Marlen Reusser will chase Demi Vollering while defending champion Remco Evenepoel is last to roll out for the men
Belgium's Remco Evenepoel on his way to winning the individual time trial title at the 2025 UCI Road World Championships in Kigali, Rwanda(Image credit: Getty Images)
The 99th edition of the UCI Road World Championships, in Montréal, will get underway on Sunday, September 20, with the elite men’s and women’s individual time trials.
The elite women and men will race the same 39.9-km course around Montréal, taking in the Gilles-Villeneuve Circuit and Parc Jean-Drapeau before crossing the Concorde Bridge into the city centre. The route with 195 metres of elevation gain, begins with a short downhill section before settling into flatter terrain for most of the race. The final challenge comes with a 400-metre climb averaging 6.1%, leading directly to the finish line at Parc Jeanne-Mance.
The elite women are first up, and the first rider to leave the start ramp will be Zimbabwe’s Skye Davidson at 9:19:30 local time (14:30 BST/15:30 CEST). All eyes will be on the national road and time trial champion and after her, riders will set off at 1:30 intervals.
The elite women’s title seems to be destined to be an intriguing battle between Demi Vollering (Netherlands) and defending champion Marlen Reusser (Germany). Vollering is the second-to-last rider to start, at 10:28:30, and is followed by Reusser, who takes on the race against the clock at 10:30:00.
Only 21, Great Britain’s Zoe Bäckstedt has opted to race in the elite field, and will start just before Vollering.
Other riders to watch include France’s Cédrine Kerbaol at 10:07:30 and Juliette Berthet at 10:21:00, Pan-American TT champion Kristen Faulkner (USA) at 10:19:30, and Germany’s Antonia Niedermaier at 10:24:00.
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In the elite men’s race, Gil Gomes, from Guinea-Bissau, will be the first rider to roll down the start ramp at 13:00:00. As in the women’s race, the elite men will start at 1:30-minute intervals.
Defending champion Remco Evenepoel of Belgium and Italy’s Filippo Ganna, who have won five of the past six world time trial titles, will certainly be the ones to watch on Sunday. Ganna, the second-to-last rider, takes off at 14:28:30 (19:28 BST/20:28 CEST) and will be followed by Evenepoel at 14:30:00, favoured to win his fourth title.
Another strong time trial specialist, Switzerland's Stefan Küng begins his attempt at 14:24. He will be followed by France’s Bruno Amirail and Ethan Hayter of Great Britain.
Other riders to watch include France’s Paul Seixas at 14:07:30, Sweden’s Jakob Söderqvist at 14:18:00 and Mexico’s Isaac del Toro at 14:22:30 and Mathias Vacek (Czechia) at 14:10:30.
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Lyne has been involved in professional cycling for more than 15 years in both news reporting and sports marketing. She founded Podium Insight in 2008, quickly becoming a trusted source for news of the North American professional cycling world. She was the first to successfully use social media to consistently provide timely and live race updates for all fans. She is proud to have covered men's and women's news equally during her tenure at the helm of the site. Her writing has appeared on Cyclingnews and other news sites.
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