17-year-old Benjamin Noval proves himself a climbing phenom at the Junior World Championships

Following Noval’s time trial title in the junior men’s category, we’re already taking stock of the Spaniard’s unprecedented results. The World Time Trial Championship was victory number 17 of his impressive season, following the 22 he added to his tally last year. Noval, who will ride for Netcompany INEOS starting in 2027, thus recorded his 18th victory of 2026 on Thursday.

And Noval actually did it all on his own. Initially, Sindre Orholm-Lonseth (Norway), Lancelot Gayant (France), and Luca Martinez—who is also Spanish—broke away as a trio of dangerous riders. After Martinez was dropped from the lead group, Belgian Sander Willems moved up to the front, while Martinez chased along with his compatriot Raul Lopez and Ukrainian Maksym Shcherbatskyi.

The peloton wasn't far behind the chasing group, so Noval saw an opportunity to make his move more than 60 kilometers from the finish. He stood on his pedals and quickly thinned out the peloton, but since no one really followed up, the peloton and the chasers merged. Three riders were still out in front, but Noval took a brief moment to recharge.

With just under 40 kilometers to go, Noval had regained enough energy to give it another try, and this time he attacked with a bit more intensity. After several surges, Noval finally managed to break away to the front, though Frenchman Simon Defrance put up a valiant fight and managed to stay with him. So we had Orholm-Lonseth, Gayant, Willems, Noval, and Defrance in the lead.

After Noval’s series of attacks, no one in the lead group naturally felt like keeping up with the unstoppable Spaniard, who realized he really had to go it alone; so, as we entered the final two laps, there was a surprising attack on the finish line, just before we started climbing again.

That turned out to be the decisive move, because while the chasers split into two groups as they watched Noval, the Spaniard rode on alone. With 20 kilometers to go, Noval had a half-minute lead over the French duo of Gayant and Defrance.