The UCI Road World Championships officially got underway on Sunday in Rwanda, with Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel and Switzerland’s Marlen Reusser taking the time trial crowns in the men’s and women’s categories, respectively.
Five elite titles are up for grabs at this year’s event, but all eyes will be on world number one Tadej Pogačar – and whether or not he can defend his title – when the championships culminate with the Elite Men’s Road Race on September 28.
Evenepoel secures third victory
Proceedings opened on Sunday with the individual time trials, with Evenepoel securing his third-straight victory in the men’s category.
Battling it out over a hilly 40-kilometre course, the Belgian set a time of 49:46 that no one was able to top.
Australia’s Jay Vine claimed silver, while Evenepoel’s compatriot Ilan Van Wilder grabbed bronze.
“On a day like today, it doesn’t matter who it is [in front] – I just wanted to push as hard as possible from the first climb on and try and recover on the descents,” Evenepoel was quoted as saying by Cycling Weekly.
He entered the championships as one of the favourites, having already won Olympic golds in the time trial and the road race at the Paris Games in 2024.
On the other hand, it was a day to forget for Slovenia’s Pogačar, who finished fourth to miss out on the podium altogether.
He started the race two and a half minutes ahead of Evenepoel, but the Belgian overcame the gap just before the finish.
Pogacar said the result was “a hard one to swallow” while praising Evenepoel as someone who is “so good in this discipline”.
Yet, he also struck a hopeful tone for the competition ahead, saying: “Tomorrow is a new day.”
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Reusser stages comeback win
In the women’s time trial, Reusser displayed dominant form to outstrip her rivals and finish in 43:09 ahead of Netherlands’ Anna van der Breggen and Demi Vollering in second and third, respectively.
The route saw the cyclists ride 31.2km with 460 metres of climbing.
Reusser finished second in the time trial at the 2020 and 2021 Road World Championships and had to settle for bronze in 2022.
A burnout then forced her to abandon the race in 2023, and the misfortune continued in 2024 when she missed the championships in her home country due to the double blow of a crash and a Covid-19 infection.
The comeback queen appeared astonished over Sunday’s result in an interview with BBC Sports.
“I almost can’t believe it,” a delighted Reusser said.
“I know it’s real and it happened, but I’ve tried so many times and it didn’t work out and now I’ve made it.”
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First championships for Africa
This year’s event in Kigali marks the first time that cycling’s Road World Championships has taken place in Africa – a continent that boasts huge passion for cycling.
Riders in the junior, under-23, and elite categories will compete across 13 different events in a territory dubbed the ‘land of a thousand hills’.
Monday was set to feature the U23 individual time trial races, with the junior categories following on Tuesday and the team mixed relays on Wednesday.
Road races commence on Thursday and end on Sunday, when the men’s event will be held.
UCI president David Lappartient previously said uniting the “road cycling family in Africa” had always been his vision.
Meanwhile, Kimberly Coats, the chief executive of Team Africa Rising, expressed hope that the event would promote a “more consistent, long-term investment” in the sport, particularly from federations across the African continent.
The event being hosted in Africa is particularly special after Eritrea’s Biniam Girmay secured the green jersey at the Tour de France last year, becoming the first rider from the continent to do so.
His path was followed by Mauritius’ Kimberley Le Court Pienaar, who managed to wear the yellow jersey in the Tour de France Femmes this year – another first for Africa.
“It is bigger than me,” Le Court said in an interview before the championships opened.
“It is about showing that riders from small nations can be part of these historic moments.”
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