2025 Cycling World Championships: European Parliament calls for cancellation

David Lappartient, President of the UCI (Ansa)

Rome, 24 February 2025 - There is no peace for the 2025 Cycling World Championships , despite the fact that the event is still several months away. The world championship scheduled to take place in Kigali from 21 to 28 September , which has long been disliked by several national teams due to the high costs of travel and doubts about the security issue, has now ended up in the crosshairs of the European Parliament , which has asked the European Union by a large majority to cancel the event.

The reasons behind the European Parliament's vote

The situation at those latitudes that should (at this point the conditional is a must) host the first World Cycling Championships in Africa has worsened since January, that is, since the action of the M23 rebels began in the Kivu area, in Congo , bordering Rwanda . The bulletin is already a bloodbath that speaks of 3000 deaths and over 500 thousand displaced people . Rwanda itself would have a lot to do with the dramatic story and not only because of the geographical proximity: the rebels, engaged in the very rich mining areas of Kivu for the extraction and export of cobalt, gold and tin, would in fact be supported by the central government of the country chosen by the UCI to host a historic event next September. Even ethically, therefore, the story could not go unnoticed by politics, with the first move being made by the European Parliament : 443 votes in favor and 4 against the request to the European Union to cancel the event. This is the story of September. In fact, cycling is already at those latitudes today for the Tour of Rwanda , which began yesterday and is scheduled to run until March 2. The air is not exactly the most serene, because a couple of stages, not coincidentally at risk of cancellation, touch the red zones, those very close to Kivu . Congo , a former colony of Belgium , was the key to entry into the European Parliament affair: in the crosshairs is the immediate suspension of the EU-Rwanda memorandum of understanding on raw materials, at least until the country in question demonstrates that it has put an end to interference, withdrawing troops from Congo , ceasing to support the M23 rebels and not exporting the minerals extracted from the areas under the control of the guerrillas themselves.

The Uci's response

The 29th decision presented concerns the World Championships , instead confirmed by the Uci through the words of president David Lappartient to the microphones of Cycling News . "There is no plan B. The Kigali event will be special first of all because the Federation will celebrate its 125th birthday and then because for the first time we will be in Africa . This was my dream, my goal when I was elected president and now it is about to become reality". With the hope, due to the many problems, that the dream does not become a nightmare. "We are working with the Rwandan government to try to organize charter flights to reduce costs and we hope that all African nations will participate. Cycling in that continent is in full expansion and will continue to do so: it is up to us to try to help the riders to realize their dream, as Biniam Girmay did".