What a year it has been for British cyclists. In May, Simon Yates won the Giro d’Italia in the most sensational of ways. In July, the 22-year-old Scotsman Oscar Onley went wheel-to-wheel with Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard at the Tour de France. Then this month, Tom Pidcock achieved something many previously thought unlikely and finished on the podium at La Vuelta.
On Friday, the 18-year-old Harry Hudson became the first British rider to win the men’s junior road race at the Road World Championships, attacking solo with 36km to go. Earlier this week, Zoe Backstedt, 21, dominated the women’s under-23 time-trial by 1min 51sec. Matthew Brennan, 20, has won 12 races in his first season as a professional for Visma-Lease a Bike. Paul Double won the Tour of Slovakia after turning pro at the “grand old age” of 28, Ben Turner took a stage of La Vuelta and Josh Tarling vanquished the Giro d’Italia’s stage two time-trial.
The days of British talent relying on one pathway through Team Sky/Ineos Grenadiers are over, a fact that becomes apparent when one looks at the men’s elite road race line-up for Team GB at this year’s World Championships. Pidcock, of Q36.5, and Onley, of Picnic PostNL, lead the way, with Fred Wright (Bahrain-Victorious), Mark Donovan (Q36.5), James Knox (Soudal-Quick-Step), Joe Blackmore (Israel-Premier Tech), Oliver Knight (Cofidis) and Bjoern Koerdt (Picnic). Not an Ineos rider in sight.
That is in no big part due to the nature of this year’s route; at 270km and 5,500m of elevation, it is arguably the hardest World Championship course ever. Over 15 laps around Kigali, Rwanda — all above about 1,500m in altitude — the riders will take on cobbles and 35 categorised climbs, including one “extension” lap taking in an ascent of Mount Kigali (6km at 7 per cent). It is one for the climbers, one for the riders who can take the hard and attritional days at altitude in the hills, and the team selection reflects that.
When the road race takes place on Sunday, Pidcock will be only three weeks from the end of a tough Vuelta in which the 26-year-old from Leeds often looked the equal of Vingegaard and João Almeida. How he has recovered since then will play a big part in whether or not he can be competitive.
“I think I’ve never finished a grand tour in such good condition, it’s been a tricky balance to make sure I’m recovered and also training,” Pidcock said on Friday. “The cobbles are tougher than I thought they were going to be — 15 times up them is gonna be pretty tough.”
Pidcock climbs the cobbles on the Wall of Kigali
DAVID RAMOS/GETTY IMAGES
Onley, meanwhile, was able to stick it out with Pogacar and Vingegaard on the Col de la Loze during stage 18 of the Tour. He finished fourth overall, announcing himself as one of Britain’s great new Tour de France hopes. How he fares in one-day races is less well known.
“I go into every race wanting and believing I can win or do a really good result. Sunday is no different,” Onley said. “It’s a really hard route. We rode it a few days ago. The climbs are really hard, but actually the rest of the circuit is quite wide roads, nothing too technical and you can really recover there. I think it’s more the conditions that will affect the race.”
Onley has become one of Britain’s next great Tour de France hopes
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Although there is only one big ascent up Mount Kigali, the repeated effects of 35 climbs and the cobbles of Cote de Kimihurura will whittle down the peloton to a small group. Of course, the defending champion, Pogacar, is the favourite. And though he showed some signs of weakness during the men’s elite time-trial, being caught by Remco Evenepoel who started 2min 30sec after him, he expects to be at full strength.
“I expect a lot from my legs, and we should aim for the best result,” Pogacar said on Thursday. “I’ve got used to the environment, the altitude, the weather, just everything, so now the legs are turning pretty well every day.”
Pidcock thinks the 27-year-old Slovenian will be a man on a mission this Sunday. “With what happened in the time-trial, [Pogacar] wants to prove something, doesn’t he?” Evenepoel is also a big threat after his dominant time-trial display to take his third rainbow-banded jersey in a row in that discipline. He has clearly adapted well to conditions in Rwanda and is in excellent form with a strong Belgian team around him.
Evenepoel has looked in excellent form in Rwanda
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Isaac del Toro, the 21-year-old from Mexico, is the third-favourite, despite being still eligible to race the under-23 category. He managed fifth in the elite men’s time-trial and despite almost winning the Giro d’Italia and taking 13 race victories this season, he said: “I’m starting with the idea that I’m the worst rider in the peloton. I’m probably not, but this way I find that I can focus better during my training.”
Pidcock is fourth-favourite and likes it tough. One of his favourite races is Amstel Gold, in the Ardennes, which he won in 2024 — a race of 254km with 33 categorised climbs and 3,300m of elevation. If he can stick with the lead group over the ascent of Mount Kigali, he may be in with a shot. “We’re here to do well. I wouldn’t travel all the way to Africa if I didn’t think that I could perform,” he said.
And if not Pidcock, why not Onley? He has shown he can take the punches and still keep going against the very best in the world in the hardest of conditions.
Working in the Britons’ favour is that national teams are often less coherent than World Tour squads. It will be harder for Pogacar, for example, to control the race from start to finish with his Slovenian team — and no race radios — like he might with UAE Team Emirates.
Onley and Pidcock, from smaller teams, are masters of positioning and riding alone when they need to — they’ll just need to hang on until the end.