Following an outstanding edition of the UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships in Ronse, Belgium, in August, many of the world’s finest para-cyclists return to competition for the 2025 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships. The event will take place from 16 to 19 October in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The four-day event is on the fast Siberian pine of the Rio Olympic Velodrome which hosted the UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in 2018 and 2024. Watch some highlights from last year’s event in March here:
The 2024 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships saw the participation of 203 athletes (plus 46 tandem pilots) representing 39 nations. Nineteen nations shared the 134 medals, with eight countries taking gold. Great Britain was top ranked, with 32 medals (13 gold, 14 silver, 5 bronze); behind them was China with 19 (14 gold) and France also with 19 (12 gold). In Rio this year, 161 participants representing 37 nations are expected to race across the 48 events. But who will medal? The published Entry List gives us an idea of the favourites.
Thursday: time trials, scratch race and sprints
The action starts on Thursday 16 with several finals, including for the 1km time trials (TT). Among the favourites on the Entry List are Men’s C5 Paralympic silver medalist and 2024 UCI World Champion Blaine Hunt (GBR), along with fellow 2024 UCI World Championships medallists Alfonso Cabello Llamas (ESP) and Niels Verschaeren (BEL).
The Men’s C4 race is also set to feature the full 2024 UCI World Championships podium as Britain’s Jody Cundy defends against two Australians on the Entry List: 2024 silver medallist – and Paris Paralympic C4-5 Champion – Korey Boddington, and Michael Shippley, third last March.
We should also see 2024 UCI World Championships time trial podium athletes returning in MC1 – Mohamad Yusof Hafizi Shaharuddin (MAS); WC2 – Sabrina Custódia Da Silva (BRA); and WC5 – Nicole Murray (NZL).
The day also brings scratch race finals (MC2, WC3, WC4) and sprint finals including WC1 and MC3, culminating with the M/WB 750m tandem team sprint final.
Friday: WB individual pursuit final to close day 2
On Friday, 2024 UCI World Championships medallists Mel Pemble (CAN) and Aniek Van Den Aarssen (NED) take on the Australians Paige Greco and Emily Petricola in the WC3 1km time trial. Devon Briggs (NZL) and Finlay Graham (GBR) face off in the MC3 TT, as do Kadeena Cox (GBR) and Kate O’Brien (CAN) in WC4. MB 1km TT Paralympic Champion James Ball and pilot Steffan Lloyd (GBR) are on the Entry List alongside 18 other sight-impaired riders.
Scratch race finals also continue on day 2: look out for Spain’s Ricardo Ten Argiles (MC1) and Maike Hausberger (GER) in the WC2 event. 2024 UCI World Champion Nicole Murray (NZL) and runner-up Claudia Cretti (ITA) feature in the C5 elimination, as do their male counterparts Franz-Josef Lässer (AUT) and Lauro Cesar Mouro Chaman (BRA).
If all the favourites go through, Friday’s final event, the WB 4km individual pursuit final will pitch 2024 UCI World Champions Elizabeth Jordan and pilot Dannielle Khan against their British compatriots Sophie Unwin and pilot Jenny Holl, the Paralympic Champions.
Saturday: 12 finals on penultimate day
Saturday presents a series of elimination finals, and sprint finals for WC2, WC4, WC5 and MC5, as well as the MC4 10km scratch race that will see Frenchman Gatien Le Rousseau face Britain’s Archie Atkinson in a star-studded field.
There’s more action in the 1km time trials. The full Men’s C2 podium from the 2024 UCI World Championships is set to return: Alexandre Léauté (FRA), Gordon Allan (AUS) and Shota Kawamoto (JPN). The WB time trial will see UCI World and Paralympic Champions Jordan and Khan take on Unwin and Holl and the Australians Jessica Gallagher and Jacqui Mengler-Mohr.
Another Saturday highlight will be the MB individual pursuit, featuring UCI World and Paralympic silver and bronze medallists go head-to-head: Great Britain’s Stephen Bate and Christopher Latham versus Italy’s Lorenzo Bernard with pilot Paolo Toto.
Sunday: packed schedule for last day of competition
With 10km scratch race finals for MC5, MC3 and WC5, and elimination race finals for MC2, MC4, WC1-2 and WC4, along with MC1 and WC3 sprint finals, Sunday will be packed.
That’s before the tandem sprints. In the WB event, UCI World Champions Jordan and Khan take on 2024 silver medallists Unwin and Holl and the bronze medallists Gallagher with her pilot Mengler-Mohr. They’re followed by the MB race where Ball and Lloyd might look for a British double.
Sunday signs off with the C1-5 team sprint, as featured in the Paris Paralympics and with the participation of the nations on the Paris 2024 podium: winners Great Britain, silver medallists Spain and third-placed Australia. To whet the appetite for this curtain-closer, revisit the Team GB win in Paris.