2026 Women's U23 Road World Championships Preview | Home hero Holmgren targets Canada's first medal

2025 Celia Gery

While the elite riders will start in Brossard on Saturday and Sunday, the U23 race will feature riders exclusively from Montreal. The entire race takes place on the circuit, so there’s no flat opening stage, meaning it will be a race from start to finish. While the elite women complete the local lap 8 times, the U23 women will pass it 10 times.

All right, so we’re familiar with that 13.4-kilometer circuit from the annual Montreal Grand Prix. Aside from one small detail—the U-turn just before the finish line has been widened slightly—it’s an exact replica, so we know exactly what to expect from the track: in particular, Camillien-Houde Avenue in Mont Royal Park will be the deciding factor, though we shouldn’t underestimate the rest of the course.

Immediately after the finish area, riders turn left onto Avenue de Parc to begin the climb through the trees on the Côte de Camillien-Houde. The statistics for this climb show a 1.6-kilometer ascent with an average gradient of 7.5 percent, with the final 400 meters climbing at a 9.1 percent gradient.

Next, we descend before tackling the next climb along the stretch leading to Chemin de la Polytechnique: this climb is 800 meters long, with a gradient of just under 6 percent. It’s tricky, because the climb is divided into three steeper sections and two short plateaus. A little further along the course, after a few turns where you can quickly lose sight of the pack, the incline at Avenue Pagnuelo also awaits: 500 meters at a 7.5 percent gradient.

Just as quickly, the riders will then be at the finish line. Anyone who watched the time trials during the first part of the World Championships will have noticed that this course is anything but flat. The final 550 meters do indeed climb at a steep gradient of about 4 percent. All told, the total elevation gain comes to 2,690 meters, which is even more than in the elite women’s race.

Thursday is perhaps the most beautiful day for racing in Montreal, although it may still be a bit chilly in the morning. At the start—at 9 a.m. local time—it will be 12 degrees, but the temperature will rise by a few degrees as noon approaches. The sun will also play a part in that.

Start: 9:00 a.m. local time (2:00 p.m. GMT)

If there’s one race in which host country Canada has a shot at a medal, it’s the women’s U23 road race. Isabella Holmgren, who did not compete in the time trial, is, on paper, the top contender for this race.

The Canadian—whose twin sister Ava can also be considered an underdog, as can Sydney Swierenga—has already finished ninth in the Flèche Wallonne, sixth in Liège–Bastogne–Liège, seventh in the Giro, and eighth in the Tour this season. With defending champion Celia Gery—who is competing in the elite category—absent, she is the woman to beat.

For the Netherlands, all eyes are on Nienke Vinke. The SD Worx-Protime rider already finished second in the time trial and told us afterward that she has also set her sights on the road race, which suits her strengths very well. Vinke also finished in the top ten at the Flèche Wallonne, while Rosita Reijnhout, Megan Arens, and Babbette van der Wolff should also be able to handle this race.

Belgium also has two contenders for a medal: Fleur Moors and Lore De Schepper. Both riders have shown this season that they can hold their own on the WorldTour; for example, Moors finished 12th in the Amstel Gold Race, while De Schepper placed 10th in the Giro.

Other contenders include Visma | Lease a Bike climbers Viktoria Chladonova (Slovakia) and Marion Bunel ( France, along with Julie Bego and Ema Conte), Cat Ferguson (Great Britain), who has recovered from a broken ankle, Talia Appleton (Australia) and Paula Ostiz from Spain, last year’s junior world champion.

Top Favorite: Isabella Holmgren (Canada)
Dark horses: Nienke Vinke (Netherlands) and Fleur Moors (Belgium)
Long shots: Viktoria Chladonova (Slovakia), Lore De Schepper (Belgium), Marion Bunel (France), and Cat Ferguson (Great Britain)