As it happened: sublime ride for gold while pre-race favourite misses out on a medal in men's World ITT Championships 2025

The 2025 World Championships are underway, and we already have our first rainbow jersey - the elite women’s time trial was decided this morning.

Road World Championships Elite women's individual time trial: Marlen Reusser delivers taking first world title in Kigali

Here are the start times for all of the men taking part today. The first will be the home nation’s representative Shemu Nsengiyumva, at 13:45 local time.

Road World Championships – elite men's and women's time trial start times and order

All the talk going into the race is about two men - Tadej Pogacar and Remco Evenepoel.

Pogacar arrives in Rwanda as the defending road race champion, but is also taking aim at this, which would be a first ever World individual time trial title for him. His previous best finish in this event was 6th place in 2022, but, as he is for virtually every race he starts these days, he’ll be well in contention for the win.

To do so, Pogacar must get the better of Remco Evenepoel. Pogacar might be the best all-round rider in the world, but Evenepoel is the best time trialist, and has won this title the last two years, as well as the Olympics last year, and four of the six time trials he’s competed in this year. Ominously, he’s stated that he’s in great form.

'I'm feeling the best I've done all season' - Remco Evenepoel raring to go ahead of world time trial defence

Pogacar and Evenepoel, aren’t the only men competing, of course. Jay Vine, Stefan Küng and Isaac del Toro are among the other men in contention for a medal.

Rwanda Road World Championships - Riders to watch in the men's individual time trial

Shemu Nsengiyumva rolls down the flashy start ramp in Kigali to get the 2025 World Championships elite men's road race underway!

TIME TRIAL BEGINS

Boniphase Ngwata of Tanzania is the second rider on the course. Each rider will set off at two and a half minute intervals.

It’s some atmosphere at the start. Each rider is being serenaded by a chorus of drums when setting off.

It’s a rolling course, with four short climbs taken on. Nsengiyumva is currently on the first of these, Côte de Nyanza, at the top of which is the first time check.

Nsengiyumva has gone through the first time check, in exactly 16 minutes.

The weather is warm and sunny, without being oppressively hot.

Jiankun Liu of China is the first rider from outside of Africa to begin his ride.

With five riders now through the first time check, Nsengiyumva remains the fastest.

Sierra Leone's Ibrahim Jalloh has had to pull out and did not take to the start.

Over in Europe, it was the queen stage of the Tour of Slovakia today, which finished recently. Here’s what happened.

Florian Vermeersch is the first European to start. You'd imagine the Belgian will be one of the early frontrunners.

For now though, it’s the home rider Nsengiyumva who’s the fastest on the course. Ngwata is the only rider to post a time within two minutes of his at the first check.

Scratch that - Jiankun Liu has just posted the second best time at the first check, 1:13 slower than Nsengiyumva and 32 seconds faster than Ngwata.

Canada's Laurent Gervais is pushing Nsengiyumva's time. He's just ten seconds slower at the first check.

Here's Jiankun Liu out on the road

Nsengiyumva is labouring up the Côte de Kimihurura, a 1.3km climb averaging 5.9% near the end of the course, made extra difficult by the fact it’s on cobbled roads. He’s pushing up it in a big gear at a slow cadence.

We have our first finisher! Nsengiyumva arrives home in a time of 56:41, to a cacophony of noise from the many roadside fans. That’s likely to keep him on the hot seat for some time.

FIRST FINISHER - SHEMU NSENGIYUMVA

As expected, Florian Vermeersch has become the first man to beat Nsengiyumva’s time at the first check. He’s 45 seconds faster.

Gervais has lost ground at the second time check, where he’s 38 seconds slower than Nsengiyumva.

Vermeersch is again the fastest at the second time check, this time 51 seconds faster than Nsengiyumva.

Some big names are starting to begin their rides. Raul Garcia Pierna has just followed Ilan van Wilder off the start ramps, and next up will be Matteo Sobrero.

Luke Plapp's the latest rider to start, and is one to watch. He was fifth in the mountain time trial at the Tour de France during the summer, and should suit this rolling, hilly course.

Gervais has arrived home, with the second fastest time, 42 seconds down on Nsengiyumva. The Rwandan remains unmatched.

Vermeersch has abandoned his aero position as he rides up the cobbled climb. He’s rocking side to side at a low cadence.

A huge cheer at the start, where the second Rwanda cyclist, Moise Mugisha, begins his ride.

Florian Vermeersch has set a new fastest time of 54:49, thus ending Nsengiyumva’s long spell on the hot seat by 1:51. Vermeersch's teammate Remco Evenepoel will surely go much quicker later in the day.

NEW FASTEST TIME - VERMEERSCH

Already Vermeersch’s time is coming under threat - and from his Belgian teammate Van Wilder. He’s just beaten his tie at the first check by 14 seconds.

Sobrero, Leonard and García Pierna have all gone well, but not as well as Van Wilder, at the first check, at 24, 29 and 46 seconds respectively.

Byron Munton has set the second fastest time at the second check, closing his deficit to Vermeersch from 32 seconds to 7 seconds.

Michael Leonard is flying! Having been 29 seconds down on Vermeersch at the first check, he’s smashed his time at the second check by 45 seconds. We might soon have a new leader at the clubhouse…

Luke Plapp is third fastest at the first time check.

This is interesting - Paul Seixas has just reached the first time check with the second best time. It’s hard to know what to expect from such a talented but inexperienced teenager, but the early signs are that he’s going well.

Artem Nych finishes with the second best time.

Another fascinating rider has just started - Isaac del Toro. The Mexican has been winning for fun on the road lately, and now turns his head to a time trial. Whether or not he can translate that form is one of the day’s most intriguing questions.

Van Wilder remains on course for a big time. He's just gone through the second check the fastest, 42 seconds up on Leonard.

New fastest time at the first check - and it’s from Andreas Leknessund, who puts 2 seconds into Van Wilder.

Last year's U23 champion Iván Romeo is the latest to start, hoping to make the leap to being competitive at senior level.

Plapp’s second quickest at the 2nd check, but a distant 33 seconds off Van Wilder.

Paul Seixas has slowed a little in the second phase of the race, slipping to 46 seconds by Van Wilder at the 2nd check.

The time is nearly here - Remco Evenepoel and Tadej Pogacar are both warming up at the start. They will be off in 7 and 10 minutes respectively, as the last two men to start.

So close! Munton has just finished, an agonising 2 seconds slower than Vermeersch, who remains the leader in the clubhouse.

Not anymore! Leonard has just finished with a time a whole minute and ten seconds better than Vermeersch’s.

NEW FASTEST TIME - LEONARD

More big name are starting - first Jay Vine, now Bruno Armirail. Both are real medal contenders. Only three more riders to start.

Del Toro’s flying - he’s fastest at the first check by 9 seconds. It seems he can indeed time trial.

Now Stefan Küng starts, hoping to add to the silver medal he won in 2022 and the bronze from 2020. This course doesn't appear to play to his strengths, however.

Here comes Van Wilder to set the best time, by a massive 1:17

NEW FASTEST TIME - VAN WILDER

The big man is on the road, and he means business, flying around the first few corners. We could be about to witness something special.

POGACAR BEGINS

And now the last man of the day, Remco Evenepoel, sets off, adorned in the golden helmet as Olympic and World Champion. Can he make it three wins in three years?

EVENEPOEL STARTS

Leknessund has lost ground on Van Wilder. Having been 2 seconds quicker at the first check, he's now 6 seconds slower.

Sobrero and García Pierna have recently finished, with the third and fourth best times respectively.

They’ve both been beaten by Plapp, who has finished with the second best time.

Tadej Pogacar out on the road.

Pogacar is approaching the first time check.

Pogacar's through, and is 2nd best, one second slower than Del Toro.

Jay Vine, incidentally, is third fastest, a second slower than Pog.

Del Toro has slowed somewhat in the second section, falling to 16 seconds down on Van Wilder.

Wow! Evenepoel is fastest at the first time check - and by an enormous margin of 44 seconds.

This isn’t shaping up to be the two-horse race we were anticipating - Evenepoel is running away with it as things stand.

Meanwhile at the finish line, Leknessund posts the second-best time of the day, 21 seconds slower than Van Wilder.

Remco Evenepoel, who is storming this course far quicker than anyone else as things stand. Can he really keep this pace up for the whole course?

Del Toro is third fastest at the third check not looking quite as good as he did at the start of his ride.

By contrast, Jay Vine is speeding up. He’s the quickest at the 2nd check, by a whole 26 seconds. He’s in medal contention.

Remco Evenepoel, looking locked in.

Pogacar will be at the second time check soon. This is going to be interesting - can he post something to put Evenepoel under pressure, having been so far behind at the first check?

At the finish, Arensman posts the fourth best time of the day so far.

Vine's still quickest at the third check, by 27 seconds over Van Wilder.

Pogacar’s at the 2nd time check - and he’s actually slower than Vine, by a whole 25 seconds. This isn’t shaping up to be his day.

At the finish, Del Toro is 2nd quickest, the first to come within 20 seconds of Van Wilder’s time. And he’s only a narrow second, too, just 4 seconds slower.

Evenepoel’s through the second check..and he isn’t slowing down! He’s a huge 1:17 up on Vine, and 1:42 on Pogacar. This is shaping up to be an extraordinary ride.

So with everyone through the 2nd time check, Evenepoel is looking good for gold, Vine for silver, while only 1 second split Pogačar and Van Wilder for bronze.

Pogačar's losing more ground - he's 34 seconds slower than Vine at the 3rd check, and 7 seconds slower than Van Wilder. This is the most human the Slovenian has looked in a long time.

Evenepoel’s increased his lead yet more at the 3rd check, 1:24 over Vine, and 1:58 on Pogačar.

Evenepoel is even bearing down on Pogačar, who started two and a half minutes before him. Could he even catch him on the road? What a moment that would be.

As things stand Pogačar is out of the medals, which are going to Evenepoel, Vine and Van Wilder.

Vine's approaching the finish, how quick will this be?

It's a huge time from Vine, who's 1:21 quicker than Van Wilder. He's looking very good for the silver medal.

NEW FASTEST TIME - JAY VINE

Evenepoel can see Pogačar up the road!

Here comes Evenepoel, he's anout to catch Pog as they ride the cobbled climb.

He's done it! Pogačar is clinging on to his wheel after getting passed.

Pogačar isn’t used to losing, let alone losing like this. How must he be feeling?

Pogačar's now lost Evenepoel's wheel, seeing him gradually move further and further away into the distance.

Evenepoel's apprpaching the finish now.

He's done it, celebrating as he crosses the line!

NEW FASTEST TIME - REMCO EVENEPOEL

Pogačar finishes moments later, and he’s missed out on a medal, with the fourth best time.

So it's gold to Evenepoel, silver to Vine, and bronze to Van Wilder.

Pogačar went straight up to Evenepel after the two finished their rides to quickly congratulate him with a smile.

That’s three World time trial titles in a row for Evenepoel, who has removed any doubt there might have been that he’s the best time trialist in the peloton. He’s becoming one of, if not the, all-time great practitioners of this discipline - only two riders, Tony Martin and Fabian Cancellara, have won more World golds than him.

That was some ride by Jay Vine for silver, too.Were it not for the brilliance of Evenepoel, we’d be talking about him as the overwhelming winner, with a time 1:22 quicker than Van Wilder in brone. Vine had looked great at the Vuelta, but this proves he’s also one of the very best in the world at time trialling.

Perhaps the most surprising ride of the day was from Van Wilder. Having never before competed in the time trial at the World Championships, he has a medal on his palmares at first attempt.

The most dramatic story though is Pogačar missing out on a medal, and so humbled by Evenepoel. It’s hard to recall him ever having a defeat like this inflicted on him, and the moment Evenepoel caught him will be remembered for years to come whenever we need a reminder that the Slovenian is human and beatable after all.

“For sure, it’s a hard one to swallow,” were Pogačar’s words about the defeat and being overtaken by Evenepoel.

Thanks for joining us today, for what was a dramatic start to the World Championships. What a performance from Remco Evenepoel, and what a shock to see Tadej Pogačar so badly defeated. That sets up a thrilling re-match in the road race next weekend, and we’ll have live coverage of that and other Worlds events this week in Rwanda.