Preview, favourites, profile, route and predictions men's World Championships road race 2025 - Will Tadej Pogacar win or crack?

We preview the men's elite World Championships road race, taking place in Kigali. Here is the profile and the favourites for the race that will take place on the 28th September. It is expected to start at 09:45CET and finish at 16:45CET.

The course will be 267.5 kilometers long and take on 15 laps of a difficult circuit in the city of Kigali, but also a longer climb that won't be tackled in the previous races. In total there will be 6000 meters of climbing, making it an extremely hard day in any scenario and one of the races with the most climbing accumulate of the entire pro season.

The circuit will have 15.5 kilometers in length and feature the Côte de Kigali Gold which is 800 meters long at 8% and finishes with 6 kilometers to go. A small descent leads into the Còte de Kimihurura which is the main climb of the circuit.

This cobbled ascent is 1.3 kilometers long at 6.4% and ends with a mere 1 kilometer to go. The decisive attacks can happen. After 300 meters of rest, the final 700 meters are then uphill to the finish line at a gradient of over 5%, making it a very explosive punchy finale. The whole circuit takes place at around 1500 meters of altitude.

The riders tackle this circuit on 9 full laps and then move outside of it, to go on and climb Mont Kigali which has very steep gradients in its 6 kilometers of length. It averages almost 7% but it's a very inconsistent climb with very steep gradients specially towards its finale, ending with 104 kilometers to go. The distance to the finish does make it unlikely for it to play a decisive role.

Right after however the riders tackle the famous Mur de Kigali, the cobbled 300 meters at 15% where we may see some moves honestly as it's the most difficult point of the course. It ends with just under 100 kilometers to go.

The riders then enter the circuit once again and take on an extra 7 laps where a lot can happen and many riders are likely to explode against such a hard race and weather conditions.

Some odd weather conditions but it's important to remember the riders are far from their regular training and racing weather of Europe. Here it's humid, it's hot and the altitude will be felt by some quite a lot. Very specific conditions which many may struggle with and open pandora's box for surprises on the day. Temperatures will go to almost 30 degrees however it won't always be a sunny day according to the forecast, and towards the end even some rain may fall.

Tadej Pogacar - The defending champion and man to beat. Yes, he got beaten up bad by Evenepoel on the time-trial last Sunday but this is a different challenge, this is what he actually prepared for. Best climber in the world, best puncheur in the world for these types of climbs, well adapted to altitude... Well he is the man to beat without a doubt regardless of what anyone says or even how he feels, he will be the rider most will want to anticipate - whilst a few won't but may be able to match him if he doesn't have the best of days. This is such a hard and special race that he does need his very best level to win the rainbow jersey once again.

Backing him is a Slovenian team but one that isn't that strong, Primoz Roglic is absolutely a golden figure but he is racing with his own ambitions and only if he sees he does not have the legs will he support Pogacar - most likely he will be attacking early and trying to get the advantage, whilst preventing Pogacar from getting ahead.

Remco Evenepoel - The Belgians have an advantage and a disadvantage. The advantage is more depth in comparison with Slovenia, but they lost Tiesj Benoot who would've been the number 2 in the team. Evenepoel looks to be in great form and with great motivation, so he certainly can take the win this Sunday. Beating top form Pogacar is near impossible though so he does have to hope that last weekend can repeat itself.

Belgium does however still have Ilan van Wilder who was third in the time-trial so he also seems perfect for the race, who can both be used tactically or support his Quick-Step leader in Evenepoel (as can Louis Vervaeke). A team full of classics specialists and a few climbers can certainly race this very aggressively and from very early on, which is what they have to do to put Slovenia under serious pressure and not let Pogacar do the race he wants.

Climbers - So many... This is a climber's world championships, regardless of what may spread around social media. It's going to be a race of around 7 hours with climbing literally from start to finish it, 90% at a moderate pace which will slowly reduce the explosivity of everyone in the peloton and not allow puncheurs to take advantage of it as much as the climbers. I don't believe Mount Kigali will make the difference on the day but if someone wants to push it hard there, some puncheurs may even get dropped there. It's going to be a race of survival, of eating and hoping they have enough endurance for the final hour of the race. Hence most of the main podium contenders come from this list, which does in all fairness include several top names that can go for the win if Pogacar isn't where he wants to be.

Isaac del Toro is my first thought, the number 3 in my personal opinion, as the altitude and heat will benefit him and he is simply a mini Pogacar isn't he, perfectly adapted to all kinds of climbs and very explosive. Richard Carapaz is the other figure who's prepared for these Worlds specifically and can benefit greatly from the weather and altitude, whilst also showcasing his very best legs earlier in the year at the Giro and being one of the riders who can thrive in the races where pressure gets to riders - an Olympic champion, literally. On paper, Egan Bernal could also benefit from these conditions, although he is a level below the other two.

We've got the men coming in from the Tour de Luxembourg such as Mattias Skjelmose who is in great form and even Jordan Jegat who can surprise... The French have such an incredible lineup with 7 potential top finishers including climbers such as Pavel Sivakov, Valentin Paret-Peintre and the youngster Paul Seixas; The Italians have Giulio Ciccone (incredibly dangerous if at his best) and Lorenzo Fortunato; the Spaniards have Juan Ayuso and Marc Soler who will be interesting to follow; The Australians have Jay Vine, Jai Hindley, Michael Storer and Luke Plapp who can seriously do some damage if they have good legs on the day...

Add to that Great Britain who have conquered several gold medals already and have Tom Pidcock here, who on paper would be well fit for this race but I think endurance may be an issue, but after his amazing Vuelta who knows (whilst Oscar Onley, if he has improved his form in recent weeks, is another medal contender)... We still have other men such as double Tour de France stage winner Thymen Arensman who could pop up on the day, Eddie Dunbar or Portugal's Afonso Eulálio who's been a very positive surprise this season into the top level.

Puncheurs - The French have even more weapons here, bringing up former World Champion Julian Alaphilippe but also Louis Barré who impressed in Canada and Olympic podium finisher Valentin Madouas; whilst the Italians have Marco Frigo and Andrea Bagioli in addition to all the men above. Bauke Mollema, Michael Matthews, Roger Adrià, António Morgado, Andreas Leknessund, Toms Skujins, Victor Langellotti and Swiss duo Jan Christen and Marc Hirschi are men to watch.

But from this category there are two men whom we must pay special attention to: Quinn Simmons and Ben Healy. The American is on stellar form as shown in Canada and the altitude should be great for him, whilst both riders are 'endurance monsters'. Healy showed at the Tour de France, and on other occasions, that besides his puncheur abilities he is also a great climber on his best day, whilst his aggressiveness and solo attack specialty makes him a danger for even Pogacar and Evenepoel.

*** Tadej Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel
** Richard Carapaz, Giulio Ciccone, Tom Pidcock, Isaac del Toro, Quinn Simmons, Ben Healy
* Ilan van Wilder, Primoz Roglic, Mattias Skjelmose, Oscar Onley, Pavel Sivakov, Jay Vine, Michael Storer, Jai Hindley, Marc Soler, Egan Bernal, Toms Skujins

Pick: Tadej Pogacar

How: I think logic will still prevail and we will have a Pogacar win, with a solo attack but not one very far from the finish.