Overview

• The Kigali courses set new extremes, with the men’s road race at 267.5 km and 5,475 meters of climbing and the women’s at 164.6 km with 3,350 meters, both at high altitude.
• Tadej Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot headline the start lists, with Eritrean star Biniam Girmay confirming his participation after initial hesitation.
• Notable absences thin the field, including Jonas Vingegaard, Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel, while Germany also loses Maximilian Schachmann to illness after withdrawals by Florian Lipowitz and Nils Politt.
• UCI officials say preventive agreements with Rwanda aim to prevent protest actions as rights groups criticize the host over repression, including the reported arrest of opposition figure Victoire Ingabire.
• Representation tensions persist as qualification rules leave many African nations without men’s road race starters, with Rwanda granted six places and Eritrea seven.