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Healy took the medal at the end of the 267.5km race in and around Rwanda’s capital.
The race took no prisoners, with a combination of steep cobbled climbs and oppressive heat making for tough conditions throughout. Healy took to chasing leaders Isaac Del Toro of Mexico, and reigning world champion Tadej Pogacar of Slovenia with a small group. Del Toro found himself dropped and quickly overtaken by the chase group, while Pogacar held a steady one-minute lead from about the midway point of the race, and ultimately retaining his title.
Healy’s group continued to shrink, and the Irish rider was left with just Mattias Skjelmose of Denmark and Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel of Belgium – who successfully defended his Time-Trial World Championship earlier in the week. An attack from Evenepoel with 20km to go left Healy battling for bronze with Skjelmose. The Irish rider powered made a jump with just over 5km to go, and the Dane could not hold his wheel.
Healy’s efforts were supported by four teammates in Eddie Dunbar, Darren Rafferty, Rory Townsend and Ryan Mullen.
Healy’s bronze medal makes him just the fourth Irish rider to take a medal in the Elite Men’s Road Race at a World Championships, joining Stephen Roche, Shay Elliott and Sean Kelly.
Healy said afterwards: “Yeah its pretty special, I've done a lot of hard work and to stand on a podium with Remco and Tadej is pretty incredible. This season is getting crazier and crazier, from a stage win and yellow jersey at the tour and now a podium at worlds it’s just hard to compare. Tadej is one of the greatest the sport has ever seen, Remco isn’t far behind him, so to be on the podium with them was just insane.”
On his custom speed-suit, Healy said: “Spin11 have put a lot of work into this suit. It’s a pretty specific course with some slow speed climbs and pretty hot weather as well, so it’s perfect for today.”
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2025 UCI Cycling World Championships (30 Finishers)
Men Elite Road Race (Distance 267.5k) - Sunday 28th Sept 2025
1 Tadej POGACAR 27 SLO 6:21:20
2 Remco EVENEPOEL 25 BEL +1:28
3 Ben HEALY 25 IRL +2:16
4 Mattias Skjelmose Jennow JENSEN 25 DEN +2:53
5 Toms SKUJINS 34 LAT +6:41
6 Giulio CICCONE 31 ITA +6:47
7 Isaac DEL TORO ROMERO 22 MEX +6:47
8 Juan AYUSO PESQUERA 23 ESP +6:47
9 Afonso EULÁLIO 24 POR +7:06
10 Thomas PIDCOCK 26 GBR +9:05
Other Irish
- Edward DUNBAR 29 IRL DNF
- Darren RAFFERTY 22 IRL DNF
- Rory TOWNSEND 30 IRL DNF
- Ryan William MULLEN 31 IRL DNF
RACE HIGHLIGHTS VIDEO
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2025 UCI Cycling World Championships
Men Elite Ind TT (Distance 40.6k) - Sunday 21st Sept 2025
Rank Nation Name Time Gap Speed
1 BEL EVENEPOEL Remco 49:46.03 48.948 km/h
2 AUS VINE Jay 51:00.83 +1:14.80 47.752 km/h
3 BEL van WILDER Ilan 52:22.10 +2:36.07 46.517 km/h
4 SLO POGACAR Tadej 52:23.76 +2:37.73 46.492 km/h
5 MEX del TORO ROMERO Isaac 52:26.89 +2:40.86 46.446 km/h
6 NOR LEKNESSUND Andreas 52:43.30 +2:57.27 46.205 km/h
7 AUS PLAPP Lucas 52:49.37 +3:03.34 46.116 km/h
8 FRA ARMIRAIL Bruno 52:52.10 +3:06.07 46.077 km/h
9 NED ARENSMAN Thymen 53:25.71 +3:39.68 45.594 km/h
10 SUI KUNG Stefan 53:34.95 +3:48.92 45.463 km/h
Irish
23 IRL RAFFERTY Darren 55:43.58 +5:57.55 43.714 km/h
26 IRL MULLEN Ryan William 56:53.95 +7:07.92 42.813 km/h
UCI Road World Championships Preview
The UCI Road World Championships get underway this weekend in Kigali, Rwanda.
Sunday, September 21st sees two Irish riders take on the Individual Time Trial in the Rwandan capital. Current Time-Trial national champion Ryan Mullen will be joined by former road race national champion Darren Rafferty in the event. Both riders will also take part in the road race the following Sunday, September 28th. This will be a reflection of Mullen’s Olympic programme last year, where he also rode both events. Rafferty rode both events at the World Championships in Switzerland last year, albeit in the U23 category, making the jump to Elite for 2025.
This year’s road race will see one notable exemption, with Archie Ryan withdrawing. Having been initially named in the six to take on the 267.5km race, Ryan saw his Grand Tour debut in La Vuelta cut short by injury, and as those injuries have persisted, will miss out on this year’s World Championships.
This year’s World Championship squad will still feature the most recent Irish Tour de France yellow jersey wearer. Ben Healy arrives in Africa having taken a stage victory in this year’s Tour, as well has donning the prestigious yellow for two days. Healy took top 10 finishes in both the Olympics and the World Championships last year.
Current road race national champion Rory Townsend will feature again this year. Coming off the back of a win at the ADAC Cyclassics and a very strong showing at the Tour of Britain, Townsend brings bags of experience, being no stranger to riding in World and European Championship competition.
Cork’s Eddie Dunbar rounds out this year’s team. Another rider no stranger to operating at the top level, Dunbar has represented Ireland at multiple World Championships, and has had strong showings in several Grand Tours in 2024 and 2025.
For more information, including scheduling - click here