UCI World and Paralympic Champions ignite the 2025 UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup

Action in Ostend and Bruges

Four days of intense competition at the first round of the 2025 UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup in Belgium concluded on Sunday 4 May. Athletes from 41 nations raced on the roads of Ostend for the individual time trials (ITT) and Bruges for the road races road races across tandem, cycle, handbike and tricycle sport classes. Throughout the four days of racing, UCI World Champions and Paris 2024 Paralympic Champions lit up – but did not necessarily win – each event.

Ostend provides stage for time trials

Thursday 1st May was dedicated to the ITT – raced around the 7.3km ‘lolipop’ course along the sea front in Ostend – for the men’s and women’s handbike and tricycle sport classes.

Florian Jouanny (FRA) reversed the order from the 2024 UCI World Championships in Zurich, Switzerland, beating Spain’s Sergio Garrote Muñoz in the Men’s H2 race, while Mathieu Bosredon (FRA) won the three-lap H3 in rainbow stripes. Jonas Van De Steene won the H4 on home soil, and in the H5 Mitch Valize (NED) got the better of France’s Loïc Vergnaud, just as he did in the Paris Paralympic Games, and in Zurich.

Paris silver medalist Lauren Parker (AUS) took to the top step in the women’s two-lap H3 race, while in H4 Svetlana Moshkovich beat her fellow Austrian, Cornelia Wibmer. Chantal Haenen ensured it was double Dutch on the day in rainbow bands, winning the Women H5 sport class.

In the men’s tricycle racing, Great Britain’s Felix Barrow (T2) lived up to expectations by winning with the rainbow jersey on his shoulders while UCI World Champion Marieke Van Soest (NED) showed her superiority in the women’s T1 classification, and Paralympic Champion Emma Lund (DEN) was unmatchable in T2.

More champions went into battle as the ITTs continued on Friday. In the men’s four-lap C5 race, 19-year-old American sensation Elouan Gardon got the better of 40-year-old UCI World and Paralympic Champion Daniel Abraham Gebru (NED).

It was a repeat of the Paris podium in the men’s C2: France’s Alexandre Léauté beating Belgium’s UCI World Champion Ewoud Vromant and Australia’s Darren Hicks.

The MC1 race saw Germany’s 57-year-old Michael Teuber – silver medalist in Zurich – beat Poland’s 52-year-old Zbigniew Maciejewski by less than one tenth of a second

In the three-lap women’s C5, Germany’s Kerstin Brachtendorf – bronze medalist at the 2024 UCI Road and Para-cycling World Championships – took silver behind the 2023 UCI World Champion Alana Forster (AUS).

The WC4 race saw another Aussie triumph as Meg Lemon got the better of USA’s Samantha Bosco, reversing the order from Paris. And in the WC1, Tahlia Clayton-Goodie edged out fellow Australian Kaitlyn Schurmann.

In the four-lap tandem races, the Netherlands’ UCI World and Paralympic Champion Tristan Bangma took top spot in the men’s ITT, ahead of the Frenchmen Elie De Carvalho (2nd) and Alexandre Lloveras (3rd). The women’s tandem competition against the clock saw Ireland’s reigning UCI World Champion and Paris silver-medalist Katie-George Dunlevy dominate proceedings.

Road races: many athletes double up in Bruges

Saturday was the first of two days of road races, on an 11.7km loop in Bruges. On the tricycles, Italy’s Giorgio Farroni reversed the order from the men’s T1 ITT, outsprinting Korea’s Junyoung Park. Paris bronze medalist Tim Celens took the men’s T2 win on home soil. Marieke Van Soest and Emma Lund made it double wins in three days in the WT1 and WT2 sport classes, respectively.

Success in Saturday’s road races rewarded a number of handbike riders with ITT-road race doubles for the first round of the 2025 UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup: the Netherlands’ Mitch Valize (MH5) and Chantal Haenen (WH5), Frenchmen Florian Jouanny (H2) and Mathieu Bosredon (H3) along with Italy’s Roberta Amadeo (WH2), USA’s Barry Wilcox (MH1) and Spain’s Manuela Vos Van Den Bouwhuijsen (WH1).

The men’s nine-lap tandem road race on Sunday saw the top seven all awarded the same time, with Italy’s Lorenzo Bernard first across the line. Poland’s Patrycja Kuter stepped up from 5th in the ITT to take top sport in the women’s tandem road race, putting a 3-minute, 31-second gap into the chasing field over the seven laps.

The road races in the C sport classes saw more riders complete road race – time trial doubles: Frenchman Thomas Tarou (C1), Canada’s Alexandre Hayward (MC3), Germany’s Maike Hausberger (WC2), USA’s Clara Brown (WC3), and, with a solo masterclass, Australia’s Tahlia Clayton-Goodie (WC1).

Among Sunday’s other road race winners were UCI World Champions Samantha Bosco (USA) in WC4 and France’s Alexandre Léauté in MC2.

France finishes on a high

The 13.5km handbike mixed team relay also took place in Bruges, over nine laps of a 1.5km circuit. It was the French trio of Riadh Tarsim, Florian Jouanny and Joseph Fritsch (Jouanny and Fritsch are UCI World Champions in the specialty along with Johan Quaile), who succeeded, ahead of the chasing Australian and Italian teams.

It meant that France extended their lead at the top of the nations ranking table, with a final tally of 25 medals (12 gold, 9 silver, 4 bronze) ahead of the Netherlands (15 medals), and Italy (13 medals).

The riders face off again in Round 2 of the 2025 UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup in Maniago, Italy, on May 15-18.

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.