Australia favourites, but Worlds mixed relay has yet to make a real impact

The mixed relay team time trial has never quite fired the imagination at the World Championships since its introduction in 2019, but the event returns for its sixth edition on Wednesday afternoon in Kigali.

The tight contest between Australia, Germany and Italy twelve months ago was probably the most entertainment the event has yet provided, but there is still a nagging sense that the concept remains rather more appealing than the race itself. 

Part of the problem is that the race is only notionally a relay. In reality, it’s more like two team time trials hastily sutured together, and the result is neither fish nor fowl. It feels light years removed from the fireworks regularly provided by the mixed 4x400m relay in athletics, and the cycling version has certainly never produced drama like Femke Bol’s immortal comeback on the track at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Last year’s mixed relay was about as good as it gets, and even that race was beset by some embarrassing lapses of organisation. When the commissaires mistakenly thought the Algerian men had abandoned the race, they prematurely ushered the women’s trio to vacate the start gate. Then, to compound matters, they flagged the World Cycling Centre’s women away too early.

The race for the medals still proved to be a dramatic one, but it was instructive that even the winners felt the event was still in need of some tweaks. Among other issues, Australia’s Grace Brown noted that holding a team time trial on the same hilly course as the road races had been counter-productive.

“This was a really difficult course for a team time trial because there were literally no flat sections, so it’s hard to find three riders who are equal over a course like this. I think it could be good to have more than three riders,” Brown said. 

“The event can probably be tweaked to make it a bit more exciting, to make it a better event with more participation. We’re seeing that a lot of nations aren’t entering teams because of crashes in past years, and there are riders not wanting to risk their other events. Overall, I like the concept of doing something with the men and doing something as a team – but there’s room for improvement, I think.”

It was valuable feedback, but not a whole lot has changed for Kigali in 2025. The geography of the place meant that a hilly route was inevitable, and the relay teams are again composed of three men and three women. The field is once more a meagre one, with just sixteen federations signing up. Strikingly, the inaugural champions the Netherlands have again opted out.

The defending champions Australia will take some beating, particularly given Jay Vine’s current form. He’s joined by Michael Matthews and Luke Plapp in the men’s trio, while Brodie Chapman is this year accompanied by Amanda Spratt and Lauretta Hanson.

Italy went very close to the rainbow jersey a year ago, but a medal might be the summit of their ambitions this time out, with Mattia Cattaneo, Matteo Sobrero and Marco Frigo linking up with Monica Trinca Colonel, Soraya Paladin and under-23 time trial bronze medallist Federica Venturelli.

Switzerland, on the other hand, have a team of considerable depth for this parcours, and they will be looking to add to the titles they won in 2022 and 2023. Marlen Reusser, Stefan Küng and Mauro Schmid were part of those winning efforts, and the strong Swiss delegation in Rwanda is completed by Jan Christen, Noemi Rüegg and Jasmin Liechti.

The well-balanced French sextet also looks destined to compete for the crown on this rolling course, with Paul Seixas, Bruno Armirail and Pavel Sivakov followed by Cédrine Kerbaol, Juliette Labous and Tour de France Femmes revelation Maeva Squiban. Germany, meanwhile, return with four of the riders who claimed silver a year ago, including Antonia Niedermaier and Liane Lippert.

A glaring problem, however, is that countries like Australia and Switzerland, who make the event a priority, feel like an outlier. For many nations, the mixed relay is simply a fixture to be fulfilled - or worse, an obligation to be ducked.

The Kigali course sees the relay teams tackle laps of a 20.9km circuit, which takes in the Côte de Nyanza and the Côte de Kimihurura.

As ever, the men set out first, and the women’s trios begin their effort once the second man in their cohort has crossed the line. As in Zurich a year ago, pacing on the climbs will be key to winning the rainbow jersey. The course might yet provide a gripping afternoon’s entertainment – but the event still feels like a novelty rather than a core attraction in World Championships week.