Célia Gery (France) scored victory in the first-ever standalone under-23 women’s road race at the UCI Road World Championships, sprinting away from a select lead group to take the rainbow jersey.
19-year-old Gery beat Viktória Chladaňová (Slovakia) in the closing sprint at the head of the race after the pair left behind fellow late attacker, Gery’s teammate Marion Bunel (France) in the final kilometre.
Gery took home the gold for France, while Chladaňová would have to make do with silver. In third place, Paula Blasi (Spain) led home a select group behind the two leaders to round out the podium with a bronze medal 12 seconds down.
“I was with Viktória twice. She attacked twice and I was with her. The other girls were stronger than me in the sprint so I wanted to stay away with her to try and win the race.
Gery and Chladaňová had hit the front of the race in the final 3km as part of a lead group of 11 coming together at the front up the final cobbled climb in Kigali. With France placing two riders in the lead group in Gery and Bunel, they played their numerical advantage perfectly, with Bunel hitting the front and forcing the pace.
Chladaňová came along for the ride with the French pair, while Bunel sat on the front, pulling the three-woman group towards the finish so Gery could stay away to contest a two-woman sprint finish.
That was exactly how it played out in the final kilometre after Bunel peeled off the front, her job done. The closing sprint wasn’t the closest contest, with Gery holding Chladaňová’s wheel into the final 200 metres before sprinting around the outside and comfortably taking the victory.
How it unfolded
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