Tadej Pogacar has already tested the road race course in Kigali in recent days and yesterday he was able to do a reconnaissance of the time trial course, which some specialists have already described as not too technical and very fast. Pogacar will have to defend his world champion jersey in the road race, but he also wants to do well in the time trial and measure himself against Remco Evenepoel, the big favorite for the gold medal. The Slovenian's best placement in a world time trial was sixth in Australia, but that course was not to his liking. Today he will celebrate his twenty-seventh birthday and it cannot be ruled out that he wants to give himself a very special medal. As for other time trials, we've seen him win at the Giro d'Italia in the Foligno time trial, ahead of Filippo Ganna and Magnus Sheffield over 40 km, and then at the Tour de France he won the time trial in Nice in 2024 and then the mountain time trial in Peyragudes this year and at La Planche des Belles Filles in 2020. "There won't be moments to rest because the course is very fast - he said yesterday after the reconnaissance -: there are no very technical sections on the course. It seems like a simple route, with many climbs, I'd say around three and a half percent".

The course on the streets of Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, will be 40.6 km long, with 718 meters of elevation gain, reaching an altitude of 1654 m and a maximum gradient of 9.4%.

Remco Evenepoel had also said that the course was very fast and that in the descent one must continue pedaling. Certainly the Belgian champion with his two world titles in this specialty will be the number one favorite for the gold medal, but Pogacar wants to do well and measuring himself against strong riders like Evenepoel is always a stimulus for him to do better. "With a course like this, you have to push everywhere, even downhill you have to go fast and it won't be possible to catch your breath. I hope my legs are in good condition and then I'll enjoy this race trying to always give my best".

The course is very fast and during yesterday's reconnaissance Pogacar reached 85 km/h in the descent and expects a slightly higher speed on Sunday.

Regarding Rwanda, the Slovenian champion likes what he has seen so far, especially the people, who have welcomed him with great affection. "For now I'm doing well, the air is a bit heavy, but the people are really very friendly. I must say there's a lot of traffic in the city, while going outside we found much less and I can say that I still felt quite safe. Much more than in any other European country".

Among Pogacar's rivals, besides Evenepoel, there will be Australians Luke Plapp and Jay Vine who can aim for a podium spot, while the course might be a bit harder for Swiss specialist Stefan Küng. Among the outsiders, there's the eighteen-year-old French rider Paul Seixas, world junior champion in this discipline, and also Mexican Isaac del Toro and Spaniard Ivan Romeo could give us some nice surprises.