Australia defended its mixed Rrlay crown at the 2025 UCI road world championships, narrowly holding off France on Kigali’s demanding terrain. The Aussies finished five seconds clear of the French, while Switzerland, hampered by a mechanical issue for star rider Marlen Reusser, claimed bronze 18 seconds back.
The relay covered 42.4 km , with teams of three men and three women each completing a 21.2 km loop. Riders departed from Kigali’s Convention Centre, tackling rolling roads before hitting the Côte de Nyanza (2.5 km at 5.8 per cent) and the Côte de Kimihurara (1.3 km at 6.3 per cent). After cresting the climbs, men rode an additional 900 m back to the convention centre to hand over to their female teammates.
Several cycling nations, including Canada, skipped the mixed relay.
France entered a powerful lineup—Maeva Squiban, Juliette Labous, and Cedrine Kerbaol for the women, Bruno Armirail, Paul Seixas, and Pavel Sivakov for the men—and were among the favourites, though they started later in the day.
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China posted the fastest time of the opening wave, but stronger nations soon followed. Spain and Belgium fielded competitive squads, though Belgium’s men quickly fell behind when Florian Vermeersch was dropped on one of the climbs, leaving Victor Campenaerts and Jonathan Vervenne to fend for themselves. The duo finished 23 seconds behind Spain’s men (Ivan Roméo, Raúl García Pierna, Héctor Álvarez). Belgium’s women—Marieke Meert, Tess Moerman, and Julie Van De Velde—could not close the gap, leaving Spain in control after two legs and Belgium nearly two-and-a-half minutes adrift.
The final wave saw the Swiss men (Stefan Küng, Jan Christen, Mauro Schmid) clock almost 30 seconds faster than Spain, briefly taking the lead. France then narrowly surpassed them by less than a second. Italy fell short by 14 seconds, but Australia’s men (Michael Matthews, Jay Vine, Luke Plapp) went fastest. That meant their female trio—Brodie Chapman, Amanda Spratt, Felicity Wilson-Haffenden—already had a 33-second cushion over France.
The Swiss women started strongly, moving ahead of France at the next checkpoint, but Reusser’s mechanical problems left Noemi Rüegg and Jasmin Liechti to continue alone, losing valuable time. Reusser later rejoined at the front, clawing back some seconds, but France’s Labous and Squiban held firm, finishing five seconds behind the…
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