The 2025 UCI Road World Championships will take place in Kigali, Rwanda, in the coming week, marking the first time cycling’s biggest one-day titles are contested on African soil.
Over eight days of racing, 13 rainbow jerseys will be awarded in time trials and road races for juniors, under-23 and elite riders. Unlike the pro calendar, which is contested in trade teams, the Worlds see riders don their national colours to chase the most prestigious prize in cycling. For the winners, the reward is the ultimate accolade. In addition to going into the record book as best-in-the-world, winners also earn the right to wear the rainbow jersey for a season and the rainbow armband as a mark of their world champion status for life.
Even so, the racing will be no less fierce, and with both defending champions absent, new names are guaranteed to be etched into cycling history. Our News Editor Adam Becket, North American Editor Anne-Marije Rook and Magazine Editor Simon Richardson take a stab at who they believe will be wearing the sport’s most iconic stripes next season — offering up their mind, heart and wild card picks.
Time Trials
(Image credit: Getty Images)
The elite women kick off proceedings on Sunday, September 21, in the individual time trial, with the male contestants following 50 minutes after the women’s race concludes.
All time trials races share the same basic route, which is a highly unusual one featuring significant climbing and, even, some cobbles.
Not one for the pure time trial specialists like Filippo Ganna or Ellen van Dijk, the women’s 31.2km (19.4-mile) race features 460 metres (1500’) of climbing, while the men’s race will climb 680 metres (2231’) in 40.6km (25.2 miles).
The women’s elite time trial champion will be…..
Anne-Marije Rook
With reigning Olympic and World time trial champion Grace Brown retired from elite racing, last year’s runner-ups Demi Vollering (Netherlands) and Chloé Dygert (USA) are the hot favourites for the rainbow jersey. As a Dutch national and your North American editor, I’m in a tricky spot. Who do I favour?
🧠 Despite the hilly course, it’s hard to bet against Dygert. Her race-start-to-podium-finish ratio is outrageous. She’s highly selective with her race calendar and ruthlessly efficient. When she shows up, it’s because she knows she can win. With two world titles already in her back pocket, I wouldn’t bet against her making it three.
❤️ I pick Marlen Reusser (Switzerland) for my heart pick because she’s had such a rollercoaster season and I’d like to see her end it on a high note. After winning the Tour de Suisse, her run at the Giro was strong stopped short by Elisa Longo Borghini. The Tour de France Femmes should have been her stage, but instead, she was sidelined with food poisoning. Having already stood on the Worlds podium three times, it’d be good to see her on the top step.
🃏 And then there’s Anna van der Breggen (Netherlands), the ultimate dark horse. Back in the peloton after a three-year retirement, we have yet to see her dominant form of old but her résumé in this discipline is hard to ignore: five Worlds medals (four silver, one gold) and two Olympic bronzes with some national and European championship titles to boot.
🧠There could be a new world champion in the women’s TT, although Chloé Dygert (USA) and Anna van der Breggen (Netherlands) will be trying to take back the rainbow jersey. On a hilly course in Kigali, however, it could go to someone like Demi Vollering (also from the Netherlands). Vollering hasn’t won a time trial since the Tour de France Femmes last year, but finished second in the Worlds last year, and is a solid performer in the race against the clock. I think she is the most likely to win, but that doesn’t mean she will.
❤️Great Britain’s Anna Henderson is well within touch of the podium, and could even win, given the technical nature of the course. She isn’t as famed a climber as Vollering or Van der Breggen, but she did win silver at the Paris Olympics last year, and this is her only goal at the Worlds, so she’ll be going all in.
🃏It seems odd to call Marlen Reusser a wildcard, considering the Swiss rider made her name as a TT specialist, but she has focused more on climbing this year. She will be among the favourites, but a win would also be huge for her, as it would be her first win at this level.
Simon Richardson
🧠Demi Vollering (Netherlands). Vollering might not be known for her time trialling results, but that’s only because her road results overshadow them. Second last year in Zurich came after two ITT wins throughout the season. The climbs on the course in Rwanda will favour her over a more pure TT rider like Marlen Reusser, and she’s always a safe bet.
❤️Chloe Dygert (USA). Dygert’s raw power is a pleasure to watch. When she’s at full fitness, she’s a joy to watch on the bike. Whether it’s on the track or the road. She still hasn’t cracked road racing. She didn’t grow up racing bikes, so she doesn’t know her way around the peloton as well as many Dutch or Belgian riders, so the TT is her time to shine.
🃏Anna Kiesenhofer (Austria). As the Olympic road race at the 2020 Olympic Games proved, Kiesenhofer is capable of upsetting the apple cart when races and events don’t follow the usual pattern. She doesn’t get many chances to do that in the WorldTour, but these worlds are a long way from Europe, and I just wonder if some out-of-the-ordinary results are on the way.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
The men’s elite time trial champion will be…..
🧠How could you not pick Remco Evenepoel of Belgium? The 25-year-old is the one with the aerodynamic skin, and he has won three WorldTour time trials this year. If you think this TT is too hilly for him, then you clearly haven’t seen him climb, as he is pretty good at this, too.
❤️My heart, however, says that this is going to be the year of Tadej Pogačar. The Slovenian is a level above everyone else, and he could storm to this time trial, although he was off Evenepoel’s pace at the Tour de France and Critérium du Dauphiné. Those were flatter, though, and Pogačar is the best at going up hills.
🃏I’d just love Stefan Küng to win. In an era of generational talents, the Swiss rider has come so close, finishing on the podium at the Worlds twice. He hasn’t won a time trial this year, so it would be a bit of a surprise.
Anne-Marije Rook
🧠680 metres of elevation over just 40.6km is seriously climby, rewarding riders who can sustain high power on long drags and repeat it over multiple ramps. On a profile like that, there’s no one better equipped than Tadej Pogačar (Slovenia). He’s on a level of his own this season, so unless he has an off day, it’s hard to imagine anyone outriding him here.
❤️My heart wants to see Remco Evenepoel (Belgium) win. Not just because this is his speciality or because he’s both the Olympic and defending world champion, but because the 25-year-old lived through so much drama this season. A crash in December derailed his winter, another crash in the run-up to the Tour left him racing with injuries, and then, under the weight of expectation, he cracked in the high mountains of the Tour de France and withdrew. He described that moment as one of the rawest and most vulnerable of his career. All the while, he wasn’t happy at Soudal–QuickStep and the rumour mill went into overdrive with transfer gossip. All that was finally settled in August, and he rebounded with a strong ride at the Tour of Britain. Still, it’d be nice to see him close out such a turbulent year on a high.
🃏This being such an atypical time trial, I’d be inclined to look at strong climbers who are just coming off a successful Vuelta. Someone like João Almeida (Portugal), with his diesel climbing engine, or Jay Vine (Australia) with his punch on steep ramps, could surprise with a podium if the favourites misfire.
Simon Richardson
🧠Remco Evenepoel (Belgium). Some of his best results have been when riding for his country, and the 25-year-old is a relatively safe bet for his third TT gold medal. Forgetting for a moment the mountain TT to Perygourde at the Tour, he has won all time trials he’s ridden this year. And you know he’ll have put the work in over the last few weeks.
❤️Thymen Arensmen (Netherlands). It’s hard to get away from the fact that the men’s TT is a two-horse race this year. So this pick goes to someone I’d like to see take third (with the chance of moving up should something go wrong for my other two picks). Arensmen’s rides, and post-ride reaction, at the Tour this year endeared him to many, and if you scroll back through his results, he has some TT pedigree.
🃏Tadej Pogačar (Slovenia). It seems odd selecting Pog as a wild card for any bike race, but as he’s going for the road race, the TT is a bonus for him. This makes me question whether or not he’s put much time in on his TT bike in the last two months. On form, he can, and has, beaten Evenepoel against the clock. When was the last time a rider did the double at the worlds?
Road Race
(Image credit: Getty Images)
This year’s 98th edition promises a brutal test of climbing ability, with the men’s and women’s road races packing in an unprecedented 5,475m (17,963’) and 3,350m (10,990’) of elevation, respectively, over a series of attritional circuits around Kigali.
The women’s elite road race champion will be…
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Anne-Marije Rook
🧠It’s hard to look past Pauline Ferrand-Prévot. On the big mountains in France earlier this summer, she looked simply untouchable. Her timing was impeccable and her climbing pace was unmatchable. She’s also a rider who knows how to rise to the occasion. The Française already holds 12 UCI elite World Championship titles across road, cyclocross, gravel and mountain bike disciplines, cementing her status as the most versatile rider of her generation. The other nations will have to employ some clever team tactics to stop her from claiming a 13th.
❤️Yet my heart would like to see a rider who has yet to earn a Worlds title win: Elisa Longo Borghini. The Italian showed superb form with her Giro performance, and the fact that illness robbed us of a true showdown at the Tour de France Femmes makes her story feel unfinished. Few riders fight harder in the decisive moments, and a rainbow jersey would be the ultimate reward for her grit and resilience.
🃏Demi Vollering (Netherlands) is hardly an outsider; she’s a downright race favourite. The Dutch have a prolific history at Worlds, and after the sting of a miss at the Tour de France Femmes, Vollering could be extra motivated to deliver here. She’s also got a killer team behind her in former multi-time world champions Anna van der Breggen and Marianne Vos, as well as Shirin van Anrooij and Pauliena Rooijakkers. The Dutch could well turn their collective strength into yet another set of rainbow bands.
🧠Now, it would be easy to give this to Demi Vollering (Netherlands), but why not go for the easy option? The Dutch are normally so good at the World Championships, and after the disappointment of missing out at the Tour de France Femmes again, why couldn’t the FDJ-SUEZ rider do better in Rwanda. She has the Classics pedigree, and a solid team behind her.
❤️Imagine the scenes if Kasia Niewiadoma won. After breaking her not-winning streak in incredible fashion last year at La Flèche Wallonne and then backing it up at the Tour, the Pole has been a bit quiet since then. Her 13th appearance at the Worlds could be lucky.
🃏My wildcard? Cédrine Kerbaol. The Frenchwoman has attacking panache, and is the kind of rider who could just get away, and make it stick. The circuits will be confusing, and without race radios, who knows what will happen. She’ll attack on a punchy climb, and solo to the finish.
Simon Richardson
🧠Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (France). Her two wins on the road this year prove that Ferrand-Prévot is the master of rising to the big occasion. Something she managed in MTB too, winning two Olympic titles in a discipline that requires more solitary training than a busy race calendar. The course should favour her, and her cross-discipline experience could mean she’s less far out of her comfort zone than others.
❤️Kim Le Court Pinaar (Mauritius). An African winner at an African Worlds would be quite special. And it’s not beyond the realm. If she can win Liège-Bastogne-Liège she can win on this course, if things go right for her.
🃏Cèdrine Kerbaol (France). The French climber has had a solid year, especially at the Tour de France Femmes, where she only finished outside of the top 20 on one stage. Fifth at the Classic Lorient at the end of August suggests her form hasn’t tailed off toward the end of the season.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
The men’s elite road race champion will be…
🧠Tadej Pogačar (Slovenia) will win the road race. Why wouldn’t he? Who’s going to beat him? You could say he’s only not won three races he was really trying to win this year: Paris-Roubaix, Milan-San Remo and the Amstel Gold Race. Everything else he has touched has turned to gold, from the Tour of Flanders to the Tour de France. He’s the best rider in the world.
❤️My heart says Pogačar will win too, but for the sake of this piece, why can’t Ben Healy of Ireland do it? He was in the form of his life at the Tour de France, and is the kind of Ardennes attacking rider that should do well in Kigali. It’s a lot of climbing, a lot of climbing, but why not?
🃏The wildcard is Toms Skujiņš of Latvia, who always seems to turn it on for the biggest of occasions. Maybe it’s the style of racing, maybe it’s the love for his country, but the 34-year-old finished in the top five at both the Worlds and the Olympics last year, and is a tough cookie. Look out for him.
Anne-Marije Rook
🧠Who else? Tadej Pogačar, of course. The Slovenian is the clear favourite. Fresh off another blistering Tour de France campaign, he’s shown again and again that he can dominate on long climbs and still pack a devastating sprint when it matters. On a course as attritional as Kigali, few riders can hope to match his combination of endurance, explosiveness and tactical sense. He’s the man to beat.
❤️I’m with Adam Becket on this one: everyone would love a Ben Healy win. The Irishman is known for his aggressive racing style and hail-mary attacks. When he goes, he goes all in, and the crowds love him for it. Healy has the climbing chops to get into the right move and the panache to take risks others won’t. A rainbow jersey for him would be one of those romantic cycling moments the sport lives for.
🃏For a wild card, I’m going with Juan Ayuso (Spain). Still only 21, the Spaniard already has a Vuelta podium to his name and the kind of climbing engine well-suited for this course. He may not yet have the palmarès of Pogačar or Evenepoel, but his ability to grind through long, selective days makes him a real threat if the favourites mark each other out. If he seizes the right moment, Ayuso could be one to watch.
Simon Richardson
🧠Tadej Pogačar (Slovenia). Is there anyone else? We’re at the stage now where it’s hard to see how anyone can beat him in a race he’s targeting. Especially over a tough route. The only thing that could stop him is the fact that everyone else in the race will be trying to beat him. Something that might be possible when freed of pro team loyalties.
❤️Oscar Onley (Great Britain). The fourth best climber in the world throughout July, only one of the three riders who outclimbed him across France is in Rwanda. The problem is, that’s Tadej Pogačar. Onley has zero one-day pedigree (he’s only 22), but the world champs in a far-flung place is the kind of race where strange things can happen.
🃏Mattias Skjelmose (Denmark). Just 44 days of racing this year, Skjelmose has had a solid end to the year since he abandoned the Tour de France on stage 14. He was in the mix in both one-day races in Canada earlier this month, and, most importantly, he is one of the few riders in the world who has gone up against Tadej Pogačar in a one-day race this year and beaten him.
Explore More
