With many juniors already on a WorldTour pathway by the time they're 18, the junior Road World Championships aren't as important for talent identification as they once used to be, but they're still a chance for riders to win a rainbow jersey, and put their name on the map for the wider cycling audience.
Many of the contenders for Friday's junior men's road race in Kigali are already on their way to a WorldTour development team next year, so they're names you need to know, and for those that haven't secured a contract for next year, they'll be going all out to show their abilities on the world stage.
The men's road race is 119km long, taking in eight laps of the Kigali circuit that features the Côte de Kigali Golf and Côte de Kimihurura for just over 2,600m of climbing. It's a super hard course where only the strongest riders will emerge.
One of the top contenders for the victory will be TT winner Michiel Mouris (Netherlands), who won Paris-Roubaix Juniors earlier this year, so clearly has the ability over tough, attritional courses. The Netherlands have a small but strong team, which will help in a race that could be chaotic.
Potentially the strongest team on the startlist is Team USA. They'll be led by TT silver medalist Ashlin Barry, who has already made a name for himself on the junior circuit this year and last, enough to sign a long-term contract with Visma-Lease a Bike before he even finished his first junior year.
He will be joined by Paris-Roubaix runner-up Enzo Hincapie, who has become a strong stage race contender this year, as well as Beckam Drake, who came from being relatively unknown to really impress in the time trial. If they can decide on a leader and work together, the USA could be in for a win.
Seff Van Kerckhove (Belgium) is a rider who will know and probably like the cobbles that offer up another challenge in this race, and he's in good form with third in the TT. Great Britain will look to Max Hinds or Dylan Sage as their leader, but have several contenders in their number.
Also watch out for Benjamin Noval (Spain), one of the hottest junior talents right now, who secured himself a contract with Ineos Grenadiers when he was just 16, set to join the team in 2027.
The joy of junior racing, especially at the World Championships, is how open and unpredictable it can be, so don't expect to see some surprises and good performances from smaller countries, too.
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