Friday’s racing on the 2026 UCI Highway World Championships introduced 174 kilometers of racing within the U23 Males’s occasion and 80 kilometers within the Junior Ladies’s occasion. Ashlin Barry (Toronto, Ont.; Group Visma | Lease a Bike Growth) delivered one of the vital unbelievable rides in World Championship historical past, soloing to the end to win america’ first-ever Underneath-23 Highway Race World Title, on his nineteenth birthday.
U23 Males
The USA lined up 5 riders for the U23 males’s highway race: race favourite Ashlin Barry (Toronto, Ont.; Group Visma | Lease a Bike Growth), Gavin Sherry (West Hartford, Conn.; EF Schooling-Aevolo), Marcis Shelton (Mill Valley, Calif.; Comp Edge Racing), Kade Kreikemeier (Fort Collins, Colo.; Meridian Racing) and Nathan Cusack (Chevy Chase, Md.; EF Schooling-Aevolo).
The workforce was prepared for a battle on the demanding Mont Royal circuit, with 174 kilometers and 13 laps standing between the riders and the rainbow jersey.
An early four-rider breakaway established itself on the entrance, however the peloton stored the hole inside attain. On the fourth lap, Barry put in a large effort to bridge throughout, closing a 40-second hole to hitch the leaders. The group continued to construct its benefit, opening a niche of greater than 1:40 with 100 kilometers nonetheless to race.
On the Mont Royal climb, Denmark’s Kristian Egholm attacked from the lead group, with Barry following his transfer. The pair labored collectively on the entrance earlier than Barry made his decisive transfer with just below 29 kilometers to go, launching a solo assault with two laps remaining.
From there, Barry by no means regarded again. Driving his personal tempo and steadily holding off the chase, the 19-year-old powered to the end alone to assert the USA’s first U23 World Championship title on his birthday.
“I stored seeing the hole and stored anticipating it to return down on the climbs. In some way, I used to be in a position to maintain it. I used to be sort of simply using my tempo and anticipating some riders would come throughout to me. I simply tried to not overextend or go over my restrict, and I stored pushing and consuming and consuming as a lot as doable,” Barry stated. “I believed, finally, I might get caught or sort of hit a wall, and in some way it by no means occurred. I actually simply rode my very own tempo and went as quick as I might to the end. The final two laps I simply gave it every little thing I had.”
The victory was made much more particular in Montreal. Barry holds twin American and Canadian citizenship, together with his father, Canadian Olympian Michael Barry, and mom, American Olympian Dede Barry, each having raced and gained on the Mont Royal course. Along with his household watching from the end, Barry added his personal chapter to the household’s Montreal historical past, celebrating his first Highway World Championship title on his nineteenth birthday.
Outcomes:
1. Ashlin Barry (USA) – 4:17:35
2. Hector Alvarez (ESP) – +53
3. Jesper Stiansen (DEN) – +53
12. Marcis Shelton (USA) – +1:19
70. Gavin Sherry (USA) – +9:57
DNF. Kade Kreikemeier (USA)
DNF. Nathan Cusack (USA)
Junior Ladies
4 American juniors took on six laps, totaling 80 kilometers, of the demanding metropolis circuit, together with: Liliana Edwards (Washington, D.C.; CCB p/b Levine Legislation Group Biking), Emma Jimenez Palos (Miami, Fla.; Metropolis Bikes), Sofia Tripcevich (Berkeley, Calif.; Monarch Racing), and Sophia Wellmeier (Corta Madera, Calif.; Group California Academy).
Wellmeier performed an lively function on the entrance because the race started to fracture, serving to drive the chase and using within the lead group heading into the ultimate two laps earlier than a crash cut up the sector aside. She continued to combat via the closing laps because the peloton was whittled down. She in the end completed a hard-fought day with a top-10 consequence within the discipline dash, a powerful exhibiting at her first Highway World Championships. Spain’s Alejandra Neira went on to assert the rainbow jersey, outsprinting a five-rider group within the closing kilometers.
Outcomes:
1. Alejandra Neira (ESP) – 2:21:00
2. Matilde Rossignoli (ITA) – +0
3. Anja Grossman (SUI) – +0
10. Sophia Wellmeier (USA) – +42
27. Liliana Edwards (USA) – +1:42
37. Sofia Tripcevich (USA) – +9:08
DNF. Emma Jimenez Palos (USA)
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