This year, for the first time ever, the under-23 women will have their own road race and time trial at the Road World Championships. Until recently, there wasn’t a separate U23 title for women at all, but at the last three Worlds, rainbow jerseys have been awarded to the best U23 finisher in the elite women’s races.
In 2025, however, after a long wait, there is finally no longer a ‘race within a race’, with the under-23 women receiving their own separate races, at separate distances, and – most importantly – with separate teams, so nations can send dedicated under-23 squads.
The first of the two women’s under-23 events gets underway on Monday, September 22, with the time trial. The 22.6km course is a shortened version of the elite route, taking in just one ascent of the Côte de Nyanza climb (2.4km at 5.5%) instead of two. Towards the finish, they’ll also tackle the Côte de Kimihurura, which is cobbled, 1.3km long, and with an average gradient of 5.8%.
Despite the climbs, their fairly modest lengths and gradients shouldn’t make this a climbing TT, and the strong specialists are still the riders you should expect to see at the top of the results sheet.
Topping the list of favourites early on is undoubtedly Great Britain’s Zoe Bäckstedt. Bäckstedt is the British national TT champion, and has won two other TTs so far this year, including one at WorldTour level, when she beat riders including Ellen van Dijk on stage 5 of the Simac Ladies Tour.
Bäckstedt has already been World and European champion at under-23 and junior level, and is by far the most decorated time trialist on the start line. She’s also only doing the TT, not the road race, so it’s clear where her focus is, and likely that anything other than the gold medal and a rainbow jersey would be disappointing for her.
However, despite Bäckstedt’s favourite status, there are plenty of other strong riders who will be trying to push her to her limit in Kigali.
The likely toughest opponent is Spain’s Paula Blasi, who has burst onto the scene this year, making a mid-season step up for UAE Team ADQ’s development squad to…
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