The Under 23 riders are lucky, they 'only' have to do 6 laps of this mountainous Caracas course - the main race will do 8.
But despite this still long, tough route - theres plenty of riders wanting to be in the breakaway. An early move came from Dorokhov, Van Looy, Vermeltfoort, Velez, Cleaver and Linden
Many attacks later, a break is starting to emerge. We have 3 men in front: Van Looy, Hirschlein and Vermeltfoort
And they are caught by 8 others: Linda, Swift, Balck, Da Luz, Adamcyzk, Navid and Monks
Those 11 got away early on Lap 2, and we have a couple more attackers at the end of the tougher climb on Lap 3, descending down to start lap 4, it is actually the team leaders for France and Australia, Jocelin Maillet and William Ford
A quick look in the peloton - Alarcons been dropped! He must have gone back for a water bottle - no teammates afterall - towards the top of the climb, and got caught out. Fortunately for him, and the local supporters, he makes it back on the climb
Meanwhile, Ford and Maillet have wasted no time in crossing the 5 minute gap to the breakaway
And indeed on the 2nd climb of Lap 4, they have torn up the break. Only Van Looy and Hirschlein have been able to follow
The pack have also increased the pace on the climb, with many riders being dropped. As Alarcon showed the previous lap, its a bad idea to go back for a drink right before the top of the bigger climb. But this time another top climber has done it - Rojas Villegas
Into Lap 5, Ford and Maillet have now bid farewell to Van Looy and Hirschlein
And Rojas Villegas' hopes seem over, he is currently losing ground on the peloton
Part of the reason for that is that the pressure is really on now - led by Tenorio, Van Garderen and Howes
The peloton has soon thinned dramatically - down to 25
We now even see Henao Montoya and Alarcon relaying - this race is now on
And the group thins further, down to 14. The latest 9 to drop off are Mai, Rienda Segura, Konig, Morel, Lundberg, Booth, Moschella, Gilanipoor and Gallopin
So who are the 14 riders left, with just Ford and Maillet now infront?
Ford and Maillet lead into the final lap, but their lead is falling
Led by Tenorio, they are caught on the penultimate climb of the race
The group is further decreasing in size. Duenas Nevado didnt last long, and now after Maillet, Howes and Van Garderen are dropped too - now isolating Phinney
Costagli and Ford are dropped too - as is Keizer - leaving Spain the numerical advantage, the only team left with 2 riders
As such, every rider bar Madrazo is relaying. Madrazo sat on the back, but not paying attention - Ratiy is dropped, and inadvertently, so is Madrazo!
And it looks for a moment like Phinney, Alarcon and Henao Montoya are clear
But thanks largely to Tenorio it all comes back together, and now he, Madrazo, Phinney, Alarcon, Henao Montoya, Kunshin, Dees and Hacecky take the descent towards the foot of the final climb
And here go the attacks. Confident from his Avenir victory, is Phinney challenging Henao Montoya here as he attacks?
If he was, he may soon be regretting it as Henao Montoya begins a powerful response
Madrazo and Alarcon join Phinney
But Henao Montoya is really attacking this climb, pulling away from the rest
Another move now from Madrazo
Phinney joins him, while Alarcon is chasing, with Hacecky and Tenorio there
Henao Montoya? Already his lead is well over a minute and a half!
Alarcon's group catches Madrazo and Phinney, but the Spaniard attacks again
Alarcon comes back to him though, with Phinney still close
The pace slows for a bit now, and we go back to 7 - Kunshin and Dees rejoining
The fact that they slowed already seems a sign of defeat though - even as a group, attacking each other, they cannot match Henao Montoya - now leading by over 2 and a half minutes
Just under 2km from the summit, Alarcon attacks - Phinney and Madrazo countering once again
Henao Montoya meanwhile is at the summit, leading now by 3 and a half minutes, there is 7.4 downhill km to go for him
Hacecky looks set to catch Madrazo, Alarco and Phinney once again - but they are far from down, attacking again!
Dees, Keizer and Van Garderen are not too far behind Hacecky's group, with Costagli solo after them
5km to go for Henao Montoya now
And it seems Madrazo, Phinney and Alarcon have finally gotten clear
These 3 will battle for the Silver and Bronze positions. Alarcon has home support - but had better be careful he does not get dropped in the descent
Into the final kilometre goes Henao Montoya
He has plenty of time to celebrate, having blown away the rest on the climb. He wins the Under 23 World Road Race in style!
As the Colombian is mobbed by the media, attention now turns to the battle for 2nd and 3rd. Alarcon is still there, leading the way, as the final kilometre comes into sight
The Venezuelan has the weakest sprint stat, and is forced to lead out, so it doesnt look great for him - but he shall try nonetheless
Phinney makes his move, gliding past Alarcon
Perhaps unusually for a sprint, the riders are getting slower as the momentum from the descent fades, but Madrazo looks to make the most of that momentum as he looks to pass Phinney
And with great tactical sprinting, Angel Madrazo takes the silver medal. It's another Bronze for Phinney
No medal for Alarcon, he really needed to have gotten away from Phinney and Madrazo on the climb
Kunshin is forced to lead out the battle for 5th, with Hacecky right behind him. But unlike Phinney, the Czech rider is not going to be passed as he makes his move. 5th for Hacecky, ahead of Dees, Tenorio and Kunshin
Van Garderen takes 9th, ahead of Keizer and Ratiy - a good controlled climb by Van Garderen, since he was in a net 13th place when initially dropped
Costagli comes in solo for 12th
13th for Howes, ahead of Ford, giving Usa victory in the teams classification
Lipton's Duenas Nevado beat Maillet to take 15th
And next is the group of 9, who have stayed together since being dropped by the favourites towards the end of the penultimate lap. Gallopin looks to lead out Morel for 17th, and the plan succeeds - making Nicolas Morel the best placed free agent, Leopold König and Abolfazl Gilanipoor being the other free agents in this group
Danacik took 26th, just ahead of Rojas Villegas - the Costa Rican must have climbed well, just a shame for him that a novice mistake cost him the opportunity of at least a Top 10 spot
There were 115 finishers from 121 starters. The 6 who didnt make it had been dropped on the very first climb, but came agonisingly close to finishing in time - just over a kilometre away
But it was a dominating win for Sergio Luis Henao Montoya, finishing 3 minutes and 32 seconds ahead of Madrazo
