Tadej Pogacar and Urska Zigart sweep Slovenia’s 2025 cycling awards as power couple cap landmark season

Slovenia’s most celebrated sporting couple, Tadej Pogacar and Urska Zigart, have been crowned the nation’s cyclists of the year for 2025 — a rare double triumph that reflects not only their individual success but also the remarkable rise of a partnership that has become one of the most recognisable in world cycling. The pair were honoured at the Cycling Association of Slovenia’s annual Evening of Stars ceremony, where their achievements dominated the spotlight.

For international audiences, the story resonates far beyond national borders: two elite riders, engaged to be married, each producing the strongest season of their careers and finishing the year recognised as Slovenia’s very best.

Few accolades in world sport have felt as straightforward as Pogacar being named Slovenia’s best male road cyclist once again after the most dominant season of his illustrious career. The 2025 campaign also was, by almost any metric, one of the most dominant ever produced by a modern rider.

The UAE Team Emirates - XRG leader took a fourth Tour de France title, retained his elite road race world championship in Kigali, took a first European title, and won multiple Monuments including the Tour of Flanders, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, and a fifth consecutive Il Lombardia — a feat never achieved in the race’s history. Across the entire WorldTour calendar, he combined high-impact victories with astonishing consistency, collecting landmark wins in the spring, summer and autumn.

Beyond the silverware, Pogacar’s 2025 results were noteworthy for what they represented: versatility across terrains, tactical maturity, and an ability to control races from almost any position. His performances moved the broader conversation towards legacy — with many analysts openly questioning how far he now is from the “GOAT” debate.

That context made his national award entirely unsurprising. For Slovenia, he is no longer just an exceptional champion; he is a global sporting reference point who continues to elevate the country’s presence on the world stage.

For Urska Zigart, the women’s award recognises a different but equally meaningful storyline: a true breakthrough season.

Riding for AG Insurance - Soudal Team, Zigart stepped into a more prominent role in 2025 and delivered the strongest and most consistent campaign of her career. She finished 2nd overall at the Tour de Romandie Feminin, briefly wore the leader’s jersey, and placed 5th at the Tour de Suisse Women — both major steps forward in her development as a general classification rider.

Those results came alongside improvements in national championship performances and a visible shift in how she was deployed within her team: no longer primarily a support rider, but increasingly trusted as a protected leader in stage races.

The federation’s decision to honour Zigart reflects how far she has progressed and how her trajectory has widened the picture of Slovenian cycling. In a nation often defined internationally by its male stars, her award represents Slovenia’s growing strength on both sides of the sport.

Although the Evening of Stars included many other award categories, it is the dual recognition of Pogacar and Zigart that travels furthest beyond Slovenia’s borders. In the space of a single season, both riders delivered storylines of dominance and emergence — one confirming his status as cycling’s defining figure, the other proving she belongs in the conversation among the discipline’s rising GC talents.

Their 2025 honours serve not only as national recognition but as markers of where Slovenian cycling stands: still riding the wave of unprecedented success, and continuing to produce riders capable of shaping the sport’s biggest races.