Another World Championship title goes to Spain as Neira wins the Junior women’s road race

The women’s junior race was the shortest road race on the schedule, covering just eighty kilometers. We could therefore expect a very fast-paced race. From the start, there were plenty of attacks, but breaking away was very difficult. After one lap, everyone was still together. Well, everyone: the peloton had already thinned out considerably due to the pace.

Meanwhile, the Spanish team had taken it upon themselves to slow down the pace. Alejandra Neira was one of the top favorites going into the race. But the French were the main challengers. They used their numbers to put pressure on the Spanish team. First, Lise Revol, the junior women’s cyclocross world champion, broke away. Then it was Sidonie Vachet’s turn.

She opened up a small gap, but we weren't even halfway through the race yet. In the chase, however, Spain also received support from the United States. And so the second French attack was also repelled. The peloton now consisted of about forty riders, including one more Dutch rider: Mirthe Mons was still keeping up well.

In the penultimate lap, it was the top favorites who began to falter on the climb. Neira picked up the pace, but she also got help from Anja Grossmann, the Swiss rider who had won bronze in Kigali. This created an elite group of ten women, including the tenacious Mons. But soon a large group caught up again.

Meanwhile, Mexico’s Nabyenka Garcia broke away, but there was a brief lull in the peloton. Everyone was waiting for the final climb up the Voie Camilien-Houde. Due to mechanical trouble, Garcia dropped out of the lead group, allowing the favorites to begin that final climb at the front. Once again, it was Grossmann and Neira who set the pace.

But Mons, who was still in the mix, countered and picked up the pace. She couldn’t break away, and when Neira really accelerated, Mons had to let a gap open. But she remained firmly in the fight for the top five and the medals. Neira, Grossmann, and Italy’s Matilde Rossignoli, however, seemed just a cut above the rest. Mons had to join Poland’s Maria Okrucinska (the junior world time trial champion) in the chase.

The cooperation at the front wasn’t great. Could the pair still make a comeback? They weren’t too far behind. The breakaway riders took turns attacking, but it didn’t help the pace. As a result, Mons and Okrucinska caught up with two kilometers to go. Mons, the surprise of the breakaway group, tried to go but couldn’t get away. She cracked on the uphill final stretch, after which top favourite Neira finished it off.

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