It was in 2022 at the Road World Championships in Wollongong, Australia that the first Under 23 women’s road race title was awarded to New Zealand’s Niamh Fisher-Black, but there was no celebration on the line, and no picture of the new rainbow jersey winner with her arms thrown in the air given she was the twelfth rider across the line, earning the title by being the first eligible rider to finish among the combined elite and U23 field. In Rwanda, however, that all changes.
2025 marks the first time the under-23 women will get their own race, with team selection, race tactics and the winner dictated by the chase for their own rainbow jersey rather than dominated by the greater numbers of the elite field.
Cyclingnews has run the rule over the expected starters – the final start list is yet to be published, so the article will be updated when it is – to take a closer look at the riders who are in with a chance of becoming the first standalone U23 women’s World Champion and delivering a celebration that befits a rainbow jersey.
Isabella Holmgren (Canada)
Canada hasn’t held back in the women’s under-23 category for the World Championships in Kigali, with five riders set to be on the start line for the nation, and it’s easy to see why. They will be lining up with a strong team and one of the most impressive prospects in women’s cycling. The 20-year-old Isabella Holmgren has already scooped up one U23 world title in September – in mountain biking – and there seems every chance of another.
The multi-discipline talent instantly made a mark in her first year on the Women’s WorldTour with Lidl-Trek last year, but she has taken it to yet another level this season. She claimed her first professional victory on the road at Durango-Durango Emakumeen Saria in May, was third in the youth…
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