Africa Games: Review of the 2025 World Cycling Championships in Rwanda with saddle drama
Tom Mustroph
· 14.12.2025
Despite all the challenges, Tadej Pogačar triumphed in the road race at the World Cycling Championships in Rwanda. Remco Evenepoel, who had previously excelled in the time trial, was slowed down by technical problems. The German riders achieved their worst World Championship result since reunification. Host Rwanda, on the other hand, impressed with its first-class organisation and received much praise for this.
The powerhouse looked like a heap of misery. Slumped over, his back bent low, Remco Evenepoel crouched on the tarmac in front of the Kigali Convention Centre. He had his hands folded in front of his face, the Belgian national team coaches kept photographers and onlookers at a distance. Only his trembling back and his helmet, which moved slightly in the same rhythm, gave any indication of the emotions that were shaking the man on the ground. He remained in this pose of dejection for minutes - he had radiated exactly the opposite before the race.
The newly crowned time trial world champion had gone into the road race in Kigali very confidently. His triumph against the clock a few days earlier had been outstanding. He had even caught Tadej Pogačar on the cobblestones of Kimihurura. "I want the double," he had announced afterwards with a firm look on his face. Since the time trial was added to the World Championship programme in 1994, no one had ever managed the double of the World Championship titles in the time trial and the road race. "I've done it before," he had cheerfully referred to his double Olympic victory in Paris - probably an even more difficult endeavour as it is only possible every four years.
Saddle drama for Evenepoel
In Rwanda, however, the equipment slowed him down. "I rode through a pothole before Mt Kigali. My saddle sagged and I had to struggle with the new riding position. I got cramps. And when Tadej attacked at the top, I just couldn't pedal properly," he described his mishap in the race-deciding situation during the subsequent press conference. Pogačar had attacked there, around 100 kilometres before the finish. Evenepoel tried to follow, but fell back. Only Pogačar's team-mate Juan Ayuso and Isaac del Toro, who remained with the UAE Emirates team, were able to keep up with the Slovenian's gruelling pace. On the cobblestone climb of the Mur de Kigali, the Mexican Del Toro then drove the Spaniard Ayuso out of his shoes. "A stupid move. It would have been better if the three of them had ridden many more kilometres," criticised Pogačar's national team colleague Luka Mezgec later. Del Toro ran into problems a little later on and had to let his World Tour team captain go despite some good coaxing from Pogačar. "I wanted to cheer him up a little. It was still so far to the finish and I didn't want to ride it all alone. But he told me he had stomach cramps," Pogačar explained later.
Meanwhile, the suffering continued for his, on paper, toughest rival from Belgium. He had changed his bike at the feed zone, but: "It was the third bike, which I really don't use much," said Evenepoel. And once again the saddle position caused him problems. It was too horizontal, the Belgian said, preferring a slightly downward-facing line. "Because of this riding position, I quickly developed problems in my lower back, partly due to the recent injuries. I was only able to complete one lap and then had to wait for the team car," he said, describing his series of breakdowns. Due to a lack of radio connection to the team car - as forbidden by the UCI in all World Championship races - he was unable to inform his companions in advance. Rider after rider, support vehicle after support vehicle, drove past him until finally the right car stopped and the third wheel change, this time to the right second wheel, could be carried out. "After that, things went as planned again and I was still able to finish in second place," he said. Winner Pogačar also paid tribute to him: "Remco also delivered a very strong race."
Did Evenepoel lose the World Championships because of this double misfortune? The Belgian himself was convinced that he would have made it to a joint final with Pogačar without the material problems. "The legs were there. And on the final laps, the gap to Pogačar remained stable, while I was able to make up about a minute on the group behind me," he said, assessing the final city laps. However, he also admitted his extreme exhaustion towards the end. "The cobblestones made it really hard on the last laps. You have to keep going over the pavé, over and over again. It didn't necessarily bore me, but by the end I downright hated it," he said of the stones that had been his triumphal arena on the previous Sunday.
Only 30 drivers arrive
For him and many other riders, it was the "toughest race of my career". Only 30 riders even reached the finish line. It was a kind of world record in the "Did Not Finish" category, given that 165 riders started. In 2023, in the rainy race in Glasgow, 51 riders (out of 195) finished, in 2019 in Leeds, when the route was shortened due to the masses of water from above, 46 (out of 197). In 2016, in the heat and gusts of desert wind in Qatar, 53 of 199 riders finished. In terms of these numbers, the road race in Rwanda was at least the toughest World Championship race of the century. Of course, in the historic beginnings of cycling there were also considerable drop-out rates. In 1927, when the Italian Alfredo Binda became the first ever wearer of the rainbow jersey, only 18 out of 55 starters finished. Italy's "La Stampa" described the Nürburgring circuit as a "rollercoaster tortured by countless bends without end". Binda was also a solo winner at the time, spending the last 30 of the 182 kilometres alone. His ordeal lasted more than six and a half hours, 16 minutes longer than Pogačar's 98 years later.
In 1928, according to ProCyclingStats, only eight (out of 16) starters crossed the finish line on the circuit through the dusty Puszta around Budapest. They were tormented by bad roads, as the chronicles say. One driver even collided with a team of oxen. Nevertheless, two Germans, Herbert Nebe from Leipzig and Bruno Wolke from Berlin, finished second and third. Results of this kind were out of the question for the Germans in 2025. By the time the carousel of the final laps began to turn, the entire team had already dropped out. Stomach cramps plagued three of the four starters. "At first I thought I had mistaken my heart rate. It didn't go down from 170 at all. My head almost burst from my neck towards the end. I was completely drained," Jonas Rutsch described his experiences to journalists in rather drastic terms.
Problems in the intestinal tract also took their toll on the women's race. Germany's lead rider Liane Lippert had to vomit, as she recounted. Compatriot Antonia Niedermaier, who had very attentively made it into the perfect escape group around the eventual surprise world champion Magdeleine Vallieres, was also plagued by stomach cramps. "I didn't really know how to sit on the bike for the last two laps because I had such stomach pains. But I fought my way through and made the best of it," she said.
Medal failure for Germany
With sixth place in the road race and the same position in the time trial, she was actually the best individual starter in the German squad across all performance and gender categories and all distances. She also came fifth in the mixed relay.
Since reunification, there had only been one World Championships without medals in the coronavirus year 2020. Only the elite races were held at the short World Championships. Men's national coach Jens Zemke therefore announced a rethink in the preparations. Up to now, the practice has been to see who is in good shape and motivated enough at the end of the season and who the course would suit, Zemke described the procedure. However, there are no joint training camps and targeted preparation, as is usual with other national teams. Zemke wants to do things differently in future. "One goal for the future is to tackle the next World Championships in Montreal in the winter as a kind of project. To determine who our leaders will be, who we will be racing for and how we will optimise our preparations. We can definitely learn from other nations," says the national coach.
Hosts get top marks
In contrast, the mood in Rwanda, the organisers of the World Championships, was completely different. The local organising committee received high praise from UCI President David Lappartient. "A perfect organisation, one of the best World Championships in this century," said the Frenchman, who had just been confirmed in office. And indeed, the praise for the quality of the hotels, the roads and the safety during the races was unanimous. The organisers had even dismantled around three dozen speed bumps on the World Championship course, said Rwanda's cycling president Samson Ndayishimiye proudly. He emphasised - on behalf of the entire continent - that Africa had shown that it was capable of hosting major events. "Kigali 2025 must not be a one-off event. Other African nations must also have the chance to host a World Cup," he said. Although the world championships have already been awarded until 2031, there could well be other African organisers after that. And by then, some other European cycling federations - including the German one - may also manage to take the same effective precautions against gastrointestinal problems that other nations have already managed to do in Rwanda.
Results Road World Championships Rwanda 2025
Individual time trial
Elite women
The race marked the start of the Road World Championships. With 460 metres of climbing on the 31.2-kilometre course, it was clear right from the start that the athletes would need good climbing legs as well as time trial skills. Anna van der Breggen (Netherlands) set a strong time early on, which was only beaten by Marlen Reusser (Switzerland). Co-favourite Demi Vollering (Netherlands) had to settle for the bronze medal, while Antonia Niedermaier was the best German in sixth place.
Elite men
The men had to conquer 680 metres of altitude over 40.6 kilometres, which is why many time trial specialists decided not to start. Ilan van Wilder (Belgium) set a good time early on, which was beaten by Jay Vine (Australia). Remco Evenepoel (Belgium), who started last in the race, overtook Tadej Pogačar (Slovenia), who had started two and a half minutes ahead of him, to win by over 1:14 minutes ahead of Jay Vine. Pogačar was narrowly beaten by van Wilder, who took bronze, in a thriller of seconds.
Result: 1st Remco Evenepoel (BEL), 49:46 min; 2nd Jay Vine (AUS), +1:14 min; 3rd Ilan van Wilder (BEL), +2:36; 4th Tadej Pogačar (SLO), +2:37; 5th Isaac del Toro (MEX), +2:40
Women U23
1st Zoe Bäckstedt (BGR), 30:56 min; 2nd Viktória Chladoňová (SLO), +1:50 min; 3rd Federica Venturelli (ITA), +2:11; 4th Felicity Wilson-Haffenden (AUS), +2:21; 5th Alena Ivanchenko (INA), +2:22
Men U23
1st Jakob Söderqvist (SVE), 38:24 min; 2nd Nate Pringle (NZL), +1:03 min; 3rd Maxime Decomble (FRA), +1:04; 4th Lorenzo Finn (ITA) +1:08; 5th Callum Thornley (GBR), +1:11
Juniors
1st Megan Arens (NED), 25:47 min; 2nd Paula Ostiz (ESP), +35 sec; 3rd Oda Aune Gissinger (NOR), +37; 4th Roos Müller (NED), +47; 5th Erin Boothman (GBR), +48
Juniors
1st Michiel Mouris (NED), 29:07 min; 2nd Ashlin Barry (USA), +6 sec; 3rd Seff Van Kerckhove (BEL), +8; 4th Beckam Drake (USA), +13; 5th Max Hinds (GBR), +18
Mixed team time trial
1st Australia, 54:30 min; 2nd France, +5 sec; 3rd Switzerland, +10; 4th Italy, +1:24; 5th Germany, +1:34
Road race
Elite women
Over eleven laps covering a total of 164.6 kilometres and 3,350 metres in altitude, the women raced for the world championship title. Several breakaway attempts were unsuccessful up to 57 kilometres before the finish, before two groups were able to break away. However, the big favourites in the peloton lost more and more time to the leaders. Magdeleine Vallieres (Canada) was able to break away decisively from the leading group of three and surprisingly win. Antonia Niedermaier had dominated the race for a long time, but had to break away in the final and once again finished sixth.
Result: 1st Magdeleine Vallieres (CAN), 4:34:48 hrs; 2nd Niamh Fisher-Black (NZL), +23 sec; 3rd Mavi García (ESP), +27; 4th Elise Chabbey (SUI), +41; 5th Riejanne Markus (NED), +57
Elite men
The men's programme included 267.5 kilometres with 5,475 metres of climbing spread over 15 laps, with a detour to Mont Kigali after lap nine - where Tadej Pogačar set off on the attack. Only Isaac del Toro (Mexico) was able to follow Pogačar. With 66 kilometres to go, however, Pogačar's World Tour team-mate at UAE Emirates had to let go and the Slovenian rode solo to another world title. Behind him, Remco Evenepoel was able to pull away and take 2nd place, which was disappointing for him. Third place went to Ireland's Ben Healy.
Result: 1st Tadej Pogačar (SLO), 6:21:20; 2nd Remco Evenepoel (BEL), +1:28 min. 3rd Ben Healy (IRL), +2:16; 4th Mattias Skjelmose (DEN), +2:53; 5th Toms Skujinš (LAT), 6:41
Women U23
1st Célia Gery (FRA), 3:24:26; 2nd Viktória Chladoňová (SVK), +2 sec; 3rd Paula Blasi (ESP), +12; 4th Eleonora Ciabocco (ITA), +12; 5th Marion Brunel (FRA), +12
Men U23
1st Lorenzo Finn (ITA), 3:57:27 hrs; 2nd Jan Huber (SUI), +31 sec; 3rd Marco Schrettl (AUT), +1:13; 4th Héctor Álvarez (ESP), +1:38; 5th Mateusz Gajdulewicz (POL), +1:42
Juniors
1st Paula Osti (ESP), 2:09:19 hrs; 2nd Chantal Pegolo (ITA); 3rd Anja Grossmann (SUI); 4th Sidney Swierenga (CAN), all timed; 5th Giada Silo (ITA), +3 sec
Juniors
1st Harry Hudson (GBR), 2:55:19 hrs; 2nd Johan Blanc (FRA), +16 sec; 3rd Jan Michal Jackowiak (POL), +16; 4th Max Hinds (GBR), +22; 5th Matthew Peace (GBR), +24
