Without Wout van Aert but with strong support for Evenepoel: These are Belgium’s World Championship selections for Rwanda
CyclingTuesday, 02 September 2025 at 15:08
The Belgian federation has announced its selections for the World Cycling Championships in Rwanda. As expected, it is counting on Remco Evenepoel as the leader of the men's team and is supporting the Belgian, who is leaving for Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, with a solid squad of seven. In the women's team, Lotte Kopecky's absence is remarkable.
Evenepoel is making his comeback this week after dropping out of the Tour de France in July. After a long period of rumors, the current Soudal Quick-Step rider saw his transfer to Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe made official, after which he turned his attention to the fall. The World Championships in Rwanda are a major goal.
The Belgian will receive considerable support in pursuit of that goal. Familiar support, as the Belgian federation has also (for now) selected his teammate Ilan Van Wilder. With Cian Uijtdebroeks (Visma | Lease a Bike), the Belgian selection has added even more climbing power.
Furthermore, Tiesj Benoot, Victor Campenaerts (both Visma | Lease a Bike), Quinten Hermans, Xandro Meurisse (both Alpecin-Deceuninck), and Florian Vermeersch (UAE Emirates-XRG) have also been selected for the Road World Championships. Steff Cras, Junior Lecerf, Alec Segaert, and Louis Vervaeke have been named as reserves.
Continue reading below the photo!
Evenepoel also in the time trial, no Kopecky in the women's race
In the time trial, Evenepoel will attempt to win his third consecutive rainbow jersey. Van Wilder and Vermeersch will also compete in the time trial. Segaert will be the backup.
In the women's race, Belgium is counting on Justin Ghekiere, Marthe Goossens, Marieke Meert, Julie Van de Velde, and Margot Vanpachtenbeke. Goossens is the only rider who will compete in the time trial. Surprisingly, Kopecky has not been selected.
Belgium selection for World Championships in Rwanda (men)
Remco Evenepoel (also time trial)
Ilan Van Wilder (also time trial)
Cian Uijtdebroeks
Tiesj Benoot
Victor Campenaerts
Quinten Hermans
Xandro Meurisse
Florian Vermeersch (also time trial)
Belgian selection for World Championships in Rwanda (women)
Justin Ghekiere
Marthe Goossens (also time trial)
Marieke Meert
Julie Van de Velde
Margot Vanpachtenbeke
Read also
Write a comment
IDL-productions
Favorites stage 11 Vuelta a España 2025 | Dizzying gradients in this mini-Clásica!
Course and results Vuelta a España 2025 | 4(!) out of 10 for a blazing UAE, but Vingegaard leads
Course and results Tour of Britain 2025 | Kooij strikes immediately, next chance coming fast
LIVE stage 10 Vuelta a España 2025 | Again a day for the breakaway, but how hungry is Vingegaard?
Preview Bretagne Classic 2025 | France hosts star-studded start list
Latest Cycling News
OFM & Team Visma | Lease a Bike: Where style and top sport meet
Fines, time penalties and jury report Vuelta a España 2025 | Jury turns it into an extra rest day
🎥 That only one rider crashed after mass protest in the Vuelta a España was nothing short of a miracle
🎥 Highlights stage 10 Vuelta a España 2025: UAE takes another stage, Visma | Lease a Bike back in red
Pedersen pays tribute to powerful Lidl–Trek teammate who saved Giulio Ciccone’s Vuelta day
Popular Cycling News
Course and results Vuelta a España 2025 | 4(!) out of 10 for a blazing UAE, but Vingegaard leads
Classifications Vuelta a España 2025 | Vingegaard back in red as top 10 sees major shake-up
Vingegaard drops his rivals but is surprised by final climb: "Honestly, I didn’t do my homework"
LIVE stage 10 Vuelta a España 2025 | Again a day for the breakaway, but how hungry is Vingegaard?
UAE does not back Almeida, but he is not acting appropriately either, according to De Cauwer: "He is not behaving like a leader"
Latest Comments
- Wow, there is so much criticism of the UAE XRG riders. Why so much criticism is being leveled solely at the riders is baffling. The UAE XRG management deserves a good amount of the criticism aimed at the team, as a whole. They have not managed the talent they have at all. They failed miserably to properly handle young Isaac del Toro on that penultimate day of the Giro. And they have not handled Juan Ayuso well either. If they didn't have Tadej Pogacar in their roster, we might not be talking about them as winners, at all. So many think that Ayuso has shown that he is not a "team" player at all. Does anybody think that he might be thinking about his own future at this point? That he might want to feel like the team has his back, when they load the pressure onto him? And Joao is not a team leader. That burden might be laid on him by the management, but they need to properly support that assignment, not make it a contentious situation, within the team. And then how management has conducted themselves throughout this parting of ways between themselves and Ayuso has been totally indiscreet. And yet people want to pile onto Ayuso when he tells the truth about the manner that this is all soap opera is developing. He wants out. He shouldn't be getting so much negative criticism for that. It's a situation that has soured. Yes he has a contract, but he is not the first, nor will he be the last that wants to get out of a relationship that just isn't working anymore. And DeCauwer seems to have very vague reasons for criticizing Almeida. He does realize that Jonas is the second best Grand Tour rider of this current generation, so it should be no shame that Joao is behind him in the standings. Riders are giving their all in an extremely difficult sport that stretches them, often beyond their limits. Now many are wanting to send them to Behavioral School as well? The criticism ought to mellow out, or it ought to simply be ignored, as nothing more than blah, blah, blah, not worth the headlines it gets
reemmo002-09-2025 - In 5yrs, Pogi will be a top Twitch streamer living on baked goods while Urska is still racing.Veganpotter11-08-2025
- All they learned is that at the end of a 3 week race, Wout can beat him on a slightly bumpy stage. Obviously, this is very much thanks to Wout not racing for GC every day. This doesn't teach them a thing for Jonas beating Pogi. Not saying Jonas will never beat him again. But this absolutely won't have anything to do with it if he does beat him.Veganpotter28-07-2025
- Well, he eventually Pogacar pays the price for his insane spring campaign which was really crazyRosenkohl196125-07-2025
- Maybe I was a bit disrespectful to Heiden. What he did was unique and exceptional but he wasn't the only one who combined those distances, nowadays it is just not possible and nobody competes in both distances. The same is true for cycling with for example the combination of Roubaix and de Tour de France. In Merckx era there were more riders who managed a top10 in both races than currently.Joostmehrtens19-06-2025
- Two old men shouting at pigeons in the park…JonS16-06-2025
- Out of touch old men hankering after their youth through rose tinted spectacles, their arrogance almost outshines their irrelevance. Turn the volume down, this modern stuff just isn't music like we used to sing...johnny20whales16-06-2025
- In talking speed skating, the days when Heiden did that, nobody else did that. And Eddy couldn't do the equivalent of the bike. His 200 on the velodrome was good, but not world competitive for gold. Heiden was in his own world on the ice, moreso than Eddy if we pretend Eric didn't have a very short career on the ice.Veganpotter16-06-2025
- They wouldn't have dropped HIM so easily.... the GOAT. They would have dropped the rest from that era easily thoughVeganpotter16-06-2025
- Merckx was able to win in a break away on a flat (sprinters) stage, what do you mean they did not drop that easily in his time. Vlaeminck won in the mountains and the classics, but now you need to specialise. The days that a Eric Heiden could win the sprint and the 10k and everything in between are long gone and cycljng is no differentJoostmehrtens16-06-2025