Tearful Megan Arens wins women's junior ITT world title

Dutch rider Megan Arens was in tears after she powered to an emphatic victory in the junior women's time trial at the 2025 UCI Road World Championships in Kigali, on Tuesday, September 23.

Arens, already one of the top prospects in the world, showed her time trial prowess throughout the 18.3km course, taking a narrow three-second lead into the foot of the climb to the line, and only extending her gap by more than 30 seconds in the final 4.6km.

Spain's Paula Ostiz emerged second, 35 seconds behind, and Norway's Oda Aune Gissinger was third, 37 seconds behind.

Ostiz, who will step up to Movistar's senior women's team from next season, timed her effort well, overtaking Gissinger by two seconds to claim the silver.

Gissinger had done enough to hold onto bronze, though, with Arens' teammate Roos Müller falling 10 seconds short and pre-race favourite Erin Boothman (Great Britain) missing out on the podium by 11 seconds after unclipping on the climb and coming to a momentary standstill.

Rwandans continue to struggle in the ITT races as Yvonne Masengesho came in 33rd with a time of 29minutes and 43 seconds, 3 minutes and 55 seconds behind Arens.

Liliane Uwiringiyimana came in 40th out of 47 athletes, trailing 5 minutes and 11 seconds from the summit.

Up next is the junior men’s time trial which also starts at BK Arena and finishes at Kigali Convention Centre (KCC) over a course of 22.6 km.