The under-23 men’s road race at the Road World Championships in Rwanda is upon us, and things will look a little different this year.
The peloton of 123 riders set to tackle the 164.6km course in Kigali will be run without any professional riders for the first time since 2015, after which rules were introduced to allow any WorldTour or ProTeam rider under the age of 23 to participate
This year, following another rule change, only non-professional riders will be racing, meaning that 21-year-old reigning champion and Visma-Lease A Bike pro Niklas Behrens won’t be lining up. The rule change also counts out a wealth of other well-known riders, including Isaac del Toro, Matthew Brennan, Romain Grégoire, Giulio Pelizzari, and Jan Christen.
However, several familiar names will still be taking part in the race, including a host of the next big things in road racing – riders already working their way through the development and Continental racing programmes of top-tier teams.
Here’s our pick of the top riders to watch at this year’s Road World Championships under-23 men’s road race.
Jarno Widar (Belgium)
Belgian leader, Jarno Widar, comes into the race with the biggest reputation of the riders taking the start on Friday. The 19-year-old already has one under-23 road race under his belt. He finished seventh at last year’s race in Zurich, having smashed the race apart from the front before cramping late on.
He won the Alpes Isère Tour, Giro d’Italia Next Gen, and Giro della Valle d’Aosta as an 18-year-old, and this year added a swathe more titles to his palmarès. Wins at the U23 Liège-Bastogne-Liège, La Flèche Ardennaise, the Ronde de l’Isard, and another Valle d’Aosta title came this season, while he finished runner-up at the Tour de l’Avenir, winning two mountain stages along the way.
The rainbow jersey is his main goal of the season, even if he recently missed the Worlds time trial after suffering a leg injury last month. His demonstrable strength in the hills and mountains makes him the top favourite in this race before he steps up to the pros next season.
Lorenzo Finn (Italy)
18-year-old Lorenzo Finn leads Italy, having won the junior men’s…
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