Results 2025 Kigali World Championships Men's Elite Road Race | Tadej Pogacar goes back-to-back with another 100km+ attack; Evenepoel & Healy complete podium

He's done it again! Tadej Pogacar has secured a second successive Rainbow Jersey with an astonishing 100km+ attack in the men's elite road race at the 2025 World Championships in Kigali. Best of the rest? Remco Evenepoel secured the silver with Ireland's Ben Healy powering to the podium in 3rd.

Arguably the biggest one day race of the season set off on Sunday morning under the Rwandan sun, with an expectant crowd awaiting the showdown for the rainbow jersey. From the flag drop, the racing was animated, with repeated breakaway attempts before a decisive move finally formed.

After a flurry of attacks, six riders managed to establish themselves as the break of the day: Anders Foldager, Ivo Oliveira, Marius Mayrhofer, Julien Bernard, Fabio Christen and Menno Huising. They were later joined by Raúl García, who jumped across after an early chase. For much of the first part of the race, their advantage hovered around the three-minute mark, with Slovenia and Belgium keeping a close watch from the peloton. Even Mexico lent a hand in pacing to ensure the escapees never gained too much freedom.

Crashes and abandonments quickly became a theme of the day. A spill on a short descent brought down Marc Soler, Ilan van Wilder and others, with Soler suffering the most. Both men eventually abandoned, joining a growing list of names to step off the bike, including Julian Alaphilippe, who surprisingly dropped out early after losing contact when the bunch accelerated. Louis Barré, Felix Engelhardt and Will Barta also left the race, while Spain’s Iván Romeo climbed off ill after contributing early for his team. By the halfway mark, more than 50 riders had abandoned.

Out front, the break began to splinter as the pace rose. Oliveira, Foldager and Bernard pressed on as the peloton narrowed the gap to under two minutes, while Mayrhofer, Huising and Christen were swept back. García initially clung on but was later reeled in as well. Behind, the decisive section of the course loomed: Mont Kigali, a 5.9km ascent averaging 6.7%. It would only be climbed once, but its impact promised fireworks.

When the peloton hit the lower slopes of Mont Kigali, Belgium and Slovenia again took responsibility, setting a ferocious tempo that immediately thinned the field. Biniam Girmay was among the riders to lose contact, as were several domestiques who had already emptied themselves earlier in the day. Sobrero and Fortunato were also distanced from the break, leaving Bernard alone at the front with only a slender lead of around a minute.

Then, with 100km to go, the race exploded. Domen Novak drove the pace for Slovenia before Tadej Pogacar launched a searing attack on the climb. Only his UAE Team Emirates – XRG teammate Juan Ayuso could respond, while Mexico’s Isaac del Toro surged across shortly afterwards to form a powerful trio. Ayuso, however, soon began to struggle, unable to match the brutal accelerations of his colleagues.

Del Toro and Pogacar pressed on together, carving open gaps on the road behind. A chasing group of around 20 riders — featuring Primoz Roglic, Mattias Skjelmose, Antonio Morgado, Paul Seixas, Ayuso and Richard Carapaz — hovered at 40 seconds, with a second group including Remco Evenepoel already a full minute in arrears. The Belgian star, hunting a first road race rainbow jersey, was visibly in difficulty and unable to respond to the sudden changes of pace.

By 95km to go, Pogacar and del Toro remained in front, but the attrition continued. The main bunch was reduced to around 30 riders, including the likes of Italy and Australia who still had strength in numbers, though their lack of cohesion hindered the chase. Jay Vine emptied himself for Australia before losing contact, while Egan Bernal added his name to the long list of abandonments.

Soon after, del Toro cracked under the strain, leaving Pogacar alone in the lead. The Slovenian initially eased, seeming unwilling to go solo so far from the finish, and even looked back to encourage the Mexican to rejoin. But the Mexican was clearly spent, and Pogacar finally committed to his solo effort. With 62km to go, he led by around 50 seconds over the chasers, with the peloton a further 15 seconds behind. Del Toro was sliding rapidly backwards, his chances of a medal fading away.

Behind, the lack of organisation continued to hinder the pursuit. Attacks fired out of the bunch, with Mikkel Honoré, Pavel Sivakov and Ben Healy forming a dangerous chase group that began to close to within 35 seconds. Evenepoel, meanwhile, endured more misfortune. After stopping in frustration to demand a bike change, his anger compounded by the absence of the team car, he finally swapped machines but slipped further adrift, at one point 1:30 behind the break before clawing back to the peloton.

The Belgian then took matters into his own hands. With 60km to go, Evenepoel launched a fierce acceleration, catching del Toro and sweeping up the earlier chasers. His effort immediately split what remained of the bunch, with only Healy, Skjelmose, Tom Pidcock and Jai Hindley able to follow. Together, they trimmed Pogacar’s advantage to around a minute, while Ayuso and Seixas dangled a few seconds behind.

At 50km to go, the situation on the road had crystallised: Pogacar pressing ahead alone, Evenepoel driving a small but elite chase group one minute back, and the peloton shattered further behind. Yet Evenepoel’s plight was evident — despite closing the gap, he was doing all the work himself, head down, with no teammates and little support from those on his wheel. Pogacar, meanwhile, looked in complete control as the race moved into its decisive phase.

By 40km to go, the strain of Evenepoel’s pace had begun to tell. Both Pidcock and Hindley were jettisoned, left adrift some 30 seconds behind the Belgian-led trio. Ayuso and Seixas were also unable to rejoin, sliding back into a peloton that now trailed almost three minutes behind Pogacar. It was becoming increasingly clear that the medals would be contested between the Slovenian out front and the chasers behind.

At 30km to go, Pogacar still held a lead of 1:10 over Evenepoel, Healy and Skjelmose, with Pidcock at 2:50 and the peloton a distant 3:30 in arrears. The dynamic between the chasers even offered a rare light-hearted moment: Healy and Skjelmose were spotted sharing bottles, a small act of camaraderie reminiscent of the Olympics the year prior, when Healy had received a drink from Toms Skujins. This time, it was the Dane lending a hand to the Irishman, even as they fought desperately to keep their podium hopes alive.

With 25km to go, Pogacar’s advantage stretched further, the Slovenian now more than 1:20 clear. Pidcock was labouring almost four minutes down, while the remnants of the peloton languished at five minutes. Evenepoel’s power was beginning to overwhelm his companions, and soon he struck out alone, shedding Skjelmose and Healy to consolidate his grip on the silver medal.

By 20km to go, the picture was firmly set: Pogacar gliding away towards gold, Evenepoel alone in pursuit more than a minute behind, and the battle for bronze reduced to Healy and Skjelmose desperately clinging on. As Pogacar floated across the cobbles of the Cote de Kimihurura with apparent ease, the Belgian reached the same slopes roughly a minute later, the two men now seemingly locked into their respective positions as the rainbow jersey neared its destination.

Despite Evenepoel being the undoubted best time trialist on the planet however, the Belgian could do nothing to close the gap against this rampant Pogacar. By the time he reached 10km to go, the Pogacar had extended his lead to 1:24 on his nearest chaser.

With the top two spots on the podium sorted, the last thing to decide was the bronze medal. Inside the 5km, Healy launched his move and with Skjelmose simply unable to respond, the Irishman was able to secure his place alongside Pogacar and Evenepoel in the post-race celebrations.