The 2025 UCI Road World Championships take place in Kigali, Rwanda, from Sunday 21st September to Sunday 28th September, marking the first time the event has ever been held on African soil. Across eight days of competition, 13 rainbow jerseys will be awarded in road races, individual time trials, and the Team Time Trial Mixed Relay, with categories spanning elite, under-23, and junior levels.
This year also sees a major milestone with the first standalone U23 womenโs events, both in the time trial and road race. Big names will be missing, including Mathieu van der Poel and Lotte Kopecky, but the line-up remains world-class with Tadej Pogaฤar, Remco Evenepoel, Demi Vollering, and Pauline Ferrand-Prรฉvot all targeting rainbow stripes.
Can I watch the 2025 Road World Championships for free?
Yes, in many countries. The UCI will stream every event for free on its YouTube channel, although this will be geo-restricted where local broadcasters hold rights. For example, fans in the UK, US, Canada and Australia will need to use their regional broadcaster.
In the UK, the BBC will once again provide live, free-to-air coverage across TV, red button and BBC iPlayer. Elsewhere, free-to-air options include Sporza in Belgium, RAI in Italy, France Tรฉlรฉvisions in France, RTVE in Spain and NOS in the Netherlands.
How to watch the 2025 UCI Road World Championships in the UK
Viewers in the UK can watch live on BBC channels and BBC iPlayer. TNT Sports via Discovery+ also holds rights, with packages priced at ยฃ30.99 per month, giving access to the full Warner Bros. Discovery sports portfolio.
How to watch the 2025 UCI Road World Championships in the USA and Canada
FloBikes is the rights-holder for both the USA and Canada. A monthly subscription is USD $29.99 in the US, or CAD $39.99 in Canada, while annual passes cost USD $150 and CAD $203.88 respectively. FloBikes is available on web browsers, Roku, Fire TV, Chromecast, Apple TV, iOS and Android.
How to watch the 2025 UCI Road World Championships in Australia
Stan Sport will broadcast all events in Australia. Subscriptions start from AUD $12 per month, with the Sport add-on costing AUD $15 on top.
Watching abroad
If youโre travelling, geo-restrictions may block your access to your usual broadcaster. A Virtual Private Network (VPN) allows you to connect via your home country securely, letting you stream your usual service abroad. We currently rate ExpressVPN as the best balance of performance, streaming capability and price.
What to expect from Kigali 2025
The championships open on Sunday 21st September with the elite womenโs and menโs individual time trials, both of which feature punchy climbs and challenging elevation. Riders will face the Cรดte de Nyanza twice, 2.5km at 5.8% on the way out and 4.1km at 3.1% on the return. The finale includes the cobbled Cรดte de Kimihurura, 1.3km at 6.3%, which will also appear in the road race circuits later in the week.
The elite menโs road race on Sunday 28th September will be especially gruelling, with 267.5km and 5,475m of climbing – more than any Monument or Grand Tour stage this season. The elite womenโs road race takes place the day before, on Saturday 27th September, while Thursday 25th September brings the first-ever standalone U23 womenโs road race.
Key broadcast summary
- UK: BBC (free), TNT Sports / Discovery+ (ยฃ30.99/month)
- US: FloBikes (USD $29.99/month, USD $150/year)
- Canada: FloBikes (CAD $39.99/month, CAD $203.88/year)
- Australia: Stan Sport (AUD $12/month + AUD $15/month sport add-on)
- Free streams: UCI YouTube (geo-blocked in some regions), BBC iPlayer, Sporza, RAI, France Tรฉlรฉvisions, RTVE, NOS
The 2025 UCI Road World Championships will crown champions across 13 events in Kigali, with the elite womenโs time trial getting the week underway on 21st September and the elite menโs road race closing the curtain on 28th September.
