The 2025 Road World Championships in Rwanda will be the first ever held in Africa and one of the hardest races in rainbow jersey history, with the elite men climbing 5,475 metres of elevation during their 267.5km race.
The race routes were officially unveiled during the 2024 Road World Championships in Zürich on Thursday. The races will be held in the Rwanda’s capital Kigali between September 21-28, 2025.
Rwanda is known as the ‘Land of a Thousand Hills’ and Kigali sits at an altitude of 1850 metres, adding a further difficulty to the racing.
“The high altitude and the climbs will challenge the riders to push their limits. A place in the history books is at stake,” organisers said.
The time trials are scheduled from Sunday to Wednesday. The elite men will cover 680 metres of altitude during their 40.6km race, while the elite women will climb 460 metres in just over 31.2km.
The road races will be held between Thursday and Sunday with a under-23 women’s road race held separately from the elite women’s race for the first time.
The road races will be held on a 15.1km circuit which includes two short climbs and continuous rolling and testing roads. The men will cover 15 laps plus an extra mid-race 42.5km extension circuit to climb the infamous Mur du Kigal, the cobbled climb that kicks up at 11%.
The elite women’s race will cover 11 laps of the Kigali circuit for a distance of 164.6km and an elevation of 3,350 metres but they will not cover the Mur du Kigali.
“Bringing the World Cycling Championships to the African continent has been my vision for many years,” UCI President David Lappartient said.
“In a year’s time, this will become a reality. I am delighted that this historic event will take place in Rwanda, which is already known for the beautiful Tour of Rwanda.
“Kigali and the entire country have a rich cycling culture, which will now be shared with the world. I can’t wait to welcome the cycling family to what will be a milestone in the development and globalisation of our sport.”
Get unlimited access to all of our coverage of the 2024 UCI Road World Championships – including breaking news and analysis reported by our journalists on the ground from the junior, under-23, and elite time trials and road races as it happens and more. Find out more.
