A total of 14 UCI World Champion titles were won on Thursday 28 August, the first of four days at the 2025 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships in Ronse, Belgium.
A day of time trials opened the action, and while there were many familiar faces retaining and regaining the rainbow jerseys, what impressed most was the diversity of the field with para-cyclists from a record number of nations competing, and a record number of nations represented on the podium.
No fewer than 36 nations were represented by riders on handbikes and tricycles on Day 1, alphabetically from Australia through to Venezuela.
Medal-winning nations
Riders from seven nations were awarded gold medals – Australia, Austria, Belgium, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Switzerland –, with Italy boasting day one rainbow jerseys in three events: Giorgio Farroni (MT1), Roberta Amadeo (WH2) and Fabrizio Cornegliani (MH1).
And there were riders from a further seven nations collecting silver or bronze medals: Germany, Great Britain, South Africa, South Korea, Thailand, the USA and Uzbekistan.
A world of fast-emerging nations
So far, many of the titles have been won – and a number retained – by experienced riders from the more established para-cycling nations. But more and more athletes from other nations are now benefitting from such highly- competitive events to challenge these figureheads. The likes of Latvia, Mexico, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Venezuela might not be picking up medals on the stage today, but they are making immeasurable strides towards the days when they surely do.
France, Italy and Germany each collected five medals, and the overall nations medal table battle is already hotly contested.
Reactions from some of the 2025 UCI Para-cycling Road World Champions…
What it means to the winners
“It’s unbelievable, it’s my fourth [UCI] World title, my second one in the time trial. It’s very beautiful,” said a proud Tim Celen (T2), as he collected his gold medal in an emotional ceremony on home soil.
“It was a very hard race, I was very happy with my performance, it went just as I planned,” said Switzerland’s WT2 time trial UCI World Champion Celine van Till, who also praised her new coach after switching following a successful Paris 2024 Paralympics campaign. It was her third consecutive rainbow jersey in the time trial.
“The power output was exactly what I’d trained so I had a really good run up to the event,” said Austria’s retaining MH4 ITT UCI World Champion, Thomas Frühwirth. “It was a really nice course, fast, a little hilly, with some technical passages. It was perfect for me.”
“It’s incredible to win for a fifth time in a row,” said the Netherlands’ MH5 time trial UCI World Champion, Mitch Valize. “It was a tough race, with the wind, especially in the first part of the race, but yeah, it feels great to win. Especially with last year, the title in Paris in the Paralympic Games as well as Zurich, the UCI World Championships, the pressure was on me to retain the title, and it feels great.”
“For me it’s an emotional win, because it is in the land of cycling,” said Italy’s MT1 2025 UCI World Champion Giorgio Farroni. “It’s very good, very beautiful, and the circuit was very good for my characteristics.”
“Today for me the hard part was the wind, to control my bike,” said the Netherlands’ Chantal Haenen – 2024 WH5 UCI World ITT Champion. “It was manageable, but the wind was pretty hard!”
Catch the best podium shots from today's action at #Ronse2025. 🌈
— UCI Para-Cycling (@UCI_paracycling) August 28, 2025
📸 SWpix#ParaCycling #Ronse2025 pic.twitter.com/4CDCT8SFH7
The individual time trials continue on Friday with the tandem and cycle classes, before the road races follow over the weekend.
Full results and race analyses
Para cycling sport classes
C – Cycle: conventional bike with adaptations if necessary
T – Tricycle: three-wheeled bike
B – Tandem: for visually impaired athletes with sighted pilot
H – Handcycle
Groups C (1-5), T (1-2) and H (1-5) are divided into different sport classes, with the lower the number indicating a higher level of impairment.