Pogačar and Vallieres claim world road titles in Kigali

Magdeleine Vallieres of Canada and Tadej Pogačar of Slovenia claimed the final rainbow jerseys at the 2025 UCI Road World Championships in Kigali, Rwanda, after two dramatic races over a punishing urban circuit on Saturday and Sunday. Vallieres won the elite women's road race on Saturday over 164.6 kilometres and 11 laps, attacking on the final cobbled climb to hold off chasers, while Pogačar executed a long solo ride to win the elite men's race on Sunday after a decisive move with more than 100 kilometres remaining.

Vallieres, 24, broke from a leading trio on the cobbled Côte de Kimihurura with roughly 2 kilometres to go and rode clear to finish in 4 hours 34 minutes 48 seconds. New Zealand’s Niamh Fisher-Black took silver 23 seconds behind and Spain’s Mavi García earned bronze a further four seconds back. Vallieres, whose only previous professional victory came at the Trofeo Palma Femina in 2024, said after the race that winning had been a season target and credited careful preparation and team support.

The women's race unfolded on a route that featured repeated steep and cobbled sections, which fractured the peloton and allowed a breakaway group to stay away despite the...