What was the biggest cycling story of 2025?

Trump tariffs batter bike industry

It was the giant industry story of 2025, US President Donald Trump’s controversial economic policy having major implications for brands who sell their bikes, parts and tech in the US. As of now, the end-of-year outlook is that import levels of bikes from China to the US have recovered slightly, but for most of the past 12 months the industry has been anxiously looking at an incredibly uncertain picture.

Back in the spring we saw prices rise, Giant, Specialized, Trek, Brompton and numerous others adding a ‘tariff surcharge’ to their US pricing. High-end components brand Rotor shut its US office, BMC was reported to be set to slash a quarter of its workforce, and imports of bikes from China plummeted.

In July, lobby group PeopleForBikes warned that the US bike industry may not recover from the “devastating consequences” of the tariffs until 2030, while more recently US clothing company Terry Precision Cycling joined other businesses in challenging the tariffs at the Supreme Court.

This one looks all but certain to rumble on into 2026, the bike industry braced for whatever route Trump opts for next.

Farewell ITV: TNT Sports takes over racing coverage in the UK as part of £30.99-a-month subscription

The end of an era. The Tour de France’s iconic free-to-air coverage on ITV came to an end in 2025, Eurosport also closing in the UK and Ireland and meaning that all its cycling headed over to TNT Sports and its £30.99-a-month subscription.

Paying 400% more for what is essentially the same product (but now with unavoidable extra advert breaks during the Tour) was an unsurprisingly hard sell for the bosses of TNT’s owner, Warner Bros Discovery, UK-based cycling fans up in arms about the situation throughout 2025.

We’ll be watching the ongoing sale speculation around Warner Bros Discovery, Paramount and Netflix very closely for any cycling-watching implications next year.

Town centre cycling fines — the story that won’t go away

road.cc news and podcast regular Ryan joked we’d be attending North East Lincolnshire Council’s Christmas party this year, such is the amount of time we’ve spent talking to the local authority this year about its controversial town centre cycling fines in Grimsby.

And while they aren’t quite yet on my speed dial, it really is the story that won’t go away.

The short explainer is, under powers available to local authorities, numerous councils have introduced PSPOs (Public Spaces Protection Orders) allowing them to take action against anti-social behaviour in town centres. Yep, you guessed it, this means we’ve seen bans on cycling and ‘crackdowns’ on ‘dangerous cycling’.

The headlines from Grimsby have mainly come from court where some riders who failed to pay their initial fixed penalty notice have subsequently been ordered to pay eye-watering sums in excess of £1,000. No, really…

> Town where cyclists ordered to pay £1,000 for cycling on high street claims terrified locals are “scarred for life” by “anti-social” cycling

This summer things took a bizarre twist when we reported one of the council’s enforcement officers had tried to justify the controversial bike ban by falsely claiming a pedestrian was killed in cyclist collision. The council also admitted to us that one of its cycle ban signs was in the wrong part of town centre. Not particularly reassuring if you’re one of the hundreds of cyclists to have been fined or one of the people ordered to pay £1,000+ in court.

More losses across the industry

The post-Covid bike boom years have been challenging for the bike industry. Challenging. That’s the word we keep hearing from CEOs and in companies’ annual accounts. There were losses at Evans Cycles, Endura, Sigma Sports, and many more.

Campagnolo has laid off a significant number of staff following three years of heavy losses, while Shimano and Canyon reported profit and sales slumps respectively. The big headlines were saved for Rapha who this autumn told us it would be slashing its valuation by £102m amid a £15m loss and an eighth straight year in the red.

Anti-Israel protests engulf pro cycling 

We’d had protests against Israel-Premier Tech before, but nothing like what unfolded in the final months of the season. A protester invading the finish straight of a Tour de France stage was a sign of things to come, the final Grand Tour of the season the Vuelta a España repeatedly hit by demonstrations and debate about the Israeli-branded team’s presence in the peloton.

Derek Gee terminated his contract on “safety and personal belief” grounds ahead of the Vuelta, where things escalated in the Basque county, the Bilbao stage neutralised before things came to a head on the final-day procession into Madrid, the race abandoned as protesters stormed the finish circuit.

> From ‘no surrender’ to NSN: Barcelona legend Andrés Iniesta’s company takes over Sylvan Adams’ Israel project – but what’s next for cycling’s most controversial team?

The surreal situation went further when team boss Sylvan Adams said his squad was asked us to quit the Vuelta, but “we did not surrender to the terrorists”, Adams receiving public support from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

While Adams insisted talk of a name change was “fake news”, IPT’s future began to look more and more untenable amid threat of further protest, race organisers pulling invitations and sponsor discontent. Premier Tech walked away (and is to sponsor Mathieu van der Poel’s team next season instead), as did bike sponsor Factor.

2025 ended with IPT officially rebranding to NSN Cycling, the team now Swiss-registered and breaking with its Israeli identity as Adams said his goodbyes at a recent winter training camp. Will that be the end of it? Will other teams with controversial sponsors attract more attention in 2026?

But what stories were our most-read in 2025?

While Trump, anti-Israel protests and the end of cycling on ITV were stories so big they spilt over and attracted the attention of national newspapers and the wider media, the truth is (letting you behind the curtain for a second) our most-read stories are rarely ever the most important, but the ones that grabbed people’s attention while doomscrolling the web. Exhibit A:

> “It’s a cycle lane!” shouts angry cyclist forced onto road – thanks to new bike lane wands opening ceremony

E-bikes and their perception and misidentification by the police and press has been another recurring story in 2025. How often have you read headlines about e-bikes causing carnage (or similar statements) only to then read the article and discover said ‘e-bike’ is actually an electric motorbike. We’ve tried persuading the BBC to stop falling into this trap numerous times over the past 12 months, but it was this live blog from February that led the way…

> “We face enough hatred as it is”: Cyclists thank police for pointing out 750W motor-powered vehicle with throttle up to 28mph is “not an e-bike”

Finally, we’d like to finish by remembering that 2025 was the year that road.cc and the wider cycling community lost one of its greatest personalities John Stevenson.

As road.cc founder Tony Farrelly summed up back in May, John was “grumpy, intelligent, funny and fierce (in a good way, well… usually)” but a bona fide legend of cycling journalism. If you only read one other thing on road.cc this Christmas, you can’t go too wrong with this…

> John’s greatest hits: a selection of the best articles from our legendary late contributor John Stevenson