Pogacar does it again: attack at 100 km from the finish line and rainbow jersey at the 2025 Kigali World Championships

Rarely in cycling do things go according to the initially planned script, but Tadej Pogacar is precisely an expert in that, in making things happen in races the way he wants them to. Despite the setback of the time trial a week ago, today he has once again shown why he is the best cyclist in the world, breaking away from the race 100 km from the finish line and managing to wear the rainbow jersey for the second consecutive year. Remco Evenepoel, once again frustrated with the world, was able to recover and secure the silver medal.

Second rainbow jersey for an imperial Tadej Pogacar

Although the route of the 2025 Cycling World Championship in Kigali, with its 267.5 km and 5,475 m of elevation gain, seemed to call for caution, as seen in the rest of the categories that were not decided until the final moments, the statements in the days leading up to the race indicated that the battle was going to be presented from afar, on the extended circuit that was made just halfway through the race with the linking of Monte Kigali and Muro de Kigali.

The race began with the usual breakaway attempts by the more modest nations, although, contrary to usual, a breakaway with cyclists from important teams would finally prosper. Initially 5 cyclists: the Danish Anders Foldager, the Dutch Menno Huising, Ivo Oliveira, Fabio Christem, and Marius Mayrhofer, to whom Julien Bernard would join a few kilometers later. When they already had a minute of difference, Raúl García Pierna would jump to give presence to the Spanish team and avoid having to work, he had to paddle for many kilometers but finally managed to join.

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Meanwhile, behind, there were a few kilometers of tension in the middle of the second lap, an attempt by Alaphilippe simply to show that he was not feeling well and end up abandoning at the finish line, a small split in which Campenaerts, Seixas, Del Toro, or Wright got into, responding to Raúl's attack, although in the end only he would go ahead and a silly fall that knocked Marc Soler and Van Wilder out of the race.

After that, calm would come to the race, a calm that would last until the mentioned extended circuit where the pace, which had been lively up to that point thanks to Belgium's push, definitively accelerated on the approach to Monte Kigali.

A climb where Slovenia took the lead, leaving the main group totally decimated until, as expected, Tadej Pogacar accelerated when there were about 400 meters left, very tough for the summit. This time not violent but progressive, without standing up. Juan Ayuso and several other cyclists firmly held onto his wheel, including Remco Evenepoel who seemed to be holding up well until suddenly he began to lose ground, one meter, two, three... and the rubber band broke while further back it was Richard Carapaz who tried unsuccessfully to close the gap.

They reached the top with about ten seconds and, as they started the descent, Isaac del Toro jumped strongly from behind, managing to link up with astonishing ease and taking the lead in the descent to consolidate the gap. They arrived at the foot of the Muro de Kigali where the Mexican accelerated again. Pogacar easily closed the gap while Ayuso held on for dear life to his wheel. However, Del Toro did not slow down, which caused the Spaniard to be dropped.

Both understood each other perfectly but, once again, it was shown that Pogacar's legs are on another level and, back on the main circuit, on the cobbled climb of Kimihurura, the Mexican showed his first signs of weakness and fell behind. However, seeing that there were still 77 km to go and being a teammate in UAE Team Emirates-XRG, Pogacar eased off and allowed Isaac del Toro to catch back up.

However, it was only delaying the inevitable. With the Mexican struggling, the gap with those behind, where a trio with Healy, Sivakov, and Honoré had attacked, while Remco Evenepoel, with a crossed bike, had to change machines twice, forcing him to a good effort to catch up. The fact is that, with the arrival of the next climb to Kigali Golf, Del Toro definitively opened up, leaving Tadej alone, with less than a minute of difference and 66 kilometers ahead.

After Remco's second bike change, he regained his focus and began to push hard to close the gap with the chasing trio while selecting the group, leaving behind 5 cyclists in pursuit of Tadej Pogacar: Remco himself, Tom Pidcock, Ben Healy, Matthias Skjelmose, and Jai Hindley. With no chance, more than half a minute behind them, Juan Ayuso and Paul Seixas tried desperately to catch up but the race had already slipped away from them.

As the laps went by, Tadej Pogacar's lead not only remained but even increased second by second, despite the intense pace behind. This was evidenced by the fact that, on the climb towards the finish line, just over 3 laps from the end, Jai Hindley first and Tom Pidcock later also fell behind, out of the medal contention. It was only left to determine which rider from the chasing group would miss out on a medal.

To avoid finding himself in this situation, Remco Evenepoel, clearly the strongest of the trio, decided not to speculate and, on the penultimate lap, on the ascent to Kigali Golf, he attacked and easily dropped his companions, quickly opening up a generous gap that, barring a surprise, would guarantee him the silver medal.

On the last lap, again at Kigali Golf, it was Ben Healy who did the same and managed to break away to claim the last of the medals left to be decided.

2025 Cycling World Championship Classification - Kigali

1. Tadej Pogacar (Slovenia) 6h21'20''
2. Remco Evenepoel (Belgium) +1'28''
3. Ben Healy (Ireland) +2'16''
4. Matthias Skjelmose (Denmark) +2'53''
5. Toms Skujins (Latvia) +6'41''
6. Giulio Ciccone (Italy) +6'47''
7. Isaac del Toro (Mexico) +6'47''
8. Juan Ayuso (Spain) +6'47''
9. Afonso Eulálio (Portugal) +7'06''
10. Thomas Pidcock (Great Britain) +9'05''