Söderqvist dominates ahead of incredibly close battle for positions 2 through 10 in hilly Kigali time trial.
Updated September 22, 2025 09:12AM
Swedish powerhouse Jakob Söderqvist steamrollered the hills outside of Kigali to claim the rainbow stripes in the U23 men’s world championship time trial on Monday.
The strapping rouleur was more than one-minute faster than second-place Kiwi racer Nate Pringle, with Frenchman Maxime Decomble in third.
Söderqvist, who steps up from Lidl-Trek’s devo team to its WorldTour squad in 2026, was literally head and shoulders above the opposition in Monday’s lumpy 31km TT.
The 22-year-old paced the first half to perfection before putting more than 30 seconds into his rivals across the final split.
Söderqvist’s 1:04 winning margin belied how tight the rest of the field was Monday.
Pringle and Decomble were split by one-fifth of a second, and positions 2 through 10 were separated by less than a minute in the final standings.
USA’s Cole Kessler – who races alongside Söderqvist at Lidl-Trek – finished only 15 seconds from the top-10 with his 11th place finish.
Victory on Monday closes a chapter for Söderqvist.
The 22-year-old finished seventh in the U23 time trial worlds in 2023, and was second behind outgoing champ Iván Romeo of Spain last year in Zürich.
Söderqvist will join Movistar rider Romeo in the WorldTour ranks – and the senior world championships – in 2026.
Full results U23 men’s individual time trial