Some of the planet's fastest racers in the 17 to 18-year-old age group will compete on Monday, September 23 to claim the title as men's junior time trial champion at the 2024 UCI Road World Championships. They will compete on a 24.9km course just one day after the elite divisions begin a full week of competition in Zürich, Switzerland.
A flat race against the clock will take athletes out-and-back along the eastern shore of Lake Zürich, which excludes any climbing that the elites face near Maur to the north at Lake Greifensee and the foothills of the Pfannenstiel. This should make the intermediate time check near Herrliberg - 9.4km on the outbound section and 15.5km on the return - a close examination for seconds in the single digits.
Once the clock stops on Sechseläutenplatz in Zürich, there are a handful of new riders who should be jostling for the hot seat and the rainbow stripes, as the riders from last year's junior men's podium have all aged out of the category. Cyclingnews calls attention to five riders who are among the favourites.
Albert Withen Philipsen (Denmark)
Philipsen is a multi-discipline world champion at just 17 years of age. In August last year, he won junior World titles in the road race and cross-country mountain bike, the two victories separated by just five days. He finished the year with European championships in two disciplines - in the ITT on the road and off-road in XCO. There was no off-season for the young talent this winter, as he competed in the Cyclocross World Championships and finished fifth in the men's junior race.
It was no surprise that his accomplishments landed him a four-year pro contract to race with Lidl-Trek beginning in 2025. A two-time Danish national champion in the time trial, Philipsen will be dangerous in Zürich, as he will look to take medals in both the ITT and road race in his final year as a junior.
Nicolas Bialon (Switzerland)
Nicolas Bialon crushed his competition at Swiss nationals in the time trial, winning the men's junior title by 26 seconds. He will be a favourite on home soil, but the distance may not be in his favour. The 17-year-old won the 18.4km Chrono Roland Bouge two weeks ago, but he was just outside the top 25 at UEC European Continental Championships, that course 31.3km. The flat terrain may be to his liking at the 24.9km distance.
Michiel Mouris (Netherlands)
Fresh off the ITT victory for junior men at the UEC European Championships is Michiel Mouris of the Netherlands. On a 31.3km course in Belgium, the 17-year-old rode to his third individual time trial victory of the season, which was a stage at Acht van Bladel, which put him third on GC. He was third in a short time trial on stage 2 at the UCI 2.1 Penn Ar Bed - Pays d'Iroise. At UCI Cyclocross World Championships in Tabor he was seventh in the men's junior event.
The Dutch rider won his country's national time trial championship, edging his World's teammate Senna Remijn by one second. The nationals contest was a close set-up to what he'll see on Tuesday, so look for the orange colours of the Dutch rider to post a fast time.
Ashlin Barry (United States)
Ashlin Barry will make his second appearance at a World Championships for the USA in the men's junior time trial. Earlier this year he made his Worlds debut on the track and earned a silver medal in the Omnium, missing the top spot by one point.
The EF Education-ONTO rider lives in Toronto with his parents Dede and Michael Barry, both former pros, and registered to ride for Team USA at the start of the 2024 season. Barry's mother 'Dede' Demet Barry was a junior road race world champion, and her son could very well follow suit, as he earned double men's junior gold medals for the US this year, winning the ITT and road race while adding silver in the criterium. He'll ride the double at Worlds, lining up in the road race three days later and celebrating his 17th birthday in between.
Jasper Schoofs (Belgium)
Jasper Schoofs was the silver medallist at Belgian in both the time trial and road race, and he then added the silver in the ITT at the UEC European Championships. He's another young rider with cyclocross experience, but his main focus remains on the road, where he won four one-day races in Belgium and France this year. Schoofs won the time trial stages at Trophée Centre Morbihan and Aubel-Thimister-Stavelot, and just prior to the European Championships he won the men's junior 21.2km time trial Memorial Igor Decraene.
