UCI Road World Championships 2025: Results, medal table, route information and the riders who featured at the Rwanda Worlds

Swiss Marlen Reusser took the first title of the champsionships in the Elite Women's individual time trial, before Remco Evenepoel (Belgium) won the men's title in sensational fashion as he caught Tadej Pogačar for two-and-half-minutes in the closing stages of the TT.

The senior events were followed by the men's and women's under-23 and junior time trials before the Mixed Team Time Trial, and a win for Australia, concluded the races against the clock. The road racing began on Thursday with the first ever women's under-23 road race at the world championships. France took the honours here with Célia Gery triumphing at the end of an attritional race. Road racing continues through to the weekend and the elite women on Saturday, 27 September, and the elite men on Sunday, 28 September.

This is the 98th edition of the UCI Road Worlds and while the time trials have so far gone the way of the specialists, the road races suit the climbers. The men's and women's road races feature more climbing than ever before in The Land of a Thousand Hills. The pelotons both tackle circuitous routes with 5,475m and 3,350m of climbing respectively.

Many prominent riders did not travel to Rwanda to compete, including 2023 World Champion Mathieu van der Poel and double world champion Lotte Kopecky. Van der Poel focused on the recent MTB Worlds in Crans Montana, Switzerland, where he failed to land the title that continues to elude him, finishing 29th. Kopecky meanwhile had cited a lack of form before injuring her back in a crash at the Tour de l'Ardèche.

Safety concerns about the event were raised earlier in the year as armed conflict is taking place on Rwanda's border with the Democratic Republic of Congo, however when questioned a Rwandan spokesperson said 'everything was fine', and the conflict has not spilled into Rwanda, despite human rights groups confirming the government's involvement.

Scroll down to read more about the main contenders and routes they'll be riding this year. Read our guide on how to watch the Worlds here. If you want to find out more about what the Worlds actually are, read our FAQ guide. Also read our full guide to the TT contenders. There are no para-cycling events this year, this having already taken place in Ronse, Belgium.

UCI Road World Championships: Results

2025 UCI Road World Championships: Final medal table

Contenders: Men's and women's elite road races

If you thought Zürich’s World Championships road race was hilly last year, think again. As Africa hosts the event for the first time, Kigali brings an incredibly climb-heavy course to the table. With 5,475m of elevation over 267.5km in the elite men’s, it is the hilliest road race since Sallanches in 1980, and the only time over 5,000m of climbing has been tackled in the 21st century. Think less typical road race, and more Giro d’Italia epic mountain day.

Similarly, the elite women’s race officially has 3,350m of elevation, the most of any Worlds road race in the professional era.

All of this will be done at altitude, too, with Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, 1,567 metres above sea level, higher than the capital of Andorra, where many pro cyclists live. It is a World Championships made for climbers.

The road races do not leave the capital, which is likely to do with the logistics of taking the world’s best riders to a developing country; while the Tour du Rwanda makes a habit of travelling around, the best roads, relaid for such an occasion, are in Kigali.

>>> Startlist: Men's Elite road race

>>> Startlist: Women's Elite road race

Tadej Pogačar
Slovenia | 26
The defending champion will start as favourite, as he does for any race he starts. The Slovenian has been as close to ubeatable this year as any rider has ever been with seemingly comfortable victories at the Tour de France, Tour of Flanders, Liege-Bastogne-Liege and Strade Bianche. He won all three stage races he started this year, and hasn't finished worse than third in any of the one-day events. The only question mark hanging over him is his motivation. He finished the Tour looking and sounding exhausted, and even questioned how long he would continue racing.

Ben Healy
Ireland | 25
If ever there was a race that suits the Irishman's style of road racing, it's the world championships. Run with smaller teams there is less control in the bunch, meaning riders have to race more on instinct; sniffing out the right move, at the right time, and then riding to their advantages. Although diminutive Healy can't climb with the likes of Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard, he excels on tougher routes as he knows how to best use his abilities. He made the final selection of riders chasing Pogačar in Zurich last year but lacked the power in the finale. But now, with another year's racing in his legs, and a breakthrough ride at the Tour de France, he'll be in a much better position after six hours of riding.

Remco Evenepoel
Belgium | 25
After winner his this third TT world title on in a row, Evenepoel has proven his form and will likely lead the Belgium team in the road race in the absence of Wout van Aert. He may not climb as well as Pogačar, but catching and passing the Slovenian, on a climb, in the time trial will give him the belief that he can retake the crown he won at the 2022 worlds in Wollongong, Australia. A solo attack from far out would likely be his favoured tactic.

Others to watch

Tom Pidcock is likely to lead the British team in Rwanda, fresh from his first GC bid at a Grand Tour. Three stage wins through the spring and early summer isn't the level we usually expect of the 26-year-old, but his Vuelta challenge represents a significant step up for him. If he can recover well, and hold his form, he should be in the mix. He'll be supported by Oscar Onley, who, while having no one-day race results behind him, emerged as one of the best climbers in the world at the Tour de France. The Italian men's team will likely be led by Giulio Ciccone as the Lidl-Trek rider has excelled in the hilly one-day classics this year. France are leaving it late to name their team, but will likely call on Tour hero Kevin Vauquelin and climber Lenny Martinez. Don't rule out Julian Alaphilippe either. He may not be at the level he was some time ago, but his win at the GP de Québec last week along with his experience makes him a rider to watch, especially in a less controlled race.

Demi Vollering
Netherlands | 28
UCI rank: 22025
wins: 9
CW Rating 5/5
Throughout the first half of the year, Demi Vollering was the rider to beat, racking up wins at stage race after stage race while also performing in the one-day classics. A win at Strade Bianche Donne (a solid measure of ability on Kigali’s parcours) and was in the top four at Omloop Nieuwsblad, Milan-San Remo, Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. She is therefore the standout favourite for the race. But this is no foregone conlusion. Vollering hasn’t won a race since early June and the Volta a Catalunya Femenina. Newly minted TT world champ Marlen Reusser narrowly beat her at the Tour de Suisse, then Pauline Ferrand Prevot comprehensively beat her at the Tour de France Femmes, Vollering’s main aim of the season. Vollering has all the attributes to win in Rwanda, if she doesn’t, the world champs risk becoming something of a bogey race for her - she is yet to win a senior world title. If ever there was a course to suit her, it’s this one.

Pauline Ferrand-Prévot
France | 33
UCI rank: 12
2025 wins: 4
CW Rating 5/5
Don’t let the low win count or lowly UCI ranking fool you; the Frenchwoman's return to road racing in 2025 has been nothing short of spectacular. With years of experience behind her, and several years racing mountain bikes in which a rider spends more time training and focusing on fewer races, Ferrand Prevot came back to the road scene with very specific targets. And nailed them. An early win at Paris-Roubaix was a good start although as the race can be something of a lottery, was not taken as a sign of things to come. But then, at the Tour de France Femmes she was unstoppable. Biding her time until the race hit the mountains and making her move in a pre planned attack that worked wonders. The 2014 road world champion knows how to focus, and knows how to win world titles - she has 15 of them under her belt.

Kim Le Court-Pinaar
Mauritius | 29
UCI rank: 13
2025 wins: 5
CW Rating ⅘
2025 has been a breakthrough year for the Mauritian rider with a win and spell in the yellow jersey at the Tour de France Femmes and victory at Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Out of the nine one-day races she’s completed this year, she has only finished outside the top ten in two of them. While not a pure climber, her results at the Ardennes classics prove she’s a contender.

Others to watch

Winning the time trial in decisive fashion means Marlen Reusser (Switzerland) will be a marked woman. Not known for her climbing, and with few one-day results in the last two seasons, Reusser has however triumphed at the Tour de Suisse Women and finished second at the Giro d’Italia women, two races not known for their flat profiles. If Pauline Ferrand-Prevot missfires, France’s leadership will likely switch to Cédrine Kerbaol, a young climber whose results suggest she’s on a path to bigger things. Part of the silver medal winning team in the Mixed Relay Team Time Trial, she’s clearly in good form. Gernany’s best bet comes in the shape of Liane Lippert. Solid if not spectacular in one-day races, she’s had two solid results in races earlier this month.

Road race routes

Our full guide to the elite men's and women's road race routes can be found on our website here.

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