Tadej Pogacar has successfully defended his world champion title. And how. The Slovenian accelerated more than a hundred kilometers from the finish on Mount Kigali, initially accompanied by his UAE teammate Isaac Del Toro, but launched a renowned and above all successful solo attack 66 kilometers from the finish. Remco Evenepoel claimed the silver medal after an eventful day – including two bike changes.
After six individual time trials, the Mixed Relay, and five road races, it was time for the sporting climax of the Cycling World Championships in Rwanda: the elite men's road race. This World Championship also took place in and around Kigali, the capital of Rwanda. What immediately stood out about the course was the enormous amount of elevation gain. The total route of 267.5 kilometers included no less than 5,475 meters of elevation.
The majority of the World Championships in Rwanda was held on the now well-known local circuit of 15.1 kilometers in Kigali, featuring repeated climbs over the Côte de Kigali Golf (800 meters at 8.1%) and the cobbled Côte de Kimihurura (1.3 kilometers at 6.3%), both decisive sections. But about halfway through the race – after nine laps and 134 kilometers – the riders temporarily left this circuit for an interesting interlude.
There awaited a one-time, slightly longer loop of 42.5 kilometers, including the Côte de Péage (1.8 km at 5.9%), the potentially crucial Mount Kigali (5.9 km at 6.9%), and the Wall of Kigali (400 meters at 11%). On the slopes of Mount Kigali, the race could explode for the first time.
Huising in the breakaway, big names show themselves immediately
The first attack of the day came from Grenada's national champion: Red Walters. The 26-year-old rider immediately opened a gap of about ten seconds, but his escape attempt was short-lived. However, his attack sparked a nervous opening phase, with repeated counterattacks. World Championship debutant Menno Huising saw his chance to slip away and was joined by Marius Mayrhofer (Germany), Anders Foldager (Denmark), Ivo Oliveira (Portugal), Fabio Christen (Switzerland), and – after a successful bridge – Julien Bernard (France).
These six strong riders managed to build a nice advantage: the gap to the peloton increased to nearly two minutes. Was the traditional early World Championship breakaway out of sight then? No, because many nations were not satisfied with this race situation. The French featured prominently. Team coach Voeckler even sent Julian Alaphilippe on the attack, but the two-time world champion had to pay the price almost immediately and lost contact.
Calm returns, heavy crash involving Van Wilder
Alaphilippe’s role was therefore short-lived, but the big names kept stirring up the action. Anticipation was key – even favorite Isaac Del Toro couldn’t restrain himself – but breaking away remained a challenge. To bring order to the chaos, Belgium and Slovenia decided to take control of the race. Successfully so, as calm returned to the peloton. The lead of the now seven escapees (Spanish counterattacker Raul García Pierna had joined in the meantime) once again grew towards three minutes.
But this was only brief, because just over 220 kilometers in, the peloton was shaken by a heavy crash on a fast descending section. Several riders – with Ilan Van Wilder and Marc Soler as the biggest victims – could not avoid the crash and had to abandon. For the Belgian team, Van Wilder’s crash was a big blow. After his surprising bronze medal in the World Championship time trial, he was one of the key domestiques for top favorite Evenepoel.
Without Van Wilder, the Belgian squad – with an indefatigable Florian Vermeersch as the steady workhorse – continued to dictate the chase for the breakaway. In this interim phase, the anticipated spectacle failed to materialize, although top favorites Pogacar and Evenepoel did briefly stop for a bathroom break but rejoined without much trouble. Meanwhile, the breakaway stubbornly tackled the remaining kilometers towards the one-time longer loop with Mount Kigali and the Wall of Kigali.
UAE leads the race; Evenepoel can’t follow
Foldager, Bernard and Oliveira – the remaining breakaway riders as Huising had been dropped and caught – started the almost six-kilometer Mount Kigali with a decent gap. Still, regrouping seemed a matter of time, as the peloton had considerably thinned out and was full throttle. Led by Domen Novak, the first real selection was made, although the favorites kept their cards close to their chests.
🚴🌈 | The race is on! Tadej Pogacar accelerates, Remco Evenepoel can’t keep up… Pogacar leads, together with his teammates Juan Ayuso and Isaac Del Toro. But today they are obviously rivals! #Kigali2025
📺 Stream the race on HBO Max pic.twitter.com/Gu54djfBeF
— Eurosport Nederland (@Eurosport_NL) September 28, 2025
The expected fireworks on Mount Kigali did not happen for a long time, but just before the summit, Pogacar accelerated. The Slovenian’s move was initially matched quickly by Evenepoel, but the Belgian soon began to lose ground and had to let one rider after another go. Evenepoel crossed the top of Mount Kigali with a substantial deficit, while Pogacar only had to endure the company of his (for now) UAE Emirates XRG teammate Juan Ayuso.
Pogacar and Del Toro break away, Evenepoel changes bikes twice(!)
The Slovenian top favorite and the Spaniard were later joined by a third UAE rider: Isaac Del Toro bridged up. The Mexican had clearly paced himself well, as he attacked on the steep sections of the subsequent Wall of Kigali. Pogacar latched on, but Ayuso suddenly hit the wall. The Spaniard was completely shelled on the cobbles and was swallowed up at the summit by a chasing group including Ben Healy, Richard Carapaz, Marc Hirschi, and Cian Uijtdebroeks.
🚴🌈 | Chaos on the Wall of Kigali! Tadej Pogacar and Isaac Del Toro power to the top, Juan Ayuso has to let them go. Bauke Mollema and Cian Uijtdebroeks still well positioned near the front! #Kigali2025
📺 Stream the race on HBO Max pic.twitter.com/fTyFYCkFrl
— Eurosport Nederland (@Eurosport_NL) September 28, 2025
And Evenepoel? At 95 kilometers from the finish, he was already trailing by a minute in a third group that included fellow Belgian Quinten Hermans, who still tried to shake things up for his team leader. Thanks to Hermans, Evenepoel managed to join the first chasing group, but on the cobbles of the Côte de Kimihurura (1.3 km at 6.3%), disaster struck again. It appeared to be another mechanical issue. A frustrated Evenepoel tried to fix it by pounding on his handlebars but had to change bikes once more.
Déjà vu for Pogacar, Evenepoel finds second wind
This time the bike change was agonizingly slow, causing Evenepoel’s deficit to grow steadily. For a moment, he seemed ready to throw in the towel, but then the Belgian decided to get moving again. Evenepoel rediscovered his second wind, closed the gap to the third and then second chasing groups, and on the Côte de Kimihurura he actually chased solo Pogacar, who had left the exhausted Del Toro behind. So Pogacar faced the daunting task of successfully completing a long solo, just as he did last year at the World Championships in Zurich.
For the Slovenian, it was crucial to pace himself properly, as the advantage over the first chasers Evenepoel, Mattias Skjelmose, Tom Pidcock, Jai Hindley, and Ben Healy was still only about a minute. In other words, Pogacar could not count his victory yet, but Evenepoel’s group – despite their numerical advantage – could not close the gap at all. The revived Evenepoel was not willing to accept Slovenian supremacy and pulled out all the stops, which decimated the chasing group.
Dominant Pogacar with another memorable solo
Eventually, Hindley and Pidcock dropped off as things got too fast, leaving just three chasers: Evenepoel, Skjelmose, and Healy. These three strong riders cooperated well, but the Slovenian bird had flown. The unleashed Pogacar clearly had more left in the tank and kept extending his lead in the last thirty kilometers. Entering the final local lap, the gap had grown to a minute and a half. This advantage would not be relinquished by the superior Pogacar.
Pogacar thus successfully and memorably defended his world championship title. He joined an elite group including Georges Ronsse (1928 and 1929), Rik Van Steenbergen (1956 and 1957), Rik Van Looy (1960 and 1961), Gianni Bugno (1991 and 1992), Paolo Bettini (2006 and 2007), and Julian Alaphilippe (2020 and 2021). These riders all won two consecutive World Championship road races in the past.
After Pogacar’s glorious arrival, it was a while before Evenepoel came in, but the Belgian fought back after a tumultuous day and from what seemed a lost position to claim the silver medal. The battle for bronze between Healy and Skjelmose was won by Healy, the Irishman. Healy rode away from his Danish companion on the final ascent of Côte de Kigali Golf and was able to join Pogacar and Evenepoel on the podium.
🚴🌈 | Pogacar keeps impressing. He completed a 66-km solo and an even longer attack successfully to become world champion for the second time in a row! 🙌🇸🇮 #Kigali2025
📺 Stream the race on HBO Max pic.twitter.com/f0DPLDRlHt
— Eurosport Nederland (@Eurosport_NL) September 28, 2025
The early break with Menno Huising – photo: Cor Vos
Florian Vermeersch took charge of the first half of the race – photo: Cor Vos
Del Toro looks back, Pogacar follows on the Wall of Kigali – photo: Cor Vos
Nothing could stop Pogacar – photo: Cor Vos
Remco Evenepoel leaves Rwanda with a gold and silver World Championship medal – photo: Cor Vos
UCI World Championship Kigali| Rank | Rider | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 06:21:20 | |
| 2 | + 01:28 | |
| 3 | + 02:16 | |
| 4 | + 02:53 | |
| 5 | + 06:41 | |
| 6 | + 06:47 | |
| 7 | " | |
| 8 | " | |
| 9 | + 07:06 | |
| 10 | + 09:05 |
