The old and new world champion left no doubt that anything could have put him in trouble that day. When the almost 270-kilometre race left the Kigali circuit for the first and only time during the title fights and took a detour to Mont Kigali and the Mur de Kigali - both well-known and infamous from the annual Tour du Rwanda at the beginning of the year - Pogacar already switched into attack mode. Shortly before the summit, with 100 kilometres to go, he attacked. Evenepoel was unable to follow. It was the preliminary decision.
Only Pogacar's colleagues from UAE Team Emirates, Juan Ayuso and Isaac del Toro, were able to hold their own. However, while Ayuso soon realised that he had overtaken himself, Pogacar dragged the Mexican youngster along for a while, even waiting for the 21-year-old at times, who ultimately finished one place ahead of Ayuso in seventh. However, he left him behind 66 kilometres before the finish. During his subsequent solo ride to the finish, he gradually extended his lead to such an extent that he was no longer a threat.
Evenepoel, who was once again unable to control his nerves in the meantime, came to his senses and then put in a race to catch up, which was enough to put all but the world champion in his place. He was together with Healy and Skjelmose for a long time. He left them behind on the penultimate lap. Healy only took bronze in the last five kilometres. Meanwhile, the gaps were huge. Thomas Pidcock (Great Britain) in tenth place was more than nine minutes behind. In any case, only 30 riders reached the finish.
Zimmermann: "After success comes failure, unless your name is Tadej Pogacar"
None of them were German. Felix Engelhardt, Jonas Rutsch and Georg Zimmermann were all struggling with gastrointestinal problems. The problem had been haunting the entire German delegation in Rwanda - as well as other teams - for the entire week of the World Championships. Only Marius Mayrhofer started the race fit and was one of the initiators of the early breakaway group that made it to Mont Kigali. "After one success you always have to expect five failures, unless your name is Tadej Pogacar. I had one of those days today where nothing came together," said Zimmermann, who was supposed to lead Germany as captain. National coach Jens Zemke added: "This is the first time in my career as sporting director that I've switched off the engine before the race is over. I'm incredibly sorry for the boys, it's very sad."
There was no room for sadness for Pogacar. "It was a constant battle with myself," he said at the finish. "I think this route was made for a solo ride like this. I had hoped to find a small group to ride with after Mont Kigali, and initially I managed to do that with Juan and Isaac. At some point Juan had problems and Isaac suffered from stomach problems. So I rode alone very early on. The climbs got harder and harder, and even on the descents I had to push myself so hard that my energy levels dropped significantly in the later laps. Then you start to doubt yourself, but persevering is the only option," said the 27-year-old, describing his feelings.
After the bitter defeat in the time trial at the start of the World Championships, in which he not only missed out on the medals but was overtaken by Evenepoel, Pogacar was now hoping for revenge. And he didn't miss out on it. With the second longest solo in World Championship history. Only the Italian Vittorio Adorni took more time in 1968 and finished alone after 90 kilometres, almost ten minutes ahead of Silver. There are still records that don't belong to the Slovenian.
World Championship 2025 - Road Race Men Elite Results
World Championships ME - Road Race: Kigali - Kigali
World Championships ME - Road Race 2025: World Championships ME - Road Race, Kigali - Kigali
| Rnk. | Riders | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Slovenia | 06:21:20 |
| 2 | Belgium | +00:01:28 |
| 3 | Ireland | +00:02:16 |
| 4 | Denmark | +00:02:53 |
| 5 | Latvia | +00:06:41 |
| 6 | Italy | +00:06:47 |
How the elite women's world championship road race went in 2025
165 starters from 57 different nations took part in the race. While it had been quiet on the first lap the day before, there were attacks right from the start today. Red Walters, starting for Grenada, was the first to take the stage, but shortly afterwards the classic cycling nations also made their presence felt. Germany also opted for offensive tactics and was represented with Mayrhofer in a group that was also interesting with Menno Huising from the Netherlands, Ivo Oliveira for Portugal as well as Anders Foldager (Denmark), Julien Bernard (France) and Fabio Christen (Switzerland).
However, the peloton couldn't bring themselves to let the group go for a long time. Slovenia, but also the French, although they had a rider at the front, rode hard behind. The first prominent victim of this tactic was their own man: Julian Alaphilippe. Meanwhile, Raul Garcia Pierna, a Spaniard, had also worked his way into the leading group. The situation at the back then calmed down again. The group maintained a lead of around three minutes for a long time.
The race situation remained constant. From a German perspective, however, the disaster took its course. Engelhardt finished after five laps, two laps later Zimmermann and Rutsch dropped off their bikes. After nine laps and a lead of one and a half minutes for the breakaway riders, they headed out to Mont Kigali. On the way to the highest point of the race, Bernard, Foldager and Oliveira left their companions behind.
Preliminary decision at Mont Kigali
Bernard then overtook his other companions and it seemed as if he would be the first to cross Mont Kigali. But then Pogacar attacked. At first, only Juan Ayuso (Spain) was able to follow him. Evenepoel was passed. Shortly before the Mur de Kigali, which was crossed shortly afterwards, Issac del Toro (Mexico) caught up with the leaders. On the steep cobbles, he and Pogacar then left the Spaniard behind, who fell back into a large chasing group. In addition to Evenepoel, almost all the other team captains were represented there. They then crossed the finish line 45 seconds behind. There were still six laps to go.
The next time up the Cote de Kimihurura, Del Toro had problems holding Pogacar's wheel. But the Slovenian was waiting for the Mexican. Meanwhile, Evenepoel was once again struggling with himself. After loudly and gesticulously signalling problems with his bike, he changed his equipment, but then found himself 40 seconds behind the leading chasers. Shortly afterwards, Mikkel Honoré (Denmark), Pavel Sivakov (France) and Ben Healy (Ireland) broke away from the chasing pack.
With 66 kilometres to go, in the middle of the twelfth lap, Pogacar del Toro dropped back. He docked onto the group of three that was 50 seconds behind the leader, but was caught on the cobbles. By Evenepoel, who had worked his way back into the large group. And broke away shortly afterwards. Mattias Skjelmose (Denmark), Jai Hindley (Australia), Thomas Pidcock (Great Britain) and Healy broke away from the others on the fourth-to-last lap.
Healy takes bronze
Three laps before the end, Hindley had to let the rest of the first chasers go, and Pidcock also had problems. Pogacar had a good minute's lead over the remaining trio. The second chasing group was almost three minutes behind at this point. With 20 kilometres to go, Evenepoel left his two companions behind. Neither Skjelmose nor Healy made any attempt to follow the Belgian.
Pogacar took a one-and-a-half minute lead over Evenepoel into the final lap. Healy and Skjelmose were just under two minutes behind. With just under five kilometres to go, Healy made the final decision in the medal fight: he pulled away from Skjelmose. The Dane was unable to counterattack on the final climb. While Pogacar was able to smile relaxedly on the final cobblestone climb, Evenepoel kept a straight face as he crossed the finish line.
