Overview

• Racing opens Sunday with the elite time trials in Kigali, starting eight days of 13 events across junior, U23, and elite categories with gender parity.
• Remco Evenepoel is widely tipped to claim a third straight men’s time-trial title on a hilly 40.6km route that begins at BK Arena.
• Tadej Pogacar leads the contenders for the men’s road race on Sept. 28, a 267.5km test with roughly 5,500m of climbing including Mount Kigali.
• High altitude and relentless climbs are expected to limit sprinters such as Eritrea’s Biniam Girmay, even as Rwanda anticipates huge roadside crowds.
• Rights groups accuse Rwanda of sportswashing over alleged ties to the M23 rebel group, while UCI president David Lappartient says there is no Plan B.