France’s Celia Gery claimed the first-ever standalone under-23 women’s world road race title, beating Slovakian Viktoria Chladonova by two seconds in a leg-sapping uphill sprint in Kigali.
The 19-year-old was part of a small breakaway group that was caught on the final cobbled climb of the 119km race, the Kimihurura.
But she had just enough energy left to keep pace with Chladonova and fellow Frenchwoman Marion Bunel on the steep upper slopes, before coming round Chladonova shortly before the line.
Bunel - who had worked tirelessly for her teammate on the final climb and put in one last burst of speed to get them clear - eventually finished fifth, with Spain’s Paula Blasi coming past to take the bronze medal and Italy’s Eleonora Ciabocco fourth. All three finished twelve seconds behind the winner.
Gery said: “It's unbelievable. It's been a long time coming, but it's great.
“There were only three of us on the team, but we managed to race perfectly, we had three very strong girls,” she added. “I knew there were still a few other girls behind who were dangerous in the sprint, so I wanted to stay with Chladonova.
“I wasn't too, too confident coming here, but I did have confidence in my team.”
Chladonova still looked delighted with her silver medal, which had looked in doubt when she crashed earlier in the race and had to chase back on to the group on an uphill section. It was the 18-year-old’s second silver of the championships after finishing behind Britain’s new world champion Zoe Backstedt in the under-23 time trial.
But after the high of Backstedt’s win against the clock this was a disappointing day for the British contingent, who had entered a strong team led by last year’s junior road race world champion Cat Ferguson.
Imogen Wolff was the best-placed of the Brits in 12th, 1:33 behind the new world champion.
The 19-year-old survived the first three laps of the hilly Kigali circuit and made it into the 14-strong elite group which largely remained together over the next four loops, but was distanced in the flurry of attacks throughout the final lap.
But Ferguson, Flora Perkins and Eilidh Shaw could not keep pace on the brutally tough course, which encompassed just under 2,700m of elevation gain on a Classics-style route, and all three abandoned the race.
This World Championships has been dubbed the hardest in history as a result of the relentless climbing coupled with the high altitude - the Rwandan capital sits over 1,500m above sea level.
Only 35 of the 81 starters finished the attritional circuit. Britain’s other finisher Millie Couzens came home in 24th place, 2:57 behind Gery.
The under-23 title has been contested before but as part of the elite women’s race, with the winner simply the first rider eligible for the under-23 category to cross the line, rather than the winner of a separate race.
The World Championships continue on Friday with the men’s junior and under-23 road races, with the women’s junior and elite road races to follow on Saturday. The final race of the championships will be the men’s road race on Sunday 28 September, with Tadej Pogacar the hot favourite to defend his title.
