Rwanda will hold week-long national holidays over the course of World Championships

The 2025 Cycling World Championships will be one of the most special editions in living memory, and without any doubt. The route of the road race (as well as the other races), with more than 5,000 meters of elevation gain, will be held for the first time in history in Africa. Specifically, it will be Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, which will host the World Championships, which will conclude with the above-mentioned road race.

In addition, this year the fight for the rainbow jersey will feature Tadej Pogacar (who will defend his 2024 title), Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel also for the first time, as the Dane has never participated in the World Championships before.

At the beginning of the year it seemed unlikely that the World Championships would be held in Rwanda. Armed tensions with the Congo were on the verge of suspending the edition, and that it would be moved to a European country (Switzerland was said to be in the UCI's plan B). But, fortunately, everything turned out well, and the World Championships will be indeed held in Kigali.

Kigali will be completely closed to the public during the week of the World Championships. From September 21 to 28, the Rwandan government will close the capital. Schools will also be closed and the population will be encouraged to "home office" as much as possible.

Traffic will also not be able to enter Kigali during that week, with exceptions: "However, we will establish the necessary alternative routes and communicate them in a timely manner. In this way, we hope to control traffic and avoid major traffic jams," the Rwandan government posted on social media.

The fact that Rwanda closes its capital during the World Championships does not mean that people cannot go out on the streets. These are measures to avoid possible collapses, as well as to ensure a correct celebration of the races for the rainbow jerseys. In fact, to conclude the communiqué, the government of the African country also makes the following clear:

"We invite everyone to come and discover our unique country. During the World Championship, we will set up special fan zones in the city to give spectators the opportunity to see the world's elite in action up close," he concluded.