“It’s a really nice course for me” – Ben Healy looking to cap off standout 2025 with Rainbow Jersey win in Kigali

Ben Healy has never been shy about taking races on with full commitment, and as the peloton prepares for one of the most demanding World Championship road race courses in recent memory, the Irishman believes Kigali might just be built to his strengths.

Speaking ahead of Sunday’s showdown, Healy admitted the course profile excites him. “It’s a super hard, super attritional course … some steep climbs in there as well. I just think it’s a really nice course for me,” he told Cycling Pro Net. With over 5,000 metres of climbing crammed into a circuit raced at altitude, the test is as punishing mentally as it is physically — precisely the sort of terrain in which Healy has thrived this year.

The 2025 season has been a breakthrough for Healy, headlined by a sensational Tour de France. He lit up the race with a trademark long-range attack to win stage six, then went on to wear the maillot jaune for several days after seizing the lead in stage ten. His willingness to animate the Tour and his relentless aggression earned him the coveted Super-Combativity Prize, while a ninth-place overall finish underlined just how far he has come as a rider capable of shaping three-week races.

World Championship road races are often decided by who has most left in the tank after six hours of attrition, but the Kigali circuit raises the stakes even further. At close to 1,850 metres above sea level, the repeated climbs will leave little hiding place. The brutal combination of gradient and altitude is expected to punish any rider who misjudges their effort.

That is something Healy is acutely aware of. “With the altitude and the repetition of the climbs, it’s going to be a really tough race,” he said. “If you spend too much too early, for sure you’ll pay for it at the end.” It is a typically pragmatic assessment from a rider who has built his reputation on knowing when to commit and when to hold back — a skill that has turned bold breakaways into famous victories.

Ireland’s wait for a men’s elite road race World Champion stretches back decades, but in Kigali Healy has the chance to etch his name alongside the sport’s greatest. His climbing legs, resilience, and nose for opportunity make him an outsider worth watching, particularly if the favourites hesitate or mark each other too heavily.

For Healy, 2025 has already been a landmark campaign. Yet standing on the podium in Kigali with the Rainbow Jersey across his shoulders would transform it from memorable to unforgettable. And in his own words, on a course he believes is “really nice” for him, the opportunity is there to seize.