Who is Isabella Holmgren, the 21-year-old Canadian who is the clear favourite for the women's U23 world championship?

Five stages into the 2026 Giro d'Italia Women, only three riders have proven they can follow Demi Vollering up a mountain. Anna van der Breggen. Antonia Niedermaier. And Isabella Holmgren — a 21-year-old from Ontario, Canada, who most casual cycling fans had probably never heard of at the start of the week.

On stage 5, a brutal 146-kilometre mountain stage from Longarone to Santo Stefano di Cadore with 3,000 metres of climbing, Holmgren was one of just three riders able to respond when Vollering attacked on the final climb. She even launched her own attack with less than two kilometres to go. The group finished together, but it was a statement of intent.

Holmgren's stage 5 ride might have been the moment that caught the most attention, but it was not the most surprising thing she did this week.

That came on stage four’s 12.7-kilometre uphill time trial to Nevegal. Holmgren clocked in at 33:33, good enough for third place on the stage, behind only world time trial champion Marlen Reusser and a dominant Van der Breggen. She moved into the top 10 overall and pulled on the white jersey for the first time.

"I did my best effort today so I am really happy with that,” Holmgren said on the team’s website after the time trial. “We’ve had a really good start to the Giro with the team, I hope it keeps going up from here. I think holding on to the white jersey would be a nice goal but we just have to see how we’ll play it. There’s still a lot of stages to come and you never know what can happen.

If the name sounds vaguely familiar, there is a reason. Holmgren finished sixth at Liège-Bastogne-Liège in April, matching moves on La Redoute alongside Pieterse, Niewiadoma, and eventual winner Vollering. Before that, she was ninth at La Flèche Wallonne. Neither result made huge waves at the time, but in hindsight they were clear signals.

Born in Oro-Medonte, Ontario, on 22 May 2005, Holmgren did not come up through the traditional road cycling pathway. She is, first and foremost, a mountain biker. A very good one. Between 2023 and 2025, she won four UCI world championship titles across the junior and under-23 cross-country and short track disciplines. She won the under-23 XCO world title in both 2024 and 2025, and added the short track world title at the 2025 championships for good measure.

She is also not the only Holmgren in the pro peloton. Her twin sister Ava rides alongside her at Lidl-Trek. Brother Gunnar races mountain bike and cyclo-cross in Canada.

The transition to road racing has been seamless. In 2024, her debut road season, Holmgren finished second overall at the Tour de l'Avenir Femmes — the race considered the most important stage race for the next generation of women's cycling talent.

In 2025, she came back and won it outright, beating a field that included Paula Blasi and Célia Géry. She also finished seventh overall at last year's Giro d'Italia Women. That result barely registered at the time. It is starting to look more significant by the day.