World Road Cycling Championships Kigali-Rwanda 2025: dates, times, favorites and where to watch

After La Vuelta, it's time to turn our attention to the African continent, to the unprecedented World Championship in Rwanda. A race that, based on the images that the Tour of Rwanda leaves us every year, promises to be a cycling spectacle like few others and, due to the altitude of Kigali and the toughness of the proposed routes.

Pogacar meets history again at the 2025 World Championship in Rwanda

The final touch of the 2025 season is approaching with a World Championship that will be held for the first time in history on the African continent, in a country whose main event, the Tour of Rwanda, year after year leaves images of roads crowded with enthusiastic spectators, giving the race a colorful atmosphere rarely seen elsewhere.

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A World Championship, on an extremely tough course and with the condition of the average altitude of Kigali, the capital of Rwanda and the venue of these world championships, located at 1,567 m. Undoubtedly the ideal setting for Tadej Pogacar, who not only aims to repeat the title he won last year in Zurich but also raises the stakes and will seek a double victory that no one has ever achieved with his participation in the time trial event.

Dates and schedule of the 2025 World Championship in Rwanda

Sunday 21/09

• 10:10 - 12:55: Women's Elite individual time trial
• 13:45 - 16:50: Men's Elite individual time trial

Monday 22/09

• 10:35 - 12:45: Women's U23 individual time trial
• 13:35 - 16:30: Men's U23 individual time trial

Tuesday 23/09

• 10:45 - 12:45: Junior Women's individual time trial
• 14:00 - 16:30: Junior Men's individual time trial

Wednesday 24/09

• 12:30 - 17:00: Mixed relay time trial

Thursday 25/09

• 13:05 - 16:30: Women's U23 road race

Friday 26/09

• 08:00 - 11:15: Men's Junior road race
• 12:00 - 16:25: Men's U23 road race

Saturday 27/09

• 07:10 - 08:10: Women's Junior road race
• 12:05 - 16:45: Women's Elite road race

Sunday 28/09

• 09:45 - 16:45: Men's Elite road race

All times are CET, which at this time of year coincides with the local time in Rwanda.

Favorites for victory in the Men's Elite Time Trial at the 2025 World Championship in Rwanda

As is already a tradition in the UCI Road World Championships, the individual time trial will open the 8 days of competition, being held first to attract the largest audiences on Sunday, for both the elite men's and women's categories.

In the men's time trial, without a doubt, one cyclist is the top favorite for victory. It can only be Remco Evenepoel, who in the recent Tour of Britain has shown that he arrives at the world championship in great form. Additionally, we cannot forget that the Belgian cyclist has won this event in the last two editions, having finished third in the two previous ones.

However, in this 2025 World Championship in Rwanda, he will have to deal with a small nuisance that will surely make things very difficult for him. This nuisance goes by the name of Tadej Pogacar, the number 1 in practically any race he enters, and if he has chosen to compete in the time trial event, it is because he is aiming for victory. The Slovenian cyclist does not settle for half measures, and as has been shown on other occasions, he has more than enough capacity to fight for the rainbow jersey.

With the absence of Philippo Ganna, there are not many more cyclists who, at first glance, can challenge these two giants. Perhaps, based on the good time trial he performed in La Vuelta and the level of form he has shown throughout the Spanish tour, he may be the closest to the best times.

Another rider to always consider is the Swiss Stefan Küng, a true specialist in individual time trials who usually performs at the highest level, although in recent times he may be a step below his usual level.

Favorites for the victory in the Elite Men's In-Line Race of the Rwanda 2025 World Championships

If in the time trial the victory seems to be a matter of two, in the online race the uncertainty, thanks to the brutal hardness of the course that the cyclists will find in Kigali, opens a little more the range, although we all know that the fact that the route is demanding favors and makes the undisputed top favorite will be who we all imagine: Tadej Pogacar.

In a normal race there would be practically no doubt of his victory, especially after the sufficiency with which Tadej broke the race of the Montreal GP a week before the World Cup, a race that does not add to his palmares due to the fact that he gave the victory to his teammate Brandon Mc Nulty. However, in the World Cup Pogacar's main handicap is that his selection, despite having some top names such as Primoz Roglic or Matej Mohoric, is also short.

This lack of control was precisely what forced last year in Zurich to attack from so far away. It was Pogacar's only option to avoid losing the race. It worked out well, but it could have been disastrous. Fortune smiles on the brave, especially if they are called Tadej and he has the best legs in the world, so let's not rule out that the Slovenian will have to make another brutal display if he wants to revalidate his rainbow jersey.

Among the contenders to prevent that from happening, obviously, we must mention a cyclist who already knows what it is to be World Champion as Remco Evenepoel, although it remains to be seen how he is able to assimilate a route as hard as Rwanda. In their favor, unlike Slovenia, Belgium has a top team: Benoot, Van Wilder, Quinten Hermans, Meurisse, Uijtdebroeks, Vermeersch and, above all, one of the main responsible for Vingegaard winning La Vuelta, Victor Campenaerts. Of course, let's not forget that sometimes the Belgian team has turned out to be Pancho Villa's army, with each rider waging war on his own.

Another of our other possible contenders, who also knows what it's like to win a big event, in his case the Olympic Games, and who has prepared thoroughly for this World Championships despite having had a difficult summer, is Richard Carapaz who, in recent weeks, has already been seen peeking his head out in the Italian classics at the end of the season.

And what can we say about Tom Pidcock, absolutely full of energy and on fire after his podium in La Vuelta, who last week said emphatically that he arrives with energy and full form to the World Cup and we all know how important motivation is when it comes to getting a good result in the race. Besides, the strong selection that Great Britain presents in this appointment in Rwanda, with Onley, Blackmore or Fred Wright guarantees him to be able to fight a good number of situations before being forced to show his face.

After what we saw in La Vuelta, and sweeping for home, we would have to include in this list of contenders to Juan Ayuso, but we already know that the Alicante is capable of the best and the worst. If he has his day and his head does not do strange things, he is perfectly capable of being in the final part of the race in the group that plays for the medals, if not, it is also perfectly possible that he is on his way to the hotel when there are still 200 km to go.

We don't want to forget a rider who almost won the Giro d'Italia, but didn't because of his inexperience and youth. He has also swept the Italian classics over the last few weeks. Obviously, we are talking about an Isaac del Toro who, with what we have seen him do, would not be discarded, despite being the only representative of Mexico, that could give the big surprise in Rwanda. And if we were to imagine a totally crazy scenario, with a career destroyed from far away, it occurs to us that a guy as crazy and endearing as Ben Healy could occupy the top of the podium.

Route of the Men's Elite Time Trial at the 2025 World Championship in Rwanda

Not even the time trial at the 2025 World Championship in Rwanda is exempt from the toughness that defines this event. In the case of the men's Elite category, the race will cover a distance of 40.6 km.

A course with hardly a flat meter where participants will have to tackle no less than 4 climbs: Nyanza, 2.5 km at 5.8% average gradient on the way out, and the same climb on the return, which is 6.6 km at 3.5%; the Cote de Peage, similar to the first ascent with 2 kilometers at 6%; and, as a dessert, the cobbled climb of Kimihurura, 1.3 km at 6.3% but, after reaching the top, there is hardly any descent before the road continues to ascend in the last kilometer to the finish line, which at that point in the race can make significant differences if the race plan and energy regulation have not been carefully executed.

Route of the Elite Men's In-Line Race Rwanda World Championships 2025

267.5 kilometers and a whopping 5,475 m of elevation gain in addition to the same factor of being disputed at an altitude of around 1,500 m that we talked about in the layout of the time trial. One of the hardest courses, if not the hardest, of those that have hosted the dispute of a World Road Cycling Championship.

A route that starts with 9 laps of the main circuit of 13.6 kilometers that includes two climbs: the Cota de Kigali Golf, 800 m at 8.1% and, already towards the finish, as in the time trial, the cobbled ascent of the Cota de Kimihurura, 1.3 km at 6.3%, which then, after a short descent, continues to climb upwards until reaching the finish line.

After these first 9 laps, after 134 km, i.e. halfway through the race, the peloton will take on a larger loop looking for the outskirts of the city. This loop first climbs Mount Kigali, almost 6 kilometers at 6.9% average gradient before returning to the city and facing one of the most legendary climbs of the Tour of Rwanda, the Kigali Wall, 400 m of cobblestones at 11% gradient, i.e. a real Flanders-type wall. A stretch where the race should presumably break and make the final selection.

In any case, there will still be another 6 laps of the local circuit, that is to say, a little more than 90 kilometers, a lot of things can still happen.

How to watch the 2025 World Championship in Rwanda

As is customary in world championship events, both Eurosport and RTVE will provide full coverage at the times indicated at the beginning of this 2025 World Championship in Rwanda.

Eurosport on its E1 and E2 channels as well as on the associated HBO Max platform. On the other hand, RTVE will broadcast the different events on its Teledeporte channel and through its online platform RTVE Play.