Whoever placed a Flemish wall in the Tropics saw it right. The rest was done by Tadej, adding yet another masterclass on the short, rough and especially terrible stretch. The story, recent but vivid with world championship echoes, is well known: over 100 km remain to the finish line and the "conqueror" with the gentle face is in the mood for an exploit. He was coming from Mount Kigali, a GPM that inflamed the professional race, while to reach the area from the capital's center you head after a short journey (perhaps using a mototaxi) southward, toward the working-class neighborhood of Civugiza, known for its market. Now, that wall which will be tackled on Saturday during the Musanze-Kigali race, has rightfully entered and with a prominent place among the "Pogacar Places". And forgive the stylistic license, because we're already waiting to see where the champion will paint his next masterpiece.

We rely on the local oracle Rafiki, racing on wheel changes after so many years with a number on his back: "When in 2009 the Tour du Rwanda made the quality leap, becoming 2.1., that climb still didn't have the cobblestone paving blocks. The dirt road was part of the final kilometers of my training runs, heading toward Mount Kigali. There was a proposal to the organizers and it was soon inserted—how could we pass up the Mur for the World Championships?" The wall, a unique crowd attractor, will be tackled less than 3 km from the finish expected at Pele Stadium, around which children and young people from Rafiki's Academy train every Saturday. Not to be missed. Pogacar's name will also be mentioned on Sunday, because two laps of the World circuit will be proposed, including the cobbled climb of Kimihura. Prelude to the solo finish of the elite road race on Sunday, September 28, 2025—that climb also belongs, to be fair, to the "Remco Places": in the Elite time trial, Remco Evenepoel took his shot and pulled off the overtake. The film was worth the price of admission, wasn't it?