For the first time in the UCI's 125-year existence, the UCI Road World Championships will take place on the continent of Africa, in Rwanda's capital city of Kigali, in 2025.
In total, there will be 13 different titles awarded across the week, which stretches between 21-28 September, with rainbow jerseys to be won in time trials and road races in the junior, under-23 and elite ranks.
Quick guide to watching the UCI Road World Championships
- UK: BBC (free), TNT Sports / Discovery+ (£30.99/mon)
- US and Canada: Flobikes (USD$29.99/mon, CAN$39.9/mon)
- Australia: Stan (from AUD$12/mon + AUD$15/mon sports add-on)
- Free streams: YouTube (geo-blocking applies), BBC (UK), RTBF (Belgium), France Télévisions (France), RAI (Italy), RTVE (Spain), NOS (Netherlands)
- Anywhere: Watch your local stream from anywhere with NordVPN
How to watch the UCI Road World Championships in the UK
In the UK, this year's Road World Championships will be shown live and free on the BBC, the country's public service broadcaster. (To watch the BBC, viewers are expected to have a TV licence, which costs £174.50 a year.)
Fans will also be able to watch all of the events on TNT Sports, Warner Bros. Discovery's premium sports channels.
Online and mobile device viewers can watch the racing for free on BBC iPlayer, or on Discovery+, with a package priced at £30.99 a month. This offering also gains viewers access to Warner Bros. Discovery's full range of sports listings.
How to watch the UCI Road World Championships in the USA and Canada
In the US and Canada, Flobikes has been granted the broadcast rights for the Road World Championships.
Subscriptions for US viewers cost USD$29.99 a month, or USD$149.99 for the year. In Canada, the price is CAN$39.99 a month, or CAN$203.88 a year.
The Flobikes TV app is available on Roku, Fire TV, Chromecast and Apple TV, as well as on iOS and Android.
How to watch the UCI Road World Championships in Australia
Cycling fans in Australia can watch the Road World Championships on the Stan streaming service.
The most basic plan costs AUD$12 a month, although standard and premium packages are available for AUD$17 and AUD$22 per month respectively. Viewers will need to have the Stan Sport add-on to watch the Road World Championships, which costs an additional AUD$15 per month.
Can I watch the UCI Road World Championships for free?
Across the globe, fans can watch the Road World Championships for free thanks to broadcasters in their regions and the UCI's YouTube channel.
The YouTube feed is geo-restricted, so will not be available to residents in countries that already have a TV broadcast deal in place.
In the UK, as outlined above, the BBC is broadcasting the events, with free streaming available on BBC iPlayer.
Elsewhere across Europe, France Télévisions (France), RTBF (Belgium), RAI (Italy), RTVE (Spain) and NOS (Netherlands) are a few more of the public broadcasters who will be showing the championships. The full list is available online on page eight of the the UCI's technical guide for the event.
Coverage is geo-restricted, so if you're away from home right now, you'll need a VPN to get your usual coverage while abroad – more on that below.
How to watch the UCI Road World Championships while abroad
Most streaming platforms have geo-restrictions these days, which means they only work in certain countries. But being locked out of the races is a thing of the past thanks to a VPN.
A Virtual Private Network is a piece of internet security software that can alter your device's location, so you can unblock your usual streaming services, even when you're abroad.
Our expert colleagues at TechRadar rate NordVPN as the best on the market for its security, compatibility, streaming credentials and, right now, its value for money...
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– Should I use a VPN to watch cycling?
What to expect at the UCI Road World Championships
The 2025 UCI Road World Championships will mark the event's 98th edition, the first taking place in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1921.
This year, the event will be held in Africa for the first time in history. To mark the occasion, the organisers in Kigali have carved out some of the hardest, if not the hardest, routes ever seen at the championships.
The men's elite road race, for example, counts 5,475m of elevation over 267.5km, making it more gruelling than any Grand Tour stage or Monument this season. Tadej Pogačar's (Slovenia) title defence will be the final event of the week, closing the curtain on 28 September.
The events will begin with the elite individual time trials on 21 September, the courses for both of which include punchy climbs. The U23, junior, and mixed relay races against the clock will follow over the start of the week, before the road races take place.
Another historic first will be the inaugural U23 women's road race – the title was previously awarded to the highest-placed U23 rider in the elite race – which will be held on 25 September.
The elite women's road race will come on 27 September, the penultimate event of the championships, and will take place without the defending champion, Lotte Kopecky (Belgium), who has opted to skip the event.
UCI Road World Championships 2025 event schedule
Date | Event | Start and finish times (BST) |
|---|---|---|
21 September | Elite women's individual time trial | 9:10-11:55 |
21 September | Elite men's individual time trial | 12:45-15:50 |
22 September | U23 women's individual time trial | 9:35-11:45 |
22 September | U23 men's individual time trial | 12:35-15:30 |
23 September | Junior women's individual time trial | 9:45-11:45 |
23 September | Junior men's individual time trial | 13:00-15:30 |
24 September | Team time trial mixed relay | 11:30-16:00 |
25 September | U23 women's road race | 12:05-15:30 |
26 September | Junior men's road race | 7:00-10:15 |
26 September | U23 men's road race | 11:00-15:25 |
27 September | Junior women's road race | 7:20-9:40 |
27 September | Elite women's road race | 11:05-15:45 |
28 September | Elite men's road race | 8:45-15:45 |
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