Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Monday, September 29, 2025
Back to news and opinion index page for links to archived stories | Commentary | Our YouTube page
2024 Tour de France | 2024 Giro d'Italia
Trees are Earth's endless effort to speak to the listening heaven. - Rabindranath Tagore
Plato's dialogue Apology is available in both Kindle eBook & audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.
Current racing:
- September 28 - October 5: Tour de Langkawi
Upcoming racing:
- October 3: Mûnsterland Giro
- October 4: Giro dell'Emilia
- October 5: Coppa Agostoni
- October 6: Coppa Bernocchi
- October 7: Binche-Chimay-Binche
- October 7: Tre Valli Varesine
- October 9: Gran Piemonte
- October 11: Il Lombardia
- October 12: Paris-Tours
Latest completed racing:
- September 21 - 28: World Cycling Championships
- September 17 - 21: Tour de Luxembourg
- September 20: Super 8 Classic
- September 19: Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen
- September 17: GP de Wallonie
- August 23 - September 14: Vuelta a España
- September 14: Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal
- September 14: GP de Fourmies
- September 14: Trofeo Matteotti
We posted our report with the results.
Here's the report from winner Tadej Pogacar's UAE Team Emirates-XRG:
For the second time in as many years, Tadej Pogačar won the UCI World Championships Road Race, ensuring that UAE Team Emirates-XRG will have the rainbow jersey for another year. The Slovenian went alone with 66km to go, and would not be caught before the line.
Hosted in Kigali, Rwanda, the 2025 Road Race drew impressive crowds and the finishing ciruit only enhanced the spectacle. With tough climbs, cobbles to be dealt with, and the sport’s most hallowed prize up for grabs, the racing lived up to all expectations.
He's gone. Tadej Pogacar solos away from the the rest of the world's finest riders. Sirotti photo
Pogačar put his opponents under immense pressure with over 100km to go, with only his trade teammates Isaac del Toro and Juan Ayuso able to hack the pace. The three riders powered away from the peloton and showed their class on Kigali’s defining climb.
Ayuso was the first to cede ground, as Del Toro pushed on, and for a while, it looked as though the Mexican would head towards the race finish alongside Pogačar. Teammates for the rest of the year, Pogačar and Del Toro tested each other for the next 30km before the reigning world champion broke the elastic.
Alone at the front of the race with 66km to ride, the Slovenian extended his advantage to those behind to over a minute, as his opponents began to battle for the silver and bronze medals.
In the end, Pogačar crossed the finish line a minute and a half ahead of the second-placed Remco Evenepoel (Belgium) and over two minutes ahead of Ben Healy (Ireland) in third. The trio stood on the podium at the end of the day as Pogačar pulled on the rainbow jersey.
Speaking after the finish, the two-time world champion explained his racing tactics and reflected on his second success.
Pogačar: “I think the parcours was designed for this, but I was hoping that a small group would form like we did with Juan and Del Toro. It was the perfect combo and it was like a dream to ride together as far as possible as a trio.
“Juan had a problem quite soon on the cobbles and Del Toro had stomach problems in the race, so I was left alone quite early. I was solo like last year, just fighting with myself, but I am so happy I made it.
“The climbs were getting harder and harder every lap, and also on the downhills you still had to pedal quite a lot so the energy resources were getting towards the end. It was so hard the final few laps, and of course you doubt a bit, but you have to push through and hope for the best.
“It was an incredible experience altogether and let’s say it was a successful week in Rwanda.”
Earlier in the day, Pogačar’s UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammate Ivo Oliveira was in the breakaway for Portugal. As the racing became attritional, Oliveira proved one of the strongest riders out front, and was only caught once Pogačar’s accelerations tore the peloton apart.
The first acceleration came after Team Belgium had done much of the pace-setting with UAE Team Emirates-XRG’s Florian Vermeersch. With 104km to go, Pogačar launched his move from the pack, and Ayuso jumped to catch the Slovenian’s wheel.
A further 2km later, Del Toro was the only rider able to bridge up to the pair, and all of a sudden, the three strongest riders in the race appeared to come from UAE Team Emirates-XRG.
Ayuso was put into difficulty by Del Toro on the Kwa Mutwe (Mur de Kigali), before the Mexican was equally forced to relent by Pogačar later in the afternoon. One by one, a selection had been made on the roads of Rwanda, and Pogačar proved more than capable of defending his world title.
His winning attack came 66km from the finish, but both Del Toro and Ayuso continued to battle on. The pair finished seventh and eighth, respectively, at the end of the race.
Having turned 27 a week ago, Pogačar now moves to 105 career victories. The Slovenian is a two-time world champion and will wear the iconic rainbow jersey for another year.
Content continues below the ads
Here's the World's report from second-place Remco Evenepoel's Team Soudal Quick-Step:
Remco Evenepoel became the first male rider to be on the podium of both the road race and the time trial at a single edition of the World Championships multiple times, repeating his feat of 2022, when the event was held in Australia. The 25-year-old was one of the strongest riders of the 267.5km race, which featured 5500 meters of elevation, and after more than six hours of relentless racing, he finished in second place, behind Tadej Pogacar (Slovenia), who retained his title.
Remco Evenepoel finishes second. Sirotti photo
Of the 35 climbs on the course, Mont Kigali (5.9km, 6.9%), which came with 104 kilometers to go, ended up playing a huge role in the outcome, as it was there that the reigning champion pushed a hard tempo that shredded the peloton to pieces and left only a trio of riders in the lead. Evenepoel found himself in the third group, but thanks to a fantastic effort of his Soudal Quick-Step teammate Louis Vervaeke, he made it back to the peloton, which at that moment was trailing the leaders by 45 seconds.
Unfortunately for the Belgian, he had to change his bike in an important moment of the race, and by the time he got back in the saddle, he found himself almost two minutes behind. Not the one to give up, Evenepoel staged a phenomenal comeback using his time trial skills, caught the various groups in front of him and then moved to the front of what remained of the peloton, sparking an important selection.
Only four riders were capable of joining the three-time ITT World Champion, who motored at the front of this group, doing most of the work and helping the quintet open an important gap on those trailing them. The tempo pushed by Evenepoel led to two riders being spat out the back, leaving only three men in contention for the last two podium spots. With 20 kilometers to go, Remco bolted away from his companions and quickly put some daylight into them, riding to a hard-fought and well-deserved silver medal in Rwanda, after a huge display of sheer grit and determination.
“I wanted to win today and I felt great from the start of the race, but things didn’t go as planned today. My teammates did a great job and silver is still a good result at the end of the day after the gold medal I took in the time trial a week ago, but there is a sense of disappointment. On the other hand, I have a couple of races left in the program before I conclude the season, including the European Championships, and I’m ready to give my best”, Remco said after the podium ceremony.
Content continues below the ads
We posted the race organizer's report with the results.
Here's the report from stage one winner Matteo Malucelli's Team XDS Astana:
XDS Astana Team started the stage race Tour de Langkawi in Malaysia with a victory: Matteo Malucelli proved the strongest in the bunch sprint at the finish of Stage 1 in Kuah, Langkawi.
After the stage, Malucelli took the lead in the General Classification, as well as the points classification for the best sprinter.
Matteo Malucelli takes the first stage.
“The team did a fantastic job today, the guys executed everything we had planned before the start, and I want to thank my teammates for this day. In the final, Lev Gonov and Aaron Gate brought me to the front and left me on Kristoff’s wheel with 500 meters to go. In races where there are several teams with strong lead-outs, I prefer to start from one of the favorites’ wheels, so when I found myself in the Uno-X train, everything went according to plan. But then I saw that Blikra and De Kleijn launched their sprint earlier, so I accelerated in the last 300 meters, managed to close the gap and win. Of course, tomorrow I will wear the leader’s jersey, and that will be extra motivation for me in the sprint. Our team will have to control the race, but we are ready to do it to honor the leader’s jersey and show that we are ready to fight. It’s great to start the race with a victory, but I don’t want to stop here. There are still many stages ahead where I’d like to fight in the sprints. The team is ready, and we will definitely keep battling for victories”, – said Matteo Malucelli.
Content continues below the ads
And here's the Tour de Langkawi report from fourth-place Manuel Peñalver's Team Polti-VisitMalta:
The fast and short opening day of the Tour de Langkawi yielded a fourth-place finish in the sprint for Manuel Peñalver, setting the tone for the remaining seven stages and filling Team Polti-VisitMalta with excitement.
Exactly two hours of racing, at a blistering average speed of 48.3 km/h, kicked off the Tour de Langkawi. This was a sprinter’s terrain where Manuel Peñalver lived up to the hype, scoring Polti-VisitMalta’s first top-five finish in a victory for Malucelli (XDS Astana). In the final meters, the Alicante native looked for a gap near the fences to overcome on his opponents, finishing in 4th place behind some great sprinters who will shape the outcome of the race.
The stage had a wet start.
Manuel Peñalver: “I’m happy with fourth place, including a final ascend. Thanks to the team, which did a tremendous job placing me in the final stretch. We have very high-level opponents this year, but I’m convinced we can win and we’ll continue to fight in the six sprint finishes we have already ahead.”
Jesús Hernández, Sports Director: “This year there’s a higher level of sprinters, so it’s good that we’re in the mix from the opening stage. The first points have been scored, the teamwork around Peñalver has already shown their commitment, and I have no doubt we’ll continue fighting for the win.”
Tomorrow, the Tour de Langkawi begins its second stage, with 167 kilometers, almost completely flat, between Padang Besar and Kepala Batas, once again facing a possible sprint.
Back to news and opinion index page for links to archived stories | Commentary