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Stephen Puddicombe

As it happened: Philipsen wins UCI World Championships Junior Men's Road Race

(Image credit: UCI Glasgow Road World Championships 2023)

UCI Road World Championships - Everything you need to know

UCI Road World Championships route

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the Junior Mean's road race

The 154 men are assembled at the start-line in George Square and will begin shortly

Anyone who's spent the last few weeks in Britain will be unsurprised to hear that the weather is grey, with a threat of rain. Conditions remain dry for now, but that does look like it could change at any moment

The start has been delayed slightly, and the riders are still waiting at George Square

And they’re off!

There’s already a bit of a scramble for the best spot behind the team car as they go through the neutralised zone. It looks like we can expect a hectic contest to get into the early breakaway

127km to go

Now the race proper begins, and the Dutch team have massed at the front 

Already some rain is in the air, and the roads are wet from a recent downpour. With so many tight corners on the circuit, this could be a hazardous race

120km to go

Still no breakaway has been formed, but the pace is high thanks to work from team including Denmark, Italy and the Netherlands 

Dutch rider Viego Tijssen is now up the road on his own, and has a lead of a few seconds

We said the course could be hazardous, and we’ve had our first crash. Swiss rider Ilan Barhoumi has hit the deck, and it’s looking bad for his chances of continuing 

Tijssen has just finished the first lap, and has a lead of seven seconds over the peloton, which is already stretched out to breaking point, with several riders distanced out of the back

A bike change is needed for Belgium’s Jamo Widar. It’s taken him a long time for him to get one too — a significant blow for Belgian hopes, and he faces a big effort to make it back into the peloton

This is the second road race on the Glasgow circuit to take place today following the women’s juniors in the morning. That event was won by Julie Bego of France, who made her move 20km from the finish and soloed to victory while the other riders were left attacking each other. You can read all about the race here

110km to go

Tijssen is still out in front on his own, and has extended his lead. It’s now at 12 seconds

Bad news for Tijssen, who has had to have a mechanical. He gets it sorted, but only as the peloton sweep him up. That’s a frustrating fate having put so much effort into his attack

With Tijssen back in the bunch leading no rider out front, more attacks are firing off. Great Britain and Denmark are among those trying, but none have stuck so far.

We have a new race leader — Felix Ørn-Kristoff (Norway). He’s gone solo and established a significant gap

100km to go

Ørn-Kristoff's lead is about 14 seconds as the riders complete the second lap

25 seconds now for Ørn-Kristoff, who looks committed to the move

Riders from Australia, Slovenia and the Netherlands have attacked from the peloton, but the move has been marked by one of Ørn-Kristoff’s Norway teammates. The quartet has a small gap on the peloton, but will they lack coherence so long as the Norwegian rider remains

Bruno Kessler (Germany) and Thom van der Werff (Netherlands) have crashed going around one of the course’s many corners. The latter looks OK, but Kessler may not be able to continue

The five-man group that formed behind Ørn-Kristoff has been brought back by the peloton.  

Big acceleration by a Danish rider on one of the course’s short uphills. He’s closed the 10 second deficit to Ørn-Kristoff in no time, and is now on his wheel.

The Danish rider is one of the pre-race favourites, Albert Philipsen, and he and Ørn-Kristoff have been joined by Ørn-Kristoff ‘s teammate and another of the men tipped for victory today, Jørgen Nordhagen.

89km to go

A fourth rider has joined the lead group, Paul Fietzke. This is looking like a very strong move. It’s very early, but could this already be the selection? 

Another crash in the peloton, and it’s a nasty one. Samuel Novák (Slovenia), Matvey Ushakov (Ukraine) and Jaka Marolt (Slovenia) have all gone down.

The leaders complete the third lap. They have an advantage of 18 over a three-man chase group that has formed, and 24 seconds over the stretched out, reduceed peloton

The three riders who make up that chase group are Matthew Brennan (Great Britain), Juan David Sierra (Italy) and Theodor Storm (Denmark)

A glimpse of the peloton in action earlier in the race (Image credit: Getty Images)

80km to go

14 seconds for the leaders over the chasing trio, and a whole 42 seconds over the peloton. The race could already be down to just these seven riders

A close shave for Sierra in the hase group as he almost loses balance going around a corner. The roads aren’t especially wet, but the technical nature of the route has still made it dangerous.

A mechanical now for one of the top favourites, Oscar Chamberlain. The Australian will already be stressed by seeing some of his main rivals escape up the road, and he now has to use up more precious energy getting back into the peloton

The lead group and the chase group have come together, forming a new seven-man lead group. This will take some catching

Four more riders go clear from the peloton just before the steep Montrose Street climb. Just two remain by the top of the rise: Storm Ingebrigtsen and a  Polish rider. They too are caught shortly after

Meanwhile Chamberlain has finally completed his lone chase back to the back of the peloton. That will have taken quite a bit out of him, and winning seems a tall order from here

Another crash, this time at the very front of the peloton from the rider leading it. France’s Aubin Sparfel is the rider down, but he’s remounted and looks OK

A big acceleration up Montrose Street from Steffan De Schuyteneer. He’s part of a Belgian team that has missed the move, and are trying to make amends, but he’s failed to get much of an attack over the peloton.

Five laps to go now as the riders pass the finish line once more. The leaders’ advantage is now just over half a minute

A reminder of the seven riders in the lead group: Felix Ørn-Kristoff, Jørgen Nordhagen (both Norway), Theodor Storm, Albert Philipsen (both Denmark), Paul Fietzke (Germany), Matthew Brennan (Great Britain) and Juan David Sierra (Italy).

One factor that could be important today is the presence of two riders from both Denmark and Norway in the lead group. This should aid cohesion in the group, with teammates to be used as domestiques, but the other riders could be wary about working with nations having numerical advantages the closer they get to the finish

53 seconds now for the leaders over the peloton. Meanwhile De Schuyteneer is stuck in no-man's land in-between them following his attack earlier

60km to go

The gap now rises to over one minute for the first time. Barring disaster, it appears certain now that the medals will be contested between these seven riders

The leaders cross the finish line again, meaning there are just four laps to go. How long before they start thinking about attacking each other?

There are little more than 30 riders left in the chasing peloton. It's been an attritional race

Here are the seven leaders climbing earlier in the race (Image credit: Getty Images)

De Schuyteneer has at long last been brought back by the peloton. That was a lot of effort for little reward

The peloton hasn’t given up yet. A French rider is setting a committed pace, but he’s failing to make any inroads. The gap remains at one minute

A new plan for the French now that that rider has finished his turn. Another of their men has attacked and is trying to break clear

50km to go

He hasn’t succeeded in going clear, but the gap has suddenly come down. It now stands at about 45 seconds — maybe the leading seven aren’t quite so safe after all

Slovenia are now the team setting the pace in the peloton, but the leaders remain frustratingly out of sight. The gap is 50 seconds

3 laps to go! We’re getting near the endgame now. The peloton still can’t be counted out of it either, as they cross the finish line now just 37 seconds adrift 

40km to go

The leaders aren’t racing with the same impetus as they were earlier, as it seems fatigue is starting to play its part. Meanwhile Slovenia, France and Belgium are still the teams leading the chase, and are indeed bearing down on them. Their now within half a minute

Though the peloton’s chase is looking committed and making inroads for now, they may soon encounter problems. There are only about 30 riders left, and how many of them will be willing to lead the chase once the Slovenian and French riders currently leading the pace are finished?

Brennan has managed to make it back into the leaders for now, but with the peloton putting them under such pressure, we can expect the group to break up again soon

Now an attack from Poland out of the peloton on one of the uphill rises, but he doesn’t go clear. Some impetus has gone out of the chase, and the deficit is back up to 35 seconds 

Having been anonymous for a while, the Australian team shows its face for the first time. A rider of theirs is now at the front of the peloton setting the pace

30km to go

Finally an attack in the lead group, as Fietzke takes off. He hasn’t got a gap, but has succeeded in dropping Theodor Storm’s, whose problems are amplified by a problem with his chain

Despite that mishap, Storm is back with the leaders as they cross the finish line for the penultimate time.

Meanwhile Kasper Borremans (Finland) has exploded out of the peloton, and crosses the line just 20 seconds adrift. The peloton follow, still at just over 30 seconds from the leaders

25km to go

Borremans is motoring along and is now within 15 seconds of the leaders. It’s still a big ask for him to bridge the gap all on his own though. But he is now closer to them than he is the peloton, who are almost 20 seconds further adrift

It seems Borremans ran out of steam. After finding himself stuck in no-man’s land, he sat up an has just been reabsorbed into the peloton

The Dutch and the Polish teams are now taking part in the chase of the peloton, whose gap is now growing out to over 30 seconds having briefly closed to nearly 20 seconds. This race continues to ebb and flow, and is still difficult to call

20km to go

Patryk Goszczurny of Poland has chosen to attack rather than continue helping the chase, and has opened up a promising gap of a few seconds

Goszczurny’s lead over the peloton is growing, but he too can’t close down on the leaders, and looks doomed to become the latest lone chaser stuck in no-man’s land

Now the riders in the lead group are starting to attack each other! First the Danish riders tried to work over the rest, then Nordhagen put in a small dig. Hostilities have been opened 

It’s certainly now looking like the winner will come from the breakaway septet. But they still can’t afford to play too many games, which they don’t appear to be doing - after that flurry of attacks, they’ve gone back to working together.

Having said that, Philipsen has put in a huge attack on the uphill, and has split up the group!

15km to go

Philipsen has a gap. Fietzke, Sierra, Nordhagen and Kristoff are chasing behind, and the other riders have been distanced

Philipsen hears the bell, and he has a lead of 6 seconds. Just 1 lap and 14.5km to go!

Philipsen’s teammate Storm has latched himself back onto that chase, and is in great position. He can sit on the wheels while the others chase Philipsen. It’s looking very good for Denmark

Back further down the race, the peloton is in bits. There doesn't appear to be any hope of them competing for gold now, however

20 seconds now for Philipsen, who’s looking good for the gold medal

10km to go

Norway still have numbers in the chase, and Ørn-Kristoff has just put in a big turn for teammate Nordhagen. They’re not making any progress in the chase though, and the gap is holding steady at just over 20 seconds

This is surely it now, as Philpsen’s lead grows to 40 seconds. The chasers should still be good for the medals, as the peloton are over one minute behind them

Fietzke strikes out from the break on an uphill. Sierra can follow, and Ørn-Kristoff will drag himself on to them soon, but Nordhagen is having a really hard time. He’s not quite lived up to his status as a top pre-race favourite

5km to go

Storm is also with Fietzke, Ørn-Kristoff and Sierra, but not Nordhagen, who appears to have been dropped for good on that climb

Drama in the chase group as Sierra has a mechanical on one of the steep uphills, just as Fietzke and Ørn-Kristoff fly up the road together

It seems silver and bronze will go to Ørn-Kristoff and Fietzke, who are riding together and away from the rest of the chasers

Just 3km to go for Philipsen, who’s lead is now over a minute. Not only is this going to be a victory, it’s going to be by a massive margin

Storm hasn’t given up yet, and is less than 10 seconds behind Ørn-Kristoff and Fietzke. A medal is still up for grabs

One more kilometre for Philipsen…

Philipsen wins the Men’s Junior Road Race!

Now the two-up sprint for silver…

Ørn-Kristoff is leading Fietzke out

They can’t afford to mess around as Sierra is bearing down on them

Ørn-Kristoff opens the sprint, and leads for most of it, but is just edged out by Fietzke

Fietzke therefore takes silver, and Ørn-Kristoff bronze

Sierra arrives in fourth a few seconds, and Storm not far behind either for fifth

Nordhagen held on for sixth-place, while a Belgian rider overtook Matthew Brennan just in time take seventh place having gone clear from the peloton

Correction: Brennan had been caught earlier, and the British rider who finished eighth was Sebastian Grindley. Steffen De Schuyteneer was the Belgian rider who finished seventh, despite all his earlier efforts

A triumphant Philipsen crosses the finish line to become world champion (Image credit: Getty Images)

Here's our report of the race, which was action-packed pretty much start to the finish, with the winning selection being made very early

Philipsen wins the title at the tender age of just 16, still one month shy of his 17th beirthday. He looks like a serious talent, who will now be touted to follow in the footsteps of previous junior world road race winners Remco Evenepoel, Mathieu van der Poel and Matej Mohorič

Thanks for joining us today. It was a great race and the course looks like a cracker. It looks like we're in for an exciting week of racing in Glasgow!

(Image credit: Getty Images)
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