Canada's Isabella Holmgren takes U23 silver in Montréal: 'If I had the legs, then I would have been alone'

Canada's plan did not include a sprint. Teammate Kiara Lylyk said the riders agreed the night before to take turns on the early and late laps. Their job was to move Holmgren safely around the 13.4km circuit. She would then attack alone on the second-to-last lap.

With three laps to go, Canada had three riders in a front group of around 20: Holmgren, her sister Ava and Sidney Swierenga. There were no race radios, so Holmgren talked to her teammates during the race.

"I think Alex and Kira did a really good job at keeping us closer to the front and making sure no attacks were going," Holmgren told the media after the race. "And then Ava asked me if she could do anything later on in the race, and I told her it had to be a bit harder, so she did a really, really strong climb. I was happy that the race was getting harder because I think that's more suited to me."

Belgium's Fleur Moors attacked with 31km to go. Chladoňová and Holmgren went with her. Holmgren was now in a three-rider break, a lap earlier than she had planned.

"Yeah, Viki went, so I knew I needed to be there, and I had to follow her. And then with one lap to go, we knew that we had to try to lose Fleur on the first climb because you don't want to sprint Fleur, you probably won't win."

The pair dropped Moors, but Holmgren could not get away from Chladoňová.

"I gave everything on that first climb on the last lap, and it wasn't enough to be solo. And then I tried again on the last climb, but once again, Viki was able to follow."

The race finished on a 600-metre rise. Holmgren went first. Chladoňová waited, then passed her with 125 metres to go. Moors took bronze, 33 seconds behind.

"I think if I had the legs, then I would have been alone. In the end, it came down to a sprint, which isn't ideal for me. But I did everything I could on the day."

Both riders came into the race wanting the rainbow jersey. Chladoňová was second in the U23 road race in Kigali last year. Holmgren was sixth.

"In the end, I wasn't the strongest today, but I'm really proud of Viki. She's such a nice competitor, so she really deserved it," Holmgren said.

"There were so many people cheering for us on the side of the road. It is so special just hearing my name. I could hear my friends and family cheering, but there were also just so many people that I didn't know supporting me and supporting Team Canada.

"It's definitely super special to race at home. I've never had a big international race like this in Canada. So, it was just such an amazing day. I'm just so grateful for the crowd."