Welcome to the U23 Road Race here in New York, the B race ended in a bunch sprint that saw Kemboi work his magic and get Kenya into the main road race! The U23 field is obviously not as stacked so maybe a late breakaway from the likes of Pidcock could end up upsetting the sprinters? Enough talk let’s look at the favourites:
According to the bookies Italy have two of the strongest cards in Dainese and Konychev, let’s see how they play their cards towards the final!
The peloton has barely left the startline before we have our first five hopefuls of the day trying to create a breakaway. In the first wave of riders we find: Van den Berg, Leemreize, Schunk Ardilla and Rivera.
They get a gap of around a minute while there is still a massive fight to make the break. In the second wave of riders trying to get contact to the aforementioned group we find:
Gonzales, Arias Villanueva, Garcia Wirtgen, Cemazar, Champoussin and . Behind them Lazkano & Stroll are trying to create a gap to the peloton. The duo’s efforts deems futile as they cannot get away from the pack.
As the dust setttles with 220km to go it looks like we have our breakaway for the race set in place it consists of: Van den Berg, Leemreize, Schunk Ardilla and Rivera, Arias Villanueva(riding for different Americas rosters), Gonzales, Garcia Wirtgen, Cemazar, Champoussin and . They currently have a little over 5 minutes to the peloton.
Not a lot of action has taken place, at 104km to go the gap has been reduced to 3’13” due to a mix of riders puttin work in the pelonton! Pictured here is Stewart pulling his share of the burden as the peloton enters Central Park.
With 40km to go the break’s lead has been reduced to just above the minute, this has caused some unrest in the leading group with Garcia and Cemazar trying to make it on their own. The Slovenian managed to produce a small gap for around 5kms before being reeled back into the group around the 34km mark.
Meanwhile the increase pace has a seperation in the pack that could prove to be scary for some teams In the group that has is currently 30” behind the main pack we find favourite Siric (EU B), alongside prominent names such as Dekker, Stannard and parts of Phillipsen’s train in Hesters and Vermeersch! Pace setters at the moment are Oceania, Norway and Great Britain.
Meanwhile the unrest at the front of the race continues as we see multiple attacks from everyone to try to prolong their breakaway adventure
And it seems like one of these attacks are stronger than the other attempts as Wirtgen and Garcia produce a gap above the 10” mark to the rest of their breakaway companions. The pack is rapidly closing the gap to the break though so the attempt might be futile.
After being reeled back in by the breakaway Garcia is not done and puts in another gap to the group but he is quickly closed down
In the same instance back in the peloton that has now broken into more pieces Ocampo has a puncture, hardly a rider that would have had any impact on the final but not ideal for the Colombian.
Back to the front where Leemreize and Champoussin has used the moment created by Garcia to go for glory. They have a 40” gap to the main pack with 23km to go. Gonzales doing his best to try to cling on to the front two.
Meanwhile the double rolling hill on the route has made it impossible for the pack to fully assemble and it is going to cost a lot of energy for riders such as Dekker who are currently stuck in the back end of the carnage. Main pack currently consists of 63 riders with 22km to go but that could all change should there be a bit of a stand still.
With 16km to go the pack has reduced the gap to the pair up front to around 25” this causes Leemreize to put it all on the plate with an attack that the Frenchman can’t follow.
However it was a short lived attempt as the Dutchie is brough back to the peloton just 2km later and now the scrambling for positions begins for the teams with sprinters. Leading in the pack at the moment we find Norway, Oceania and Switzerland, no sign of Italy at the moment, maybe they’re just saving energy?
As the pack is starting to settle a few riders try to seize the opportunity for a late attack in Central Park, it’s Ruiz kicks it all off. Hirshi is able to follow the attack and together they currently have a 14” gap to the pack, meanwhile Hvideberg is trying to make make contact with the front two, this could be a deadly trio if left unattended, but with the pack being at just 52 riders, who has the manpower to bring them back?
With 8.2km to go Hvideberg is brought back by Rutsch who is putting in a monster shift at the front. A risky strategy as captain Gross would have to navigate the sprint alone as Hollmann is currently in one of the far back groups. The front duo still has 10” to work with
With 6.4km to the front duo is brought back, but WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT Italy is playing out one of their cards early as Konychev goes on the offensive with a massive acceleration.
It is not an attack after all as he is just trying to bring Dainese into the best position possible to open the sprint. Phillipsen tried the Italian’s wheel but as the pack enters the final moments of the race the pull from Konychev is so strong that it has created a 9” gap to the rest of the pack as Phillipsen has been forced to drop Dainese’s wheel.
This trend continues as the peloton enters the final straight leading up to the finish line with Dainese briefly looking like he had exploded he opens his sprint away from his domestique’s wheel.
With 800m to go the Italian is looking very hard to catch, but Hayter, Siric and Ruiz are doing the utmost to try and catch the favourite.
However they will have to duke it out for the lesser metals as Dainese in dominant fashion secures the gold. What a supportive performance from Konychev, fantastic racing by Italy!
Meanwhile it’s Hayter and Siric that duking it out for the other podium spots.
However it’s looking like Rojus might snatch away one of the medals as Hayter’s starting to fade.
And HE DOES, THE LITHUANIAN BEATS THE BRIT as Siric finishes second, that one will sting for a while for Hayter.
Dissapointment of the day goes to Phillipsen who finishes outside of the top 20!
WHAT A RACE, let’s take a look at the overall results.
U23 World Championship Road Race - New York 
Pidcock could end up upsetting the sprinters? Enough talk let’s look at the favourites: 
Dainese and Konychev, let’s see how they play their cards towards the final! 
Van den Berg, Leemreize, 
Ardilla and 
Rivera. 
Gonzales, 
Wirtgen, 
Cemazar, 
Champoussin and 
. Behind them 
Lazkano & 
Stroll are trying to create a gap to the peloton. The duo’s efforts deems futile as they cannot get away from the pack. 
Siric (EU B), alongside prominent names such as 
Stannard and parts of 
Phillipsen’s train in Hesters and Vermeersch! Pace setters at the moment are Oceania, Norway and Great Britain. 
Hirshi is able to follow the attack and together they currently have a 14” gap to the pack, meanwhile 
Hvideberg is trying to make make contact with the front two, this could be a deadly trio if left unattended, but with the pack being at just 52 riders, who has the manpower to bring them back? 
Rutsch who is putting in a monster shift at the front. A risky strategy as captain 
Rojus might snatch away one of the medals as Hayter’s starting to fade. 
