Two wheels

Cycling World Championships in Rwanda: It will be another Pogacar-Evenepoel challenge. In the under-23 gold for Italian Finn

A tough and selective course in Rwanda. Italy, led by Ciccone, hopes to impress again after the success of the 18-year-old Ligurian rider

by Dario Ceccarelli

26 September 2025

4' min read

That the world is changing faster and faster, and not only the world of cycling, can be seen from this unusual World Cup being held in Rwanda, an African country that not so long ago (1994) was the scene of one of the bloodiest genocides in the history of mankind, which cost the lives of almost a million people.

Today's Rwanda, landlocked and no bigger than Lombardy, has however changed in recent years. Like many African nations, albeit with a thousand contradictions and an authoritarian government (President Paul Kagame has been in office since 2000!), it is a rapidly developing republic, which attracts investment thanks also to its huge mineral wealth, which a few years ago was the casus belli of an attack on Congo, an inconvenient neighbour in which a Rwandan minority also lives, whose protection was used as a pretext to unleash the aggression.

Don't be alarmed, we are not going to do an in-depth historical study on emerging African countries. Besides, with the air in the West, we are not the ones best suited to give unsolicited lectures to those who, with difficulty, are trying to emerge from underdevelopment.

Bringing in the World Cup of a globalised sport like cycling is an obvious marketing operation - supported not gratis et amore dei also by the UCI - to make itself better known in the world (some 300 million live TV coverage is expected) and possibly give a further boost to two wheels, a means of transport that is not very widespread but is successfully practised by many local riders despite the fact that Rwanda is called 'the country of a thousand hills'. Here, in short, between one rain and another, you go up and down like a rollercoaster.

EPA/KIM LUDBROOK

A challenging track

Inevitably, therefore, the route of the pro World Championships (scheduled for this Sunday) will also be one of the toughest ever with 267.5 kilometres and 5475 metres of elevation gain. Scary numbers on a course that includes the tough climbs of Mount Kigali and Pur de Kigali.

A tough and selective World Championships, therefore. It has not only kept champions such as the Dane Vingegaard (winner of the Vuelta), the Dutchman Van der Poel and the Belgian Van Aert at bay, but also inevitably narrows down the shortlist of favourites to a select few, two of whom need no great introduction.

The first is the cannibal of modern cycling, that Tadej Pogacar, who after conquering the Tour in July now wants to defend his world champion's jersey in Rwanda. Second is the Belgian Remco Evenepoel, triumphant winner of last Sunday's time trial after catching up with and overtaking Pogacar himself, who finished 'only' fourth in this race.

A nice snub, however, for Tadej, who, having processed this unexpected wound to his pride, responds in his own words: 'This time everything will be different, it's a different story. This World Cup is something historic, never seen before. I feel it, I am ready. I also got used to the altitude. Then I came here for the road test, and I know that my Slovenia is one of the strongest teams'.

Pogacar is right: his is a great team with Roglic, Mohoric and his UAE Emirates teammate Novak.

A Slovenia-Belgium challenge?

In the Belgian house, Remco Evenepoel will captain the line-up, supported by the likes of Campenaerts, Vervaeke, Vermeersch, Hermans, Meurisse, Van Wilder and Uijtdebroeks. A fine group that is likely to make this African world championships an intriguing derby between Slovenia and Belgium with some possible spoilers lurking like Australian Jay Vine, Swiss Stefan Kung, Spaniard Juan Ayuso, Mexican Isaac del Toro and Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz, always at ease when going uphill.

And the Azzurri? Let's say there is a little more hope than in the past. It's been a long time since 2008 (Alessandro Ballan's victory in Varese) that we haven't touched the ball at the World Championships, after years in which our cycling had been one of the beacons with the feats of Paolo Bettini (double in 2026 and 2007), Mario Cipollini (2002), and so on, up to the historic successes of Gianni Bugno in 1991 (Stuttgart) and 1992 in Benidorm. It was a different kind of cycling, much less globalised, with coaches such as Franco Ballerini and Alfredo Martini, in which Italy also laid down the law in the Grand Tours and road tests.

This time new coach Marco Villa presents a fairly competitive line-up led by Giulio Ciccone, the Abruzzo climber who has just come back from a painful Vuelta after winning the San Sebastian classic in July. Ciccone, 30 years old and also second at the last Liège, is not among the super bigs, but in such a selective circuit he can have his say and even aspire to a place on the podium.

"It will be a test of survival, but we Azzurri can amaze," says Giulio with that hint of ribaldry that doesn't hurt.

Finn triumphs in the Under-23s, first gold for Italy

While waiting for some good news, Italy consoles itself - in addition to Trentino being awarded the 2031 World Championships - with the victory of Italian Lorenzo Finn in the under-23 road race. The 18-year-old Ligurian cyclist, by the way the youngest in the race, became world champion for the second time in a row after his success a year ago among the juniors. Finn imposed himself in solitary victory after having detached at the last passage on the Kigali Golf climb the Swiss Jan Huber, silver at 31" from the Genoese rider. Bronze went to Austrian Marco Schrettl. "Finn will be our future, he is a serious, humble athlete. I am confident that Finn will be a protagonist at the World Championships in Trentino in 2031 but, before that, also at the Olympics in 2028. We have a good group and he will be a stimulus to all the others,' Federciclismo president Cordiano Dagnoni commented to RAI microphones.