The 2025 UCI Road World Championships in Kigali, Rwanda started with a bang on Sunday as the elite women rolled the time trial before the elite men got at it. A preview of the hilly Kigali week, the elite women’s route produced a gold medalist in Marlen Reusser of Switzerland, who added gold to two silvers and a bronze won since 2020. Canadian champion Olivia Baril, a teammate of Reusser’s, came 20th.
The Course
The elite women faced three hills, Cote de Nyanza, where the first intermediate time was taken, Nyanza again from the longer, milder side, and finally the taxing, cobbled Cote de Kimihurura, which crested just over a kilometer from the finish line.
Contenders
Last year’s champ Grace Brown had retired, but 2023 victor Chloe Dygart, last season’s bronze, was in Rwanda, as was 2024 silver medalist Demi Vollering. Canada’s sole entrant was Baril.
Reusser hasn’t come below runner-up in five stage race GC’s in her first year with Movistar, including second at the Giro d’Italia, where she took the chrono. She won the Tour de Suisse.
The first to launch indoors to a chorus of drumming was Rwandan Xaverine Nirere, and riders from Kenya, Tanzania Botswana and Uganda were in the first 10. Baril was 21st to roll.
Nirere was in the hot seat with 50:07 until Italy’s Soraya Paladin hit 48:36. Immediately after that China’s Hao Zhang stopped the clock at 47:23. Norwegian Sigrid Ytterhus Haugset achieved 46:24.
Vollering’s compatriot, ex-teammate and now rival Anna van der Breggen has enjoyed a great comeback season in 2025. The 2020 champion made the best times at all three intermediate checks and then recorded 44:01. Baril was fourth at this point.
Reusser was going great guns on the course, 28 seconds up on van der Breggen at Checkpoint 2 and 23 seconds to the good at Checkpoint 3. The Swiss rider posted 43:09. Van der Breggen snagged the silver and Vollering bagged the bronze.
2025 Kigali World Championships, Elite Women’s Time Trial
Gold) Marlen Reusser (Switzerland) 43:09
Silver) Anna van der Breggen (The Netherlands) +0:51
Bronze) Demi Vollering (The Netherlands) +1:04
20) Olivia Baril (Canada) +4:34
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