Slovenia's Tadej Pogačar takes gold at first African UCI Road World Championship

Slovenian cyclist Tadej Pogačar  secured his second world road race crown in Kigali on Sunday, September 28, closing what he described as a “perfect season.”

The week-long global cycling event, hosted on African soil for the first time, saw Pogačar defend his title conquering the 267.5-kilometer course in six hours, 21 minutes, and 20 seconds.

Already the 2024 world champion in Zurich, Pogačar has now made history as the first rider ever to win both the Tour de France and the world road race title in consecutive years, reinforcing his status among the sport’s all-time greats.

"It was a good experience coming here," Pogačar told reporters. "Last week, already for the time trial, there were some ups and downs, but we managed this week to do some beautiful rides and have a good time with the team. Today was a beautiful race, super hard, but really nice.

Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel, who had beaten Pogačar earlier in the time trial on September 21, finished runner-up by 1 minute and 26 seconds.

Ireland’s Ben Healey surged past Denmark’s Mattias Skjelmose as second runner up, completing the podium.

"We played really nicely together but we still weren't into Tadej’s gap at all," Healy told Africanews. "Remco was definitely pulling harder than most of us in that group . When (Tadej) attacked us I don't think we had much to respond with."

Out of the 165 riders that kicked off this race, only 31 managed to make it to the finish line.