Tom Pidcock & Oscar Onley headline ambitious GB for 2025 World Championships in Rwanda after breakthrough Grand Tour success

British Cycling has confirmed its squad for the upcoming 2025 UCI Road World Championships, with Tom Pidcock and Oscar Onley set to lead the men’s elite line-up on the unforgiving roads of Kigali, Rwanda. The event, which runs from 21–28 September, marks the first time the Worlds will be staged in Africa, and the parcours is already being touted as the toughest in history, with the men’s race packing a staggering 5,400m of climbing across 267.5km.

Pidcock arrives in Rwanda off the back of his most complete season to date. The 26-year-old, now riding for Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team, took a first ever Grand Tour podium at the Vuelta a Espana just last weekend. With his climbing pedigree and punch on steep gradients, he looks tailor-made for the Kigali profile.

If Pidcock represents Great Britain’s established talismanic leader, then Onley is the team's new breakout star. The 22-year-old Team Picnic PostNL rider lit up July’s Tour de France, riding with remarkable composure among the GC elite before sealing a superb fourth place overall. He's also impressed at the Worlds in the past with a prior aggressive ride in the breakaway under his belt. Now he returns as a genuine leader on cycling’s biggest one-day stage.

The British squad around its twin leaders blends experience, climbing strength, and local knowledge. Fred Wright will marshal the early phases, while James Knox and Mark Donovan bring the diesel climbing engines to help set a searing pace on Kigali’s ramps. Joe Blackmore, last year’s Tour du Rwanda winner, offers a rare edge – course knowledge and a proven record on African roads.

Youngsters Oliver Knight and Bjoern Koerdt make their elite Worlds debuts, while Wright’s tactical nous is expected to play a key role in keeping Britain’s GC stars in position for the decisive final circuits.

Performance Director Stephen Park acknowledged the magnitude of the challenge in an official press release: “The event provides a tough course that will ask a lot from our riders, but I am confident they are up to the task and will bring home some fantastic results. The championships in Rwanda will push our elite riders to their limits and showcase bike racing at its best.”

Tom Pidcock
Oscar Onley
Fred Wright
James Knox
Mark Donovan
Joe Blackmore
Oliver Knight
Bjoern Koerdt