Niklas Behrens (Germany) scored the rainbow jersey in the U23 men’s road race the UCI Road World Championships, outpacing Martin Svrček (Slovakia) in a two-man sprint to the line in Zürich.
The pair proved the strongest men from a select chase group behind long-distance solo attacker Jan Christen (Switzerland), who attacked alone 51km from the finish.
Behind Christen, a group including Behrens, Svrček, Jarno Widar (Belgium), Isaac Del Toro (Mexico) and Joseph Blackmore (Great Britain) formed after an attack from Widar, with the Belgian and his team responsible for much of the pacemaking behind the lone leader.
On the final lap, Widar was once again leading the way and bringing the chase to within sight of Christen, at which point Behrens launched a powerful uphill attack. His jump at 11km to go brought both him and Svrček across to Christen, with a second jump dispatching the Swiss rider for good.
Behrens and Svrček were off at the front, distancing the rest and extending their advantage past the 50-second mark before hitting the final kilometres and contesting the gold and silver medals.
It was Svrček who led out the sprint, with Behrens lurking until the final 150 metres before launching. The German’s power was too much for his Slovakian rival, netting him the rainbow jersey as U23 world champion.
Christen, caught by the chase group behind 6km out, would eventually salvage fourth place at 39 seconds down having chased a late attack by Alec Segaert (Belgium). He had bridged across to the chase before quickly attacking solo 2km from the finish to secure the bronze medal, 28 seconds behind the leaders.
The riders were unaware that 18-year-old Swiss rider Muriel Furrer died from the injuries she sustained in her Thursday crash during the junior women’s road because the UCI and the Zurich Worlds organising committee made the announcement during their race.
Before the podium ceremony, a moment of silence was held, while flags were positioned at half mast in Muriel Furrer's honour.
How it unfolded
The 173.6km race set the riders the same challenging circuit that has been contested at the other road races this week, with a 40km flat start giving way to four full laps of a hilly circuit around Zürich.
One climb of Binz (1.5km at 9.3%) and four ascents of Witikon (1.4km at 7.1%) proved the main challenges of the day, though numerous other hills and rises peppered the route, which totalled 2,400 metres of climbing.
Three riders attacked on the flat run to start the race, with Cole Kessler (United States), Lewis Bower (New Zealand) and Robert Donaldson (Great Britain) jumping away to a minute advantage as they entered the hilly finishing circuit for the first time.
Behind them, Alastair Mackellar (Australia) attempted to bridge across, making a move at 125km out. He was caught in between the leaders and the peloton, however, before dropping back at the 120km mark.
The three-man break out front wouldn’t last much longer, either, meaning the race crossed the finish line for the first time, with 108km left to run, with a slimmed-down peloton leading the way.
Shortly afterwards, on the climb up towards Witikon, Isaac Del Toro (Mexico) launched a stinging attack along with William Junior Lecerf (Belgium), though that would come to nothing. Attempts by Christen, Callum Thornley (Great Britain) and Artem Schmidt (United States) also gained little traction.
The next time around, with just under 80km left to run, it was the turn of Antonio Morgado (Portugal) and Davide De Pretto (Italy) to try a move. Their unsuccessful break attempt was followed by the likes of Christen, again, as well as Tibor Del Grosso (Netherlands) and Giulio Pellizzari (Italy).
However, a move wouldn’t stick until Christen tried for a third time, again on the uphill run to Witikon. At 51km from the finish he managed to get a gap on his rivals, striking out with just under two laps left to run.
Behind him, the elite chase group that would be chasing him for much of the remainder of the race formed. Belgian riders Segaert and Lecerf had Jarno Widar, Robin Orins and Emiel Verstrynge for company in the group, along with Behrens, Svrček, Del Toro, Pellizzari, Joseph Blackmore (Great Britain), Darren Rafferty (Ireland) and Spanish pair Igor Arrieta and Ivan Romeo.
Pellizzari decided to venture out alone in the chase as Belgium unsurprisingly controlled the larger group. The Italian was brought back with 33km to go, while the group crossed the finish line to start the final lap 45 seconds behind Christen.
It was the Belgians who had held the lone leader close by, and it was their man Widar who took the initiative on the final ascent to Witkon with a big move at the front. He took Svrček and Segaert with him, though Del Toro, Blackmore and Del Grosso quickly made it across the gap.
At the top of the hill, 20km from the line, Segaert and Del Grosso let go, while the work of Belgium and Widar had brought Christen’s advantage down to just 20 seconds. 18-year-old Widar continued to do much of the work in the chase, dragging the group to within sight of Christen as they raced into the final 15km.
It was those who had kept more in reserve for the final who made the big moves, though, with Behrens and Svrček powering past and across to Christen’s wheel 11km from the finish line.
Upon making the catch, Behrens immediately jumped again, distancing Christen as Svrček stuck to his wheel. The pair would continue on to the finish, building their advantage up to almost a minute at one point before slowing in the final kilometre and contesting the finishing sprint.
Behind, Christen was caught by Widar, Blackmore and Del Toro with 6km to run, while a resurgent Segaert chased across and immediately went over the top 2km out. That move, coming after a brief rest in the wheels, was enough to push on secure bronze after the hard work of the Belgian squad.
Results
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