled him out of the race.
He’ll race Paris-Roubaix in 2025 as part of a big Classics schedule that also includes Gent-Wevelgem, Dwars door Vlaanderen and the Tour of Flanders. Perhaps the stars and cobbles will align this time around.
Remco Evenepoel: European Road Race Title
Remco Evenepoel is only 24 years of age but already has a palmarès to envy. Whether it’s stage races, Classics or time-trials, he has an impressive record at the highest level of the sport. But it’s the national and international races where he’s one win away from a full set. He’s already notched wins in the Belgian national road race and time-trial, the Worlds road race and time-trial, the Olympic road race and time-trial, and the European time-trial.
The only one the Belgian is yet to win is the European Championships Road Race. He came a close second to Italy’s Sonny Colbrelli in 2021 but was narrowly defeated in the two-up sprint.
The European Championships are slightly different to other events in that they get bandied around the calendar, meaning other races take precedence. In 2024 they were held just prior to his World Championship time-trial defence and after a heavy summer spent at the Tour de France and Olympic Games, plus it was a sprinter’s race anyway. The year prior, they came just after the Vuelta a España.
This year, they will be held from 1st-5th October in France and the road race is a hilly route that Evenepoel could dominate. It’s a close turn-around with the World Championships in Rwanda the week before and Il Lombardia afterwards though, so it might not be on the cards just yet.
Jasper Philipsen: Giro d’Italia stage
Sprinter Jasper Philipsen raced to victories aplenty last season, including Classics wins at Milan-San Remo and Brugge-De Panne. He also enjoyed a nice summer with three stages at the Tour de France. Having already bagged a stage at the 2020 Vuelta and two more in 2021, all he needs is a Giro d’Italia stage to complete the set.
Philipsen has never raced the Giro in his career. The hillier parcours don’t suit him in comparison to more flatter days in the saddle at the Tour. Should he venture to Italy, it’s likely he’ll be up against Tim Merlier and Jonathan Milan, which would be quite the watch.
Demi Vollering: Giro d’Italia
Annemiek van Vleuten had barely left the sport and already Demi Vollering was hoovering up Grand Tours in her place. She rode to victory in the 2023 Tour de France Femmes and the 2024 Vuelta Femenina but is yet to secure top spot at the Giro d’Italia Women.
Her best result was a third place in 2021. Since then she has opted to swerve the race, which takes place just before the Tour de France Femmes on the calendar (7th-14th July this year, with the Tour starting on the 26th), meaning it has taken a back seat behind her yellow jersey goals. In 2024 there was also the added element of the Olympic Games to contend with too.
Given that Vollering has finished on the podium of every Grand Tour she’s entered since 2021, it’s highly likely this will change should she participate in future editions of the Giro, but its current proximity to the Tour makes it unlikely to be on the cards soon.
Elisa Longo Borghini: Liège-Bastogne-Liège
In 2024, the women’s peloton had three Monuments to race: the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. The only one Elisa Longo Borghini is yet to win is Liège, having been victorious at Flanders in 2015 and 2024, and at Roubaix in 2022.
It should be slotting into her palmarès soon, though. She rode to two consecutive second places at the race in 2023 and 2024 behind Demi Vollering and Grace Brown respectively, and she’s made the Ardennes a big goal to try to tick it off.
There’s also the incoming return of Milan-San Remo to add to her wish list though, which takes the women’s Monument total up to four. Given her strengths, she could easily secure both of these in the same year.
Lotte Kopecky: La Vuelta Femenina points classification
There’s a reason Lotte Kopecky is a Velo d’Or winner. It’s because she’s so damn good. And her talents translate across Classics and stage races.
Kopecky has raced two Grand Tours since 2023, one being the Tour de France Femmes that year, the other the Giro d’Italia last season. She finished second overall in both and won the points classifications.
The Belgian hasn’t participated in the women’s Vuelta since a 21st place in 2022. A points win in Spain would complete the set nicely, however she may have her sights on a GC win at one of the big stage races, and she may feel that – for this year at least – points don’t win prizes.
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