The second day of the 2025 UCI Road World Championships saw more standout performances in the individual time trials, following the victories of Remco Evenepoel and Marlen Reusser on the opening day.
On Monday morning, the women’s under-23 riders tackled the hilly course around Kigali. Britain’s Zoe Bäckstedt secured another world title, beating Slovakia’s Viktória Chladoňová into second place and Italy’s Federica Venturelli into third.
Later in the day, Sweden’s Jakob Söderqvist dominated the men’s under-23 event. The 20-year-old, who was runner-up to Spain’s Ivan Romeo in Zurich last year, claimed his first rainbow jersey. New Zealand’s Nate Pringle took silver, while France’s Maxime Decomble secured bronze.
Jakob Söderqvist of Sweden won the men’s under-23 time trial at the 2025 UCI Road World Championships in Kigali, Rwanda, claiming his first rainbow jersey with a dominant ride.
The 20-year-old completed the 31.2km course in 38 minutes 24 seconds, finishing 1 minute 4 seconds ahead of second-placed Nate Pringle of New Zealand.
Ed in
New Zealand’s Nate Pringle took silver
France’s Maxime Decomble took bronze, just 0.17 seconds behind Pringle.
Racing the event for the third year in a row, Söderqvist improved on his previous results of second in 2024 and seventh in 2023. He celebrated across the line after building his lead throughout the course and pulling away on the final uphill section.
The action began with Rwanda’s Etienne Tuyizere setting the first benchmark of 43:37. Slovenia’s Jaka Marolt later lowered that time to 42:13, before Poland’s Mateusz Gajdulewicz became the first rider to dip under 40 minutes with 39:52. Canada’s Jonas Walton briefly moved into the lead with 39:50, before Pringle set the best time of 39:28.
With the favourites still to ride, Pringle’s lead looked vulnerable. Decomble came close on the final climb but missed silver by a fraction of a second. Söderqvist, meanwhile, was in a class of his own, going through the first 11km 23 seconds faster than anyone else and extending his advantage at every checkpoint. By the finish, he had more than doubled his margin to secure a convincing victory.
Speaking after the race, Söderqvist said: “After finishing second in Zurich, I set this as my goal. This was the one thing in the U23 category that I cared about most. I trusted my pacing and my feeling, and it worked.”
Söderqvist, who will join Lidl-Trek’s WorldTour team in 2026, said the preparations for the event had been his main focus all season. “It was not the easiest one to pace, but I knew what I was going to do. I know I can depend on my feeling – I know that I am a time trial specialist, and it’s the pacing that makes it.”
Cycling fans in Kigali support their home teams with national flags.
