The Kigali 2025 World Championships started for Tadej Pogacar in the hardest possible way. The Slovenian participated in the Elite Men's Time Trial where he was beaten by Remco Evenepoel comfortably, overtaken by the Belgian and even left out of the podium in the event. This opens up the possibilities for the road race, and we take a look at the men who could come the closest to matching the Slovenian.
Pogacar will defend the title he won last year at the World Championships in Zurich. On that day, the UAE Team Emirates XRG rider was unrivaled. He attacked with 100 kilometers to go to win his first rainbow jersey in one of the greatest displays in cycling history. Will he be able to repeat something similar in Kigali? Of course, he won't have it easy against a number of very high-level rivals.
Beyond the course, which will be a challenge for any cyclist who takes the start (267.5 kilometers with more than 5,000 meters of accumulated elevation gain), Tadej Pogacar will have to face riders like Evenepoel himself, Isaac del Toro, Juan Ayuso, Tom Pidcock, Oscar Onley, Richard Carapaz, Ben Healy, Giulio Cicconne...
As can be seen, the race looks set to be one of the most competitive of recent editions of the UCI World Cycling Championships. For Tadej Pogacar, big favorite, who will be the 5 main rivals to beat?
1. Remco Evenepoel
After his performance in the time-trial race and his build-up, it is impossible not to consider Remco Evenepoel as Tadej Pogacar's main rival. The road race will be different, but with the legs shown last Sunday, the soon-to-be Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe star has only the goal of gold in mind.
In addition, it is worth noting that Belgium will bring a truly great team of domesitques riders for Evenepoel. Ilan Van Wilder (bronze in the World Time Trial), Cian Uijtdebroeks, Victor Campenaerts, Florian Vermeersch, Xandro Meurisse and Quinten Hermans will support their leader at all times.
Remco Evenepoel will be Pogacar's main rival in the Kigali Road World Cup
2. Isaac del Toro
His teammate at UAE Team Emirates - XRG, and now rival for a day. Isaac del Toro will arrive at the World Championship in Kigali as one of the best riders of the season. At only 21 years old, the Mexican has already won 13 times in 2025. He has 4 wins in his last 6 races, plus a 5th place in his first World Time Trial. A lot of eyes on a Del Toro who is undoubtedly a great candidate to finish on the podium, and why not try to beat Tadej Pogacar on a course that also favors him.
3. Primoz Roglic
He is his compatriot and will also compete for Slovenia, yes, but Primoz Roglic has made it very clear that he wants to win the World Championships. His goal will not be to help Tadej Pogacar, but to fight for the gold medal potentially. And that's exactly what he means. Obviously, if the situation calls for it, both riders will help each other as much as possible. But if Roglic sees that he is capable of winning the gold medal, he won't give an inch to his teammate.
4. Juan Ayuso
The most interesting opponent for spectators to see competing against Tadej Pogacar, for sure. Juan Ayuso faces the World Championships in Kigali after his controversial departure from UAE Team Emirates XRG. It has been constantly said that his relationship with the Slovenian has never been the best of all, and it worsened after what happened at the 2024 Tour de France. With tensions emerging, the problems did not stop happening until it was decided to separate the paths of rider and team.
Ayuso will be the leader of the Spanish National Team for the World Cup, confirmed by Alejandro Valverde. In the Vuelta a España he showed a great form when he wanted, winning two stages and supporting João Almeida. The rider from Jávea will also have a great team of domestiques formed by Marc Soler, Iván Romeo, Roger Adrià, Raúl García Pierna, Abel Balderstone, Carlos Verona and Carlos Canal.
5. Tom Pidcock
Another great specialist in this type of course. Tom Pidcock will arrive at the World Championships in Kigali as the "last" of Tadej Pogacar's main rivals in fantastic form. The Briton finished on the podium at the Vuelta a España 2025, behind only Jonas Vingegaard and Joao Almeida. Here, in the battle for the rainbow jersey, he will be joined by teammate Oscar Onley, another of the race's big stars. Can they give the UK a medal and make life difficult for Pogacar?
Although these 5 riders mentioned above seem to be the strongest of the star list, that doesn't mean that there aren't many more medal contenders: Ben Healy, Quinn Simmons, Richard Carapaz, Giulio Ciccone, Thymen Arensman, Paul Seixas, Mattias Skjelmose, Giulio Pellizzari, Marc Hirschi, Jai Hindley, Julian Alaphilippe.... All of them will be perfectly capable of sneaking into one of the 3 podium places at the Kigali 2025 World Championships.
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Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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- I get the point totally. We live in the snowflake society where some riders forget they are getting paid to ride and get results. When they have a few issues they try to look outside of the real issue instead of themselves. It odd so many of the team are making no complaints and getting on with their job. If you do not like what you do find another job simples. Tough love as my mum would say.paultryan200207-11-2026
- many people advise him to grow slowly and rather do giro and/or vuelta instead of tdf. but i can totally understand that he is not satisfied with taking over once pogi declines, but instead beat him in his prime. so if he goes for tdf again, i‘m all for it. let‘s hope that pogi recovers soon!Ketterechts07-11-2026
- So gracious to offer something no-one would be prepared to pay for. The Giro is not the Tour and doesn’t command the same interest or attract the same “elite” (those willing to pay to be a part of something they consider has ego boosting potential). Roadside viewing will always largely remain free for everyone outside circuits. Introduction of a symbolic entrance to mountain climbs is worthy of exploration. Asking 1-2€ isn’t going to repulse real fans (most will spend 50-100€ on their outing that day all things included) but will prevent a portion of the total knobhead thrillseekers who will join in any large gathering as long as it’s free, just because they’re attracted to crowds, without which it it difficult for them to work up their anti-social behaviour.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- How is radio going to help when someone went over a cliff or bridge or off the roadside into a forest unnoticed and is laying there unconscious?Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Yep, next we’ll be accusing F1 drivers of avoiding Le Mans.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- But on what is that opinion based? Are you holding him to a different standard than others? Are you saying he should do learn to like something he doesn’t Are you saying he hasn’t achieved enough Are you saying he pretends to be better than his results? It’s actually a really strange opinion to oust if you consider it objectively or rationally. Try applying it to others or yourself by asking if not EVERYONE should then be doing more? Nobody in athletics or swimming gets criticism for not expanding their repertoire when a rival or someone else does. In fact, most who move to another event get accused of running from their rival. Opinions are boring, the reasons behind them are what count.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- for a medical chief to throw things like is just bad. There are already radios which were banned for spectacle. allow radios. Gps trackers are not a complete solutionabstractengineer07-11-2026
- Yeah man...PogiSloFans07-11-2026
- any rider less than 25 whether they are really ready for the position of leadership of GT is probably not the case. I think Pogi himself suffered when he was defeated by Jonas in the TDF twice. But that would be the team's job to ensure support so that they can bounce back. It requires a team and time to get back up and win after getting knocked down.abstractengineer07-11-2026
- I'm very glad he got the big late Quickstep Vuelta win and I hope he has a few left for Euskaltel-Euskadi.flyer07-11-2026
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