Amy Hudson has been crowned as BikeRadar and Cycling Plus magazine's 2025 Rider of the Year.
Hudson has enjoyed a remarkable year, riding every stage of the Tour de France – plus transfers – to raise money for Shout, a mental health charity that offers a 24/7, text-based service.
Now her achievement has been recognised at our annual Rider of the Year awards, supported by Lezyne, with Hudson winning the public vote.
The numbers behind Hudson's ride speak for themselves: 6,554km covered, with 74,863m of elevation, and £76,767 raised for Shout, having started with a £10,000 goal. Her story captured the hearts of the public and the attention of the media, with the BBC reporting on her ride when she arrived in Paris in July.
“You can’t really compute that amount of money,” said Hudson won the public vote from a shortlist of nominees that included Tadej Pogačar. “Hopefully, it’ll help a lot of people. That’s why I did it.”
Hudson started cycling in 2021 after suffering from a breakdown. Hudson’s husband bought her a bike and cycling played a key role in her recovery. She embarked on a series of increasingly ambitious challenges – the North Coast 500, Land’s End to John o’Groats and then the 1,200km Paris-Brest-Paris audax – before being inspired to undertake her 2025 challenge, having watched a documentary about Lachlan Morton’s ‘Alt Tour’.
Cycling Plus Rider of the Year 2025 shortlist
- Alex McCormack
- Amy Hudson
- Imogen Cotter
- Molly Weaver
- Sarah Ruggins
- Tadej Pogačar
- Will Pomeroy
Back for a third year and run in conjunction with our sister titles, Cycling Plus and MBUK magazines, Rider of the Year is our annual celebration of the riders who have defined 2025.
The event sees winners crowned in our Rider of the Year and Newcomer of the Year awards, both of which are decided by a public vote, as well as a Lifetime Achievement Award, decided by our expert panel. Winners are crowned for both road cycling and mountain biking.
- Find out the winners of our MTB Rider of the Year Awards
Cycling Plus Newcomer of the Year – Archie Atkinson
Archie Atkinson is already a star of British para-cycling – but the sky’s the limit for the 21-year-old from Stockport, our 2025 Newcomer of the Year winner.
Our newcomer category celebrates the sport’s best up-and-coming riders, and Atkinson is no doubt one of those. He burst onto the scene in 2023, winning World Championship gold on the track in the C4 scratch race. Further world titles followed on the boards in 2024 and 2025, while Atkinson also has a Paralympic silver medal to his name.
Atkinson came agonisingly close to winning gold in the C4 individual pursuit at Paris 2024 but crashed going into the final lap of the 4,000m event.
He’s making his name on the road, too, having won World Championship bronze medals in 2023 and 2025, and has his sights set on topping the podium next year.
“I’d like to get a stripey jersey on the road,” he says, with the UCI Para-Cycling World Championships in Huntsville, Alabama, in September front of mind. “I’ve not done that yet. That’s the big goal.”
Remember the name.
Cycling Plus Lifetime Achievement Award – Geraint Thomas
Geraint Thomas needs no introduction. Over the course of an 18-year professional career, the Welshman became a star on the track, winning two team pursuit gold medals at the Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Olympics, before focusing fully on the road.
The rest, of course, is history, and Thomas’ crowning glory came with overall victory at the 2018 Tour de France.
The 39-year-old’s palmares includes many of the most prestigious races in cycling, with wins at Paris-Nice, the Criterium du Dauphine, the Tour of Romandie, the Tour de Suisse and more. In 2010, he was crowned the British road race national champion; in 2018, he added the time trial title to his record.
Thomas also finished second and third overall at the Tour de France, in 2019 and 2022 respectively, and stood on the podium of the Giro d'Italia twice, too (2023, 2024). Now, having retired from the peloton after September’s Tour of Britain, he’ll start a new role as Ineos-Grenadiers director of racing.
“Huge thanks to the Cycling Plus and BikeRadar team. It’s an honour to be recognised. I’ve had a lot of time over the past 18 years, am proud of what I’ve achieved, and am looking forward to what comes next in retirement,” said Thomas.
Cycling Plus Lifetime Achievement shortlist
- Bonnie Tu
- Chris Boardman
- Chris Froome
- Gary Imlach
- Geraint Thomas
- Lizzie Deignan
- Wout Van Aert
Previous Cycling Plus Rider of the Year winners
2024
- Rider of the Year – Siraj Balubaid
- Newcomer of the Year – Daisy Barnes
- Lifetime Achievement Award – Maurice Burton
2023
- Rider of the Year – Craig Maxwell
- Newcomer of the Year – Imogen Wolff
- Lifetime Achievement Award – Duncan Dollimore
