Road World Championships: Ryan Gal astonishes with under-23 men’s time trial gold in Montreal

Very similar to the elite course, the U23 men’s individual time trial course took riders through the streets of Old Montreal and along the banks of the St. Lawrence River before reaching Île-des-Sœurs and crossing the Samuel-De Champlain Bridge. From there, the course followed the Greater Montreal River Walk before passing through, but not looping around, the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve.

Riders then crossed the St. Lawrence once more, this time via the Concorde Bridge, before a shorter path than the elite to return to the finish line in Parc Jeanne-Mance after a twisty course with 37 corners.

Under sunny skies, Indonesia’s Deska Raya Adya was the first of 67 riders to leave the start ramp, with riders setting off at 1:30-minute intervals.

A few riders on the start list, such as Tekle Alemayo (Ethiopia), Khotsofalang Rakaota (Lesotho), Goran Gabourel (Belize), and Amaniel Desta (Ethopia) did not take the start.

Robert Andres Plazas, 22, of Colombia, was the fastest of the early starters with an average speed of 47km/hr, clocking a time of 39:58. Half an hour later, that time was bested by 28 seconds, first by Nicholas van der Merwe (19) of Bulgaria. And then, not long after, Estonia’s Romet Pajur, 21, grabbed the top of the leaderboard with 39:28.

Meanwhile, on course, Ireland’s Seth Dunwoody (20) went in too hot on the right-hand corner, and after losing time, decided to carry on on his road bike.

Nicolas Milesi (Image credit: Getty Images)

And one of the pre-race favourites, Cameron Rogers (Australia), 21, was taken out of contention with a mechanical before the first time check at 10.7km.

The Australian had caught his 1:30 man after eight kilometres before he came to an abrupt stop after dropping his chain, cursing the lost time as the mechanic was trying to help him.

Later on the course, Rogers was seen to be waving his arm in disgust to the team car behind him, before stopping once again to get on his road bike.

Bogdan Zabelinskiy, 21, of Cyprus, was the fastest all time checks on his way to setting the new fast time of 38:18. The son of Olympic time trial silver medalist Olga Zabelinskiy, became the first rider to go under 39-minute mark.

A flying Ryan Gal, 21, of the Netherlands, was fastest at all the time checks and set the new fast time of 37:26, blitzing Zabelinskiy’s time by 51 seconds.

Fastest at the first time check. Denmark’s Kristian Egholm, 22, who started after Gal, could not hold that pace and slotted into second at the finish, 40 seconds down.

Héctor Álvarez (Image credit: Getty Images)

Of the final 10 starters, only three were able to beat Gal’s time at the second check. Spain’s Héctor Álvarez, 19, was five seconds faster than Italy’s Nicolas Milesi, 22, while Denmark’s 21-year-old Mads Landbo was six seconds behind Álvarez at the 19.1km mark. Milesi, however, had gained five seconds on Álvarez by that point.

By the third time check, all three could not hold their pace, falling under Gal’s time. The Italian was one second down, Álvarez was three seconds back and the Dane faded to 14 seconds, just one second ahead of his compatriot Egholm.

The final tough uphill stretch to the line was the undoing for many riders. Landbo finished with a time 35.73, 35 seconds from the pace of Gal, and slotted in behind Barry while Milesi gave everything he could, but finished seven seconds from Gal’s time. Álvarez also faded in the finale, finishing with a time of 37:38 and into third place.

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Rank

Name

Time

1

Ryan Gal (Netherlands)

37:26.16

2

Nicolas Milesi (Italy)

0:00:07

3

Hector Alvarez (Spain)

0:00:12

4

Ashlin Barry (United States)

0:00:34

5

Mads Landbo (Denmark)

0:00:36

6

Kristian Egholm (Denmark)

0:00:40

7

Kasper Haugland (Norway)

0:00:47

8

Bogdan Zabelinskiy (Cyprus)

0:00:52

9

Michiel Mouris (Netherlands)

0:00:56

10

Adam Rafferty (Ireland)

0:00:57

11

Ben Wiggins (Great Britain)

0:01:07

12

Matisse van Kerckhove (Belgium)

0:01:23

13

Bruno Kessler (Germany)

0:01:26

14

Arthur Blaise (France)

0:01:26

15

Louis Leidert (Germany)

0:01:30

16

Jonas Walton (Canada)

0:01:36

17

Jasper Schoofs (Belgium)

0:01:39

18

Jonas Kind Hoydahl (Norway)

0:01:49

19

Enaut Urcaregui (Spain)

0:01:55

20

William Holmes (Australia)

0:01:57

21

Alessandro Cattani (Italy)

0:02:00

22

Carson Mattern (Canada)

0:02:00

23

Sebastian Ruiz (Mexico)

0:02:02

24

Romet Pajur (Estonia)

0:02:03

25

Nicholas van der Merwe (Bulgaria)

0:02:04

26

Mateo Kalejman (Argentina)

0:02:09

27

Kade Kreikemeier (United States)

0:02:18

28

Frank Aron Ragilo (Estonia)

0:02:25

29

Robert Andres Plazas (Colombia)

0:02:33

30

Patryk Goszczurny (Poland)

0:02:35

31

Juan Diego Quintero (Colombia)

0:02:37

32

Davio Jonsson (Iceland)

0:02:46

33

Alberto Monti (Czechia)

0:02:49

34

Thomas Waites (Australia)

0:02:49

35

Jaka Marolt (Slovenia)

0:02:56

36

Mikhail Podluzhnyy (Kazakhstan)

0:03:00

37

Jan Jackowiak (Poland)

0:03:09

38

Vladislav Bashlykov (Kazakhstan)

0:03:13

39

Cameron Rogers (Australia)

0:03:24

40

Jan Huber (Switzerland)

0:03:26

41

Danylo Kozoriz (Ukraine)

0:03:27

42

Taito Shindo (Japan)

0:03:37

43

Joshua Dike (South Africa)

0:03:49

44

Mansur Beisembay (Kazakhstan)

0:03:50

45

Chenli Zhao (China)

0:03:58

46

Mario Sanchez (Bolivia)

0:04:01

47

Ferhat Emisci (Turkey)

0:04:04

48

Jadian Neaves (Trinidad And Tobago)

0:04:16

49

Yusheng Chen (China)

0:04:18

50

Rastko Nikačević (Serbia)

0:04:23

51

Mohamed Aziz Dellai (Tunisia)

0:04:51

52

Isshin Yamasato (Japan)

0:04:57

53

Kevin Nshutiraguma (Rwanda)

0:05:16

54

Hareb Almarzooqi (United Arab Emirates)

0:05:21

55

Alexander Erasmus (South Africa)

0:05:21

56

Seth Dunwoody (Ireland)

0:05:54

57

Jeremy Raboude (Mauritius)

0:05:58

58

Samuel Quevauvilliers (Mauritius)

0:06:10

59

Rizky Ridho Riyadiyanto (Indonesia)

0:06:19

60

Jaylen Briceno (Belize)

0:06:28

61

Pablo Escajadillo (Peru)

0:06:32

62

Temuulen Khadbaatar (Mongolia)

0:06:42

63

Deska Raya Adya (Indonesia)

0:07:12

64

Arda Tekirdag (Turkey)

0:07:31

65

Prateek Ravla (Zimbabwe)

0:10:15

66

Denver Alphonse (Saint Lucia)

0:12:07

67

John Muchiri (Kenya)

0:13:24

DNF

Reef Roberts (New Zealand)

Row 67 – Cell 2

DNS

Amaniel Desta (Ethiopia)

Row 68 – Cell 2

DNS

Goran Gabourel (Belize)

Row 69 – Cell 2

DNS

Khotsofalang Rakaota (Lesotho)

Row 70 – Cell 2

DNS

Tekle Alemayo (Ethiopia)

Row 71 – Cell 2