There have almost been 100 UCI Road World Championships – this year will be the 98th – from the very first in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1921, to the present day.
However, after almost a century of unbroken history, this year’s Road Worlds in Kigali, Rwanda represents something brand new – the first to take place in Africa. It’s not the first Worlds organised by cycling’s governing body, the UCI, to take place on the continent, with the Mountain Bike Worlds taking place in South Africa in 2013, but it’s a huge moment.
Why Rwanda?
(Image credit: Getty Images)
As above, the location of the Road World Championships changes every year. Of the 97 editions held so far, 87 have been in cycling’s traditional heartland of Europe, with the most hosted by Italy – 14 times. The first time the event left Europe was in 1974, when it took place in Montréal, Canada, and the Worlds have also been to South America (Venezuela in 1977, Colombia in 1995), Asia (Japan in 1990, Qatar in 2016), and Australia.
Host cities and countries, and their national cycling federations, bid to host the Worlds, like other major sporting events, but some element of variation is sought in all of this. In 2025’s case, the UCI president, David Lappartient, made it part of his election manifesto to take Road Worlds to Africa. The UCI made 2025 the year, and bidding was open to just African federations.
Rwanda and Morocco submitted formal bids, and the former was announced the winner in 2021, which makes a lot of sense. Rwanda has a long history of cycling, is a country where the bicycle is often the main mode of transport, and is home to the Tour du Rwanda, a UCI 2.1 category race, which regularly attracts over a million fans. It might be the best attended Worlds ever.
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