After a breakaway of more than 150 kilometres, Axel Laurance (FRA) took off alone through the streets of Glasgow to become the new Under 23 UCI World Champion in the road race. Antonio Morgado (POR) and Martin Svrček complete the podium after finishing just behind the Frenchman.
Cycling is full of great stories. After a remarkable debut in the professional cycling world and a fine second place in the UCI WorldTour event Bretagne Classic – Ouest-France in 2022 (behind Belgian Wout van Aert), Axel Laurance saw his team B&B Hotel-KTM fold shortly before the start of the 2023 season. But Alpecin-Deceuninck had understood his talent, and added him to their development-team roster before he graduates to their UCI WorldTeam next year.
The Frenchman will do so as the reigning road race Under 23 UCI World Champion after an historic triumph in Saturday’s road race.
The first attackers meant success
The 177 riders vying for the Men Under 23 UCI World title put on a great show. The bad weather conditions at the start in Loch Lomond did not dampen the ambitions of dark horses ready to up the battle early on a 178-kilometre course featuring nearly 2,500 metres of elevation. After the individual time trials in Stirling, Glasgow again set the stage for a road race finale that saw a breathless battle for the prestigious rainbow jersey.
The rising stars of men’s road cycling did not hang around in good Scottish rain. An impressive breakaway quickly formed on the banks of the emblematic Loch Lomond, under the lead of several favourite nations such as France, Italy and Great Britain. Ten riders broke away before tackling the longest difficulty of the day – the ascent of Crow Road (5.8km at 4.0%). The group was packed with talent, featuring the very recent UCI Under 23 UCI World Champion in the individual time trial, Lorenzo Milesi (ITA), as well as France’s Antoine Huby alongside his compatriot Laurance.
The 10 attackers built a sizable lead as they tipped over the top of Crow Road. With nearly three minutes on the peloton led by Belgium, this group could start dreaming of victory. On the other hand, they were only eight left at the front when entering the final circuit in Glasgow, and the peloton reacted in the wake of Alec Segaert (BEL) who gave everything for his leader Thibau Nys, one of the day’s favourites.
Nys and many favorites fail to battle for the win
Caught behind and forced to drive the chase, Belgium suffered bad luck with crashes and mechanicals, as did Great Britain with Robert Donaldson and the Netherlands with Casper van Uden.
Already working early in the day, the Belgian team had only two riders left alongside Nys in the narrow streets of Glasgow. The big favourite accelerated four laps from the finish with Pierre Gautherat (FRA). But with several stops and goes, the gap separating them from the head of the race could never be completely closed.
Only Portugal’s Antonio Morgado and Slovakia’s Martin Svrček managed to make the jump with an acceleration from the bunch with more than 30 kilometres to go. And the lack of cooperation within the small group of favourites eventually doomed their ambitions.
The Axel Laurance show
At the front of the race, Germany’s Moritz Kretschy provoked the selection. Only three men were able to join him and work with him to get away from the rest with 40 kilometres to go: Laurance, Milesi, Kretschy and Great Britain’s Jack Rootkin-Gray.
With Morgado and Svrček increasing the pressure behind them, Laurance went on the attack more than 20 kilometres away from the finish. No one was able to follow his wheel. Milesi, Morgado, Svrček, Rootkin-Gray and Kretschy tried to work together to get back.
The gap never went over 30 seconds, and it was down to 15 when Laurance faced the ascent of Montrose Street for the last time of the day… which proved enough for the Frenchman to raise his arms, after a thrilling last kilometre with the chasers only trailing by a couple of seconds behind the new UCI World Champion.
UCI