Nicola Rutzou
The Road World Champs concluded over the weekend, with the elite road races contested over a tough, hilly course. One race had a predictable outcome, and the other an unexpected one, but both races were entertaining and intriguing.
Rwanda was an excellent host for the first African country to host this prestigious event. Polish rider Kasia (Katarzyna) Niewiadoma-Phinney summed up the general vibe of the event in her Instagram last week, saying “Coming here I was a little sceptical maybe even scared of either catching stomach bug or something more serious. Perhaps I closed myself off “trying to stay safe” and trying to get to the race day as quick as possible. As I started to explore the country and experience culture, people and simple life I went through realisation, heart opening moment thanks to which I started to feel great compassion and love for people I don’t even know. Seeing all the kids running down the road splits my heart in half … I feel for them but at the same time I see the joy and happiness in their eyes. I might think we need to help them but probably there are actually helping us. Softening our hearts. Travelling teaches you life, kindness, love and understanding for others and I’m so grateful for that!”
I’m sure she speaks for many.
As for the racing, Australia finished seventh on the medal table, with gold and silver, following a tough conclusion to the Championships in Kigali.
The ARA Australian Cycling Team entered the elite men’s road race on Sunday determined to podium like last year, but just finishing the 267.5km title event, which included 5,475m of climbing, proved to be an achievement.
Only 30 riders from a peloton of 165 completed the race, which saw Slovenian Tadej Pogačar celebrate a solo victory to claim back-to-back titles, ahead of Remco Evenepoel (Belgium) and Ben Healy (Ireland). Jai Hindley finished 10:01 behind Pogačar for 16th place, and Michael Storer was 19th (+10:12).
“Today was probably one of the hardest one-day races I ever did. It was brutal. I put myself in the mix, the guys also did a great job on the road, and unfortunately, I just exploded pretty hard, and it was lights out. But that’s also bike racing and I have no regrets,” Hindley said.
In the women’s elite race, Brodie Chapman was our best-placed rider in 19th place.
Chapman was relentless in her pursuit of a result, finishing 2:04 adrift of surprise winner Magdeleine Vallieres (Canada), with Kiwi Niamh Fisher-Black (+23secs) and Spain’s Mavi García (+27) rounding out the podium. Australian veteran Amanda Spratt came in 30th – 6:26 behind Vallieres, with Victorians Lauretta Hanson 33rd (+9:13) and Ruby Roseman-Gannon 52nd (+16:21).
“I got a very untimely flat tyre pretty much on the lap that it was kicking off, so three laps to go, on the bottom of the cobbled-climb, and in that moment obviously I was like, ‘Oh no, this is going to be so hard to get back.’ But you just focus on one lap at a time,” Chapman said.
“It’s extremely different to other races being there is no radios, so we have a lot less communication about the race situation. On such a fast course it’s also very hard to get accurate information. That’s what the World Championships is like,” she said.
“We’ve all discussed the different conditions being a major part of what makes it so hard – so altitude, heat, air quality, elevation metres. But I do think everybody was maybe a little bit too scared of all these things, afraid to really race from the start. Certainly, a strange race that all the favourite teams that were the most stacked with talent and potential winners did not take the race into their own hands before it was too late. The strongest and smartest rider won,” added Chapman.
Perhaps the best summary of the race came from high-profile Italian Elisa Longo Borghini, one of the favourites to win, who said, “My fellow favourites and I made fools of ourselves. It was a clown show.
“First of all I thank my companions who rode well, those who didn’t ride well were me and the others who should have been active in the race. I believe that whoever won was very brave and made intelligent moves, unlike us”.
The next UCI Road World Championships will be held in Montréal from 20 to 27 September 2026.
Nicola Rutzou – a long-time contributor and, most recently, the editor of Bicycling Australia. Nicola is a keen Sydney-based road cyclist who writes reviews, news, and destination pieces, as well as the weekly e-newsletter for BA online.
