{"id":905724,"date":"2026-09-26T03:16:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T03:16:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/905724\/"},"modified":"2026-09-26T03:16:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T03:16:09","slug":"ashlin-barry-wins-usas-first-ever-under-23-road-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/905724\/","title":{"rendered":"Ashlin Barry Wins USA\u2019s First-Ever Under-23 Road Race\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Friday\u2019s racing at the\u00a02026 UCI Road World Championships<\/a> brought 174 kilometers of racing in the U23 Men’s event and 80 kilometers in the Junior Women’s event. Ashlin Barry (Toronto, Ont.; Team Visma | Lease a Bike Development) delivered one of the most incredible rides in World Championship history, soloing to the finish to win the United States’ first-ever Under-23 Road Race World Title, on his 19th birthday.<\/p>\n

U23 Men<\/p>\n

The USA lined up five riders for the U23 men\u2019s road race: race favorite\u00a0Ashlin Barry\u00a0(Toronto, Ont.; Team Visma | Lease a Bike Development),\u00a0Gavin Sherry\u00a0(West Hartford, Conn.; EF Education-Aevolo),\u00a0Marcis Shelton\u00a0(Mill Valley, Calif.; Comp Edge Racing),\u00a0Kade Kreikemeier\u00a0(Fort Collins, Colo.; Meridian Racing) and\u00a0Nathan Cusack\u00a0(Chevy Chase, Md.; EF Education-Aevolo).<\/p>\n

The team was ready for a battle on the demanding Mont Royal circuit, with 174 kilometers and 13 laps standing between the riders and the rainbow jersey.<\/p>\n

An early four-rider breakaway established itself at the front, but the peloton kept the gap within reach. On the fourth lap, Barry put in a massive effort to bridge across, closing a 40-second gap to join the leaders. The group continued to build its advantage, opening a gap of more than 1:40 with 100 kilometers still to race.<\/p>\n

On the Mont Royal climb, Denmark\u2019s\u00a0Kristian Egholm\u00a0attacked from the lead group, with Barry following his move. The pair worked together at the front before Barry made his decisive move with just under 29 kilometers to go, launching a solo attack with two laps remaining.<\/p>\n

From there, Barry never looked back. Riding his own pace and steadily holding off the chase, the 19-year-old powered to the finish alone to claim the\u00a0USA\u2019s first U23 World Championship title\u00a0on his birthday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI kept seeing the gap and kept expecting it to come down on the climbs. Somehow, I was able to hold it. I was kind of just riding my pace and expecting some riders would come across to me. I just tried not to overextend or go over my limit, and I kept pushing and eating and drinking as much as possible,\u201d Barry said. \u201cI thought, eventually, I’d get caught or kind of hit a wall, and somehow it never happened. I really just rode my own pace and went as fast as I could to the finish. The last two laps I just gave it everything I had.\u201d<\/p>\n

The victory was made even more special in Montreal. Barry holds dual American and Canadian citizenship, with his father, Canadian Olympian\u00a0Michael Barry, and mother, American Olympian\u00a0Dede Barry, both having raced and won on the Mont Royal course. With his family watching from the finish, Barry added his own chapter to the family\u2019s Montreal history, celebrating his first Road World Championship title on his 19th birthday.<\/p>\n

Results:<\/p>\n

1. Ashlin Barry\u00a0(USA) \u2013 4:17:35<\/p>\n

2. Hector Alvarez (ESP) \u2013 +53<\/p>\n

3. Jesper Stiansen (DEN) \u2013 +53<\/p>\n

12. Marcis Shelton (USA) \u2013 +1:19<\/p>\n

70. Gavin Sherry\u00a0(USA) \u2013 +9:57<\/p>\n

DNF. Kade Kreikemeier\u00a0(USA)<\/p>\n

DNF. Nathan Cusack\u00a0(USA)<\/p>\n

Junior Women<\/p>\n

Four American juniors took on six laps, totaling 80 kilometers, of the demanding city circuit, including: Liliana Edwards\u00a0(Washington, D.C.;\u00a0CCB p\/b Levine Law Group Cycling), Emma Jimenez Palos\u00a0(Miami, Fla.; City Bikes), Sofia Tripcevich\u00a0(Berkeley, Calif.; Monarch Racing), and Sophia Wellmeier\u00a0(Corta Madera, Calif.; Team California Academy).<\/p>\n

Wellmeier played an active role at the front as the race began to fracture, helping drive the chase and riding in the lead group heading into the final two laps before a crash split the field apart. She continued to fight through the closing laps as the peloton was whittled down. She ultimately finished a hard-fought day with a top-10 result in the field sprint, a strong showing at her first Road World Championships. Spain’s Alejandra Neira went on to claim the rainbow jersey, outsprinting a five-rider group in the closing kilometers.<\/p>\n

Results:<\/p>\n

1. Alejandra Neira (ESP) \u2013 2:21:00<\/p>\n

2. Matilde Rossignoli (ITA) \u2013 +0<\/p>\n

3. Anja Grossman (SUI) \u2013 +0\u00a0<\/p>\n

10. Sophia Wellmeier\u00a0(USA) \u2013 +42<\/p>\n

27. Liliana Edwards\u00a0(USA) \u2013 +1:42<\/p>\n

37. Sofia Tripcevich\u00a0(USA) \u2013 +9:08<\/p>\n

DNF. Emma Jimenez Palos\u00a0(USA)<\/p>\n

To support the USA Cycling National Team, USA Cycling members and fans can donate to the USA Cycling Foundation\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

ABOUT USA CYCLING & RAPHA<\/p>\n

Since the four-year partnership with Rapha and USA Cycling began last year, the organizations have collaborated on an intensive R&D program to develop the fastest apparel in the world ahead of the Los Angeles Games in 2028. Founded and based in London, UK, Rapha has been under American ownership for nearly a decade.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Friday\u2019s racing at the\u00a02026 UCI Road World Championships brought 174 kilometers of racing in the U23 Men’s event…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":905725,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,3170,3171,3176,3178,3174,3181,1650,3180,3183,3187,784,3182,3175,3188,3172,3189,3177,3186,3190,3179,3173,822,3184,85,3185,3192,3191],"class_list":["post-905724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-bicycle","tag-bike","tag-bike-event","tag-bike-mechanic","tag-bike-race","tag-coach","tag-coaches","tag-commissaire","tag-criterium","tag-cross-country","tag-cycling","tag-cycling-coach","tag-cycling-event","tag-downhill","tag-events","tag-gravity","tag-mechanic","tag-mountain-bike","tag-national-championship","tag-official","tag-race","tag-racing","tag-road-race","tag-sports","tag-time-trial","tag-us-cycling","tag-usac"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/905724","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=905724"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/905724\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/905725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=905724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=905724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=905724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}