“I kept thinking I was going to get caught. I just expected it. Somehow it never happened,” Ashlin Barry said.
The rider, who turned 19 years old on the day of the men’s under-23 world championship road race, didn’t think the course in Montreal would necessarily suit him. And yet.
Early in the 174.2-km race that featured 13 laps of the Montreal city circuit, Barry got off the front with a few riders. They were caught. But by 128 km to go, Barry was away with the day’s breakaway along with Samuel Novák (Slovakia), William Heffernan (Australia), Matthew Dodd (Great Britain) and Kristian Egholm (Denmark). They worked well as a group gaining close to two minutes on the bunch. With about 79 km left in the race, Dodd attacked the breakaway on Camillien-Houde. Barry did most of the chasing to reel in the GB rider. On the fourth last lap to go, Egholm attacked on the course’s primary climb. Barry caught him and the duo kept away. After the Pagnuelo climb, Barry was solo.
The plan was to get ahead early, which he did. If he got caught, then, ideally, he could hang with that group and keep an eye out for another opportunity.
Ashlin Barry may ride for the U.S., but home is a nuanced thing
Ashlin’s father, Michael Barry, was watching his son from the roadside. “Ashlin was smiling when he’d pass by. He seemed comfortable. He managed his effort well,” Michael said after the race. It was around a lap and a half to go when Michael, who was then with Steve Bauer, said he figured Ashlin could make it.
“It’s not always a climber who wins on this course. Dede told Ashlin how she won on the climb and she wasn’t the strongest on that day,” Michael said of his wife and Ashlin’s mom who took the 2002 women’s World Cup on the top of the Camillien-Houde.
Michael also revealed the level of preparation Ashlin put into worlds. “A couple of months ago, Ashlin began to plan for this race. He looked at the distances up the climbs. They are around five minutes at most, so considering his power numbers, he figured he could be up there,” Michael said.
In the end, Ashlin Barry triumphed solo. To his father, the chaotic racing behind, and the fact that many of the riders seemed cooked, played into Ashlin’s favour.
In the days ahead of the race, publicly, Ashlin said he wasn’t sure the climbs for Montreal really suited him. But after the race, with the rainbow jersey on, his victory and research seemed to have him tentatively re-evaluating himself for the world. “I guess the race shows I can go up hills pretty well. I’m definitely a bigger rider. I think people kind of make the assumption I can’t go uphill well, and so maybe I internalize that a little,” he said. “I was being honest when I said I wasn’t sure this course suited me. I didn’t have huge expectations for this road race. To perform the way I did is just incredible.”
Michael mentioned that while popular opinion might pigeonhole Ashlin a bit, the coaches who Ashlin works with at Visma-Lease a Bike, are careful not to set limits on the young rider. “They know he’s still developing,” Michael said.
“I think today probably makes me more uncertain of the type of rider I am,” Ashlin said. “I really like the classics. I think that kind of racing suits me well, really long days on the bike and chaotic racing. But I think I’m just a good all-rounder so I’ll see what I can do and try to be good at everything.”