Tadej Pogacar (Slovenia) confirmed his title as world champion and triumphed on the 267.5 km course in Kigali.

After a hectic start, a breakaway of nine riders formed, but they were not given much margin.

On Mont Kigali , with 104 km to go, Pogacar pulled away and was followed only by Ayuso . On the subsequent descent, Del Toro rejoined and rode off with the Slovenian on the Mur de Kigali . Behind them, about 1 minute behind, a small group of 30 riders formed. Surprisingly , Evenepoel broke away almost immediately and, subsequently, with an incomprehensibly long bike change, lost significant ground; the Belgian then managed to recover, catch up with the first pursuers, and lead a small group including Healy , Pidcock , and Skjelmose .

Pogacar overtook Del Toro with 66km to go and easily managed to maintain his lead over his opponents, while from behind Evenepoel continued to push forward and allowed Pidcock to drop back.

With two laps to go, Evenepoel managed to break away from Healy and Skjelmose, while Pogacar continued to maintain his lead above a minute. The Slovenian repeated last year's victory, just ahead of the Olympic champion.

The only battle in the final lap was for bronze, with Healy attacking on the Cote de Kigali and taking third place. Ciccone finished sixth.