The decision to stage the 2025 UCI Road World Championships in Kigali, Rwanda, was initially celebrated as the broadening of cycling’s horizons beyond its traditional European heartland, but as the event draws nearer, concerns are mounting over Worlds taking place within a few hours’ drive of an armed conflict just over the border in neighboring Congo, a conflict in which Rwanda is reportedly playing a role.
A little less than eight months out from the scheduled start of the World Championships on September 21, Het Laatste Nieuws and La Dernière Heure reported this week that the UCI is considering moving the event to Switzerland. On Friday, the UCI released a statement clarifying that it is “closely monitoring” the situation and its potential impacts, but intends to hold the event as planned.
Controversy and concern have featured in the buildup to Kigali Worlds for some time. In late 2023, multiple members of the Rwandan Cycling Federation resigned amid a corruption scandal, and over the past few months, various national federations have indicated that they will not send full contingents of riders to Worlds due to the cost of travel and logistical challenges. The Netherlands and Denmark announced that they will not bring any under-19 or under-23 riders to Rwanda, while Cycling Ireland will send only a men’s elite team to Worlds, with men’s and women’s U19 and U23 and elite women headed instead to the European Championships, held the week after Worlds.
Now, however, the plan to stage the event there at all seems increasingly uncertain amid escalation in the conflict between the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the March 23 Movement (M23), a rebel group operating near the DRC’s eastern borders.
An M23 offensive recently led to the capture of North Kivu’s capital, Goma, and the conflict only seems to be escalating. As of publication time, Reuters reports that the M23 is advancing south towards Bukavu, the capital of the neighboring South Kivu province, which also borders Rwanda.
The UN and several individual nations say that Rwanda, under president Paul Kagame, is backing the rebels, although Rwanda denies it; UN undersecretary for peacekeeping Jean-Pierre Lacroix told the BBC that Rwanda’s support includes direct military involvement. “There was no question that there are Rwandan troops in Goma supporting the M23,” he said.
The DRC says it has broken off diplomatic relations with Rwanda, and its foreign minister called the capture of Goma “a declaration of war” by Rwanda. Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced by the fighting, and international organizations like the United Nations human rights office and Amnesty International have documented case of sexual violence, extrajudicial killings, and other atrocities perpetrated by both the Congolese Army and the M23.
In its statement on Friday, the UCI pointed out that “the ongoing conflict is confined to the DRC, and Rwanda remains entirely safe for tourism and business.” While fighting has indeed taken place within the DRC up to this point, and while Kigali is some distance – roughly 160 km by car – from the border crossing at Goma, Rwanda’s involvement in the conflict raises questions about the longer-term stability of the region set to host Worlds later this year.
Amid those concerns over the conflict, Belgian media outlets report that the UCI has a backup plan of moving the World Championships to Martigny in Switzerland, near the UCI headquarters in Aigle. The 2020 World Championships were initially set to take place in the Aigle-Martigny area, but the event was moved to Imola, Italy, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Road Worlds did ultimately come to Switzerland four years later as Zurich hosted the most recent event.
Although the governing body said on Friday that “no relocation of the 2025 UCI Road World Championships from Rwanda to Switzerland or any other location is planned at this time,” the UCI’s statement was not necessarily a denial that contingency plans are being considered. What’s more, given that the 2020 change of venue to Imola, Italy was undertaken just a month and a half after the UCI announced that Worlds would not be taking place in Aigle, there could still be time for organizers to move the 2025 event should it prove necessary.
In short: For now, it seems that the UCI is content to downplay concerns over the location of the World Championships while committing to the current plan, but that could change as the situation in the African Great Lakes region continues to unfold.
In the meantime, the Tour du Rwanda will contend with the more immediate concern of racing much closer to the conflict region, and much sooner. The UCI 2.1-rated event, held February 23-March 2, is set to finish in Rubavu, just 15 km by road from Goma, while another stage starts in Rusizi district, adjacent to M23 objective Bukavu.
Initially, the startlist for the Tour du Rwanda includes ProTeams Israel-Premier Tech and TotalEnergies, plus Continental development teams for Soudal-Quick Step, UAE Team Emirates-XRG, Picnic-PostNL and Lotto, and a number of Continental and national teams from African countries. Reporting for his Global Peloton newsletter, Dan Challis said a source told him it’s possible some European teams may back out, but that short of a formal declaration of war between Rwanda and the DRC, the race should continue.
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