News: GB for Road Worlds (Rwanda)

PIDCOCK, ONLEY AND HENDERSON TO LEAD GREAT BRITAIN CYCLING TEAM SQUAD AT HISTORIC 2025 UCI ROAD WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

News: GB for Road Worlds (Rwanda)

NEWS: PIDCOCK, ONLEY AND HENDERSON TO LEAD GREAT BRITAIN CYCLING TEAM SQUAD AT HISTORIC 2025 UCI ROAD WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS — British Cycling can announce the squad that has been selected to represent Great Britain at the 2025 UCI Road World Championships, the first ever to be held in Africa, in Kigali, Rwanda from Sunday 21st to Sunday 28th September.

Over eight days of competition, the 25-strong line up of proven talent and future stars will battle it out over gruelling parcours to prove themselves worthy of the coveted rainbow jersey. Leading the elite men’s road race will be two standout riders of this season Tom Pidcock and Oscar Onley. Both riders have had a stella 2025, with Pidcock securing his best Grand Tour finish, third in the Vuelta a Espana just last weekend, not to mention a MTB world cup win in Pal Arinsal and the European title.

Having made himself known at last year’s championships after getting into the breakaway and claiming the top British finish, Onley’s star has continued to rise. A standout performance at this summer’s Tour de France has turned heads to this young rider’s potential after he was regularly in the mix alongside the race leaders, eventually taking an astounding fourth place overall finish.

In what is being dubbed the ‘hardest UCI Road World Championships ever’, with a jaw-dropping 5,400m elevation gain in the men’s elite race, Pidcock and Onley will need a talented and dedicated team to help them target the rainbow bands. Fortunately, in an ever-growing pool of talent they will be joined by a group of committed domestiques who are willing to sacrifice it all over a gruelling 267.5km, in a bid to get their nation on the top podium step.

Fred Wright, who worked his way up the ranks alongside Pidcock, will use his tactical abilities to shepherd the squad safely through the early stages and into position for the later kms. Proven climbers James Knox and Mark Donovan will be using the experience honed whilst riding for their trade teams to push the pressure on the unforgiving climbs.

Bringing some specific topographic experience to the team will be Joe Blackmore, last year’s Tour du Rwanda winner, who knows the routes well and will be motivated to race back on the road he’s seen victory on before. Debutants Bjorn Koerdt and Oliver Knight, who have quickly risen up the ranks from development level and have shown promise coming into this race, will be asked a lot of in their first world championships, playing their part in British success.

Olympic time-trial silver medallist Anna Henderson will be the sole representative in the elite women’s category, after a year of positive results for the 26-year-old. Henderson will be looking to prove her mettle over the punchy 31.2km course in a bid to make her first world championships podium, having finished seventh and fourth in recent years.

Reigning under-23 national time-trial champion Callum Thornley will also be contesting the time-trial title, having achieved two stage wins at the Sibiu Tour with his pro team, as well as two top 10 finishes as part of GB’s L’Avenir squad last month. Having won back-to-back time-trial world titles as a junior, reigning elite TT national champion Zoe Backstedt will be making a welcome return to her national team as she contests the women’s under-23 time-trial for the first time. She will be joined by under-23 TT national champion, and elite women’s national champion Millie Couzens, who has seen her stock rise and rise this year.

This year brings an historic change to the world championships programme, with the first ever individual under-23 women’s road race taking place, in recognition of the strength and development of the peloton over recent years. Couzens will be leading the British team of growing talents including last year’s junior road-race champion Cat Ferguson and teammate Imogen Wolff who will be riding under-23 for the first time.

They will be joined by experienced riders Flora Perkins and Eilidh Shaw who, having ridden for Great Britain on many occasions, will be competing in the world championships at under-23 level for the first time. Both the junior men and women’s squads are made up of the country’s future stars, each with a strong chance of bringing home the rainbow bands.

Leading the women’s squad is current junior TT national champion Erin Boothman, who alongside her track successes this year has also achieved a nations cup win this season. In the time-trial she will be joined by Abi Miller who has also picked up a nations cup win alongside a number of podiums on the road. They will also be competing in the road race, where they will be joined by Arabella Blackburn, the only rider to have competed at world championships level before on the road, and newcomers Gabriella McHugh and Mabli Phillips.

On the men’s side, Dylan Sage will be taking on his second world championships as reigning junior time-trial champion. He will be taking his form in the discipline to contest the time-trial jersey, alongside debutant Max Hinds who’s had a number of road wins this year, including the Trophée Morbihan Junior Nations Cup. With a Liege-Bastogne-Liege Juniors win under his belt this year, Harry Hudson will join them for the road race, as will up-and-coming rider Matthew Peace.

Elite men
– Joe Blackmore
– Mark Donovan
– Oliver Knight
– James Knox
– Bjorn Koerdt
– Oscar Onley
– Tom Pidcock
– Fred Wright

Elite women
– Anna Henderson (TT only)

Under-23 men
– Callum Thornley

Under-23 women
– Zoe Backstedt (TT only)
– Millie Couzens (TT and RR)
– Cat Ferguson
– Flora Perkins
– Eilidh Shaw
– Imogen Wolff

Junior men
– Max Hinds (RR and TT)
– Harry Hudson
– Matthew Peace
– Dylan Sage (RR and TT)

Junior women
– Arabella Blackburn
– Erin Boothman (RR and TT)
– Gabriella McHugh
– Abi Miller (RR and TT)
– Mabli Phillips