On a dark day of mourning in Zürich, Switzerland, German Niklas Behrens beat Slovakian Martin Svrček in a two-up sprint to take the 2024 U23 road world title. Michael Leonard was the top Canadian in 77th.
The Course
Each road race route of the 2024 Worlds included some combination of the circuit around Lake Greifen and the 26.8-km circuit that took in the east side of Lake Zurichsee and contained the 1.4-km, 7.2-percent Wilikon climb, with a connector between them. The U23 men’s race consisted of one Lake Greifen loop and four Lake Zurich loops for a total of 173.6 km. It was another day of nasty rain.
#zurich2024 MU
🚩 Uster
🏁 Zurich
🚴🏻♂️ 173.5 Km
Weather: 🌧 17°C, light rain
Route: https://t.co/c5ydLxY2ZZ pic.twitter.com/cIleYwX5gj— La Flamme Rouge (@laflammerouge16) September 27, 2024
The Canadian contingent was Michael Leonard, Quentin Cowan, Jonas Walton and Jérémie La Grenade.
Mexican Isaac del Toro and Great Britain’s Joseph Blackmore were among the favourites.
There was a grim pall over the day, as 18-year-old Murial Furrer, badly injured in a crash during Thursday’s Junior women’s race, died. Furrer’s parents expressed their wish that the Worlds continue.
The cycling world mourns the loss of Muriel Furrer https://t.co/o623BqxNLU pic.twitter.com/oGngEKBEqR
— UCI_media (@UCI_media) September 27, 2024
A small breakaway took its leave on the Lake Greifen circuit, but it was caught before the race hit the finish line for the first time. A duo dashed away on the first Lake Zürich lap. On the second climb of Wilikon, Leonard accelerated to bring it all back together.
Heading into the final two laps, only 36 riders had a chance of winning or medaling. As the clouds parted, Switzerland’s Jan Christen led up the penultimate climb of Wilikon with Giulio Pellizzari, Blackmore, del Toro, four Belgians and a few others in pursuit. When Christen heard the bell, he had a 43-second advantage.
Wilikon brought UAE-Emirates rider Christen closer to his rivals. The chase was down to Blackmore, del Toro, Jarno Widar, Behrens and Svrček. The latter two reached Christen with 10 km to go. Behrens immediately attacked, Svrček tagging along. The chase lost impetus. Alec Segaert joined the pursuit and then burst away to try for the bronze. Christen lit out after him.
In the sprint, Svrček couldn’t match the German. Segaert…
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