{"id":778414,"date":"2026-09-22T02:00:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T02:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/778414\/"},"modified":"2026-09-22T02:00:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T02:00:16","slug":"road-world-championships-ryan-gal-astonishes-with-under-23-mens-time-trial-gold-in-montreal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/778414\/","title":{"rendered":"Road World Championships: Ryan Gal astonishes with under-23 men’s time trial gold in Montreal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ryan Gal of the Netherlands surprised the world by winning the under-23 men\u2019s world time trial title in Montr\u00e9al. The 21-year-old was able to pace his rhythm perfectly on the twisty course, able to keep his speed up on the 400-metre, 6.1% uphill run to the line.<\/p>\n

Gal averaged a speed of more than 50kph, setting the fastest time for all three time checks at that point before stopping the clock with a time of 37:26 after 31.3 kilometres. He then had to wait for 26 riders to finish before he could celebrate his gold medal.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Only three riders, Nicolas Milesi (Italy), H\u00e9ctor \u00c1lvarez (Spain) and Mads Landbo (Denmark) were able to beat Gal\u2019s time by the second time check, halfway through the course. But they could not hold their pace, losing time to Gal by the third check.<\/p>\n

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Milesi nabbed the silver medal, with a time of 37:33, seven seconds off the winning time.<\/p>\n

\u00c1lvarez, who was fastest in both the first and second time checks, was three seconds off the pace by the third check and finished 11 seconds back to win bronze, the first Spanish medal in the under-23 time trial championships.<\/p>\n

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USA\u2019s Ashlin Barry, 18, kept a steady pace, going from ninth at the first time check to fifth at the third check and finished with a time of 37:59 to slot into fourth place, 33 seconds slower than Gal while Landbo took fifth.<\/p>\n

The U23 category at the UCI Road World Championships was shaken up last year by a new rule making riders with professional contracts ineligible for the category.<\/p>\n

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The rule, however, did not apply to riders registered with WorldTour or ProTeam development squads, meaning many of those lining up were already racing while supported by professional team structures, such as Milesi, and \u00c1lvarez.<\/p>\n

But newly crowned world champion Gal does not, as he currently races for a continental team, Metec-SOLARWATT p\/b Mantel.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt hasn’t sunk in yet. I don’t know what happened really. I was just happy I did a good ride. I got sick unfortunately just this week, so it was a bit of a race against the clock to get fit again. And I was just satisfied that I could do the ride I wanted, and it got even better as time went on. When I saw the time, yeah, unbelievable,\u201d Gal said.<\/p>\n

What to read next<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew my numbers were good. I felt good, and also in the final part of the TT, I could push really hard still on the climbs, and I knew I did a good TT, but I didn’t realize I did a great TT.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the biggest difference I made on the final ramps because I still had power left to just sprint up them, and yeah, I just kept something in reserve of the TT, but I just had something left on the on the final couple of ramps. I just went all out to the finish.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\"Gold\n<\/p>\n

Gold medalist Ryan Gal and Team Netherlands (C), Silver medalist Nicolas Milesi and Team Italy (L) and Bronze medalist Hector Alvarez and Team Spain (R) pose on the podium during 99th UCI Road World Championships Montreal 2026 (Image credit: Getty Images)Two riders push average speeds over 50kph<\/p>\n

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 \u00cele-des-S\u0153urs 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Under sunny skies, Indonesia\u2019s Deska Raya Adya was the first of 67 riders to leave the start ramp, with riders setting off at 1:30-minute intervals.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s Romet Pajur, 21, grabbed the top of the leaderboard with 39:28.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, on course, Ireland\u2019s Seth Dunwoody (20) went in too hot on the right-hand corner, and after losing time, decided to carry on on his road bike.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Nicolas\n<\/p>\n

Nicolas Milesi (Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s time by 51 seconds.<\/p>\n

Fastest at the first time check. Denmark\u2019s Kristian Egholm, 22, who started after Gal, could not hold that pace and slotted into second at the finish, 40 seconds down.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Hector\n<\/p>\n

H\u00e9ctor \u00c1lvarez (Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Of the final 10 starters, only three were able to beat Gal\u2019s time at the second check. Spain\u2019s H\u00e9ctor \u00c1lvarez, 19, was five seconds faster than Italy\u2019s Nicolas Milesi, 22, while Denmark\u2019s 21-year-old Mads Landbo was six seconds behind \u00c1lvarez at the 19.1km mark. Milesi, however, had gained five seconds on \u00c1lvarez by that point.<\/p>\n

By the third time check, all three could not hold their pace, falling under Gal\u2019s time. The Italian was one second down, \u00c1lvarez was three seconds back and the Dane faded to 14 seconds, just one second ahead of his compatriot Egholm.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s time. \u00c1lvarez also faded in the finale, finishing with a time of 37:38 and into third place.<\/p>\n

Results<\/p>\n

Swipe to scroll horizontally<\/p>\n

Rank<\/p>\n

Name<\/p>\n

Time<\/p>\n

1<\/p>\n

Ryan Gal (Netherlands)<\/p>\n

37:26.16<\/p>\n

2<\/p>\n

Nicolas Milesi (Italy)<\/p>\n

0:00:07<\/p>\n

3<\/p>\n

Hector Alvarez (Spain)<\/p>\n

0:00:12<\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

Ashlin Barry (United States)<\/p>\n

0:00:34<\/p>\n

5<\/p>\n

Mads Landbo (Denmark)<\/p>\n

0:00:36<\/p>\n

6<\/p>\n

Kristian Egholm (Denmark)<\/p>\n

0:00:40<\/p>\n

7<\/p>\n

Kasper Haugland (Norway)<\/p>\n

0:00:47<\/p>\n

8<\/p>\n

Bogdan Zabelinskiy (Cyprus)<\/p>\n

0:00:52<\/p>\n

9<\/p>\n

Michiel Mouris (Netherlands)<\/p>\n

0:00:56<\/p>\n

10<\/p>\n

Adam Rafferty (Ireland)<\/p>\n

0:00:57<\/p>\n

11<\/p>\n

Ben Wiggins (Great Britain)<\/p>\n

0:01:07<\/p>\n

12<\/p>\n

Matisse van Kerckhove (Belgium)<\/p>\n

0:01:23<\/p>\n

13<\/p>\n

Bruno Kessler (Germany)<\/p>\n

0:01:26<\/p>\n

14<\/p>\n

Arthur Blaise (France)<\/p>\n

0:01:26<\/p>\n

15<\/p>\n

Louis Leidert (Germany)<\/p>\n

0:01:30<\/p>\n

16<\/p>\n

Jonas Walton (Canada)<\/p>\n

0:01:36<\/p>\n

17<\/p>\n

Jasper Schoofs (Belgium)<\/p>\n

0:01:39<\/p>\n

18<\/p>\n

Jonas Kind Hoydahl (Norway)<\/p>\n

0:01:49<\/p>\n

19<\/p>\n

Enaut Urcaregui (Spain)<\/p>\n

0:01:55<\/p>\n

20<\/p>\n

William Holmes (Australia)<\/p>\n

0:01:57<\/p>\n

21<\/p>\n

Alessandro Cattani (Italy)<\/p>\n

0:02:00<\/p>\n

22<\/p>\n

Carson Mattern (Canada)<\/p>\n

0:02:00<\/p>\n

23<\/p>\n

Sebastian Ruiz (Mexico)<\/p>\n

0:02:02<\/p>\n

24<\/p>\n

Romet Pajur (Estonia)<\/p>\n

0:02:03<\/p>\n

25<\/p>\n

Nicholas van der Merwe (Bulgaria)<\/p>\n

0:02:04<\/p>\n

26<\/p>\n

Mateo Kalejman (Argentina)<\/p>\n

0:02:09<\/p>\n

27<\/p>\n

Kade Kreikemeier (United States)<\/p>\n

0:02:18<\/p>\n

28<\/p>\n

Frank Aron Ragilo (Estonia)<\/p>\n

0:02:25<\/p>\n

29<\/p>\n

Robert Andres Plazas (Colombia)<\/p>\n

0:02:33<\/p>\n

30<\/p>\n

Patryk Goszczurny (Poland)<\/p>\n

0:02:35<\/p>\n

31<\/p>\n

Juan Diego Quintero (Colombia)<\/p>\n

0:02:37<\/p>\n

32<\/p>\n

Davio Jonsson (Iceland)<\/p>\n

0:02:46<\/p>\n

33<\/p>\n

Alberto Monti (Czechia)<\/p>\n

0:02:49<\/p>\n

34<\/p>\n

Thomas Waites (Australia)<\/p>\n

0:02:49<\/p>\n

35<\/p>\n

Jaka Marolt (Slovenia)<\/p>\n

0:02:56<\/p>\n

36<\/p>\n

Mikhail Podluzhnyy (Kazakhstan)<\/p>\n

0:03:00<\/p>\n

37<\/p>\n

Jan Jackowiak (Poland)<\/p>\n

0:03:09<\/p>\n

38<\/p>\n

Vladislav Bashlykov (Kazakhstan)<\/p>\n

0:03:13<\/p>\n

39<\/p>\n

Cameron Rogers (Australia)<\/p>\n

0:03:24<\/p>\n

40<\/p>\n

Jan Huber (Switzerland)<\/p>\n

0:03:26<\/p>\n

41<\/p>\n

Danylo Kozoriz (Ukraine)<\/p>\n

0:03:27<\/p>\n

42<\/p>\n

Taito Shindo (Japan)<\/p>\n

0:03:37<\/p>\n

43<\/p>\n

Joshua Dike (South Africa)<\/p>\n

0:03:49<\/p>\n

44<\/p>\n

Mansur Beisembay (Kazakhstan)<\/p>\n

0:03:50<\/p>\n

45<\/p>\n

Chenli Zhao (China)<\/p>\n

0:03:58<\/p>\n

46<\/p>\n

Mario Sanchez (Bolivia)<\/p>\n

0:04:01<\/p>\n

47<\/p>\n

Ferhat Emisci (Turkey)<\/p>\n

0:04:04<\/p>\n

48<\/p>\n

Jadian Neaves (Trinidad And Tobago)<\/p>\n

0:04:16<\/p>\n

49<\/p>\n

Yusheng Chen (China)<\/p>\n

0:04:18<\/p>\n

50<\/p>\n

Rastko Nika\u010devi\u0107 (Serbia)<\/p>\n

0:04:23<\/p>\n

51<\/p>\n

Mohamed Aziz Dellai (Tunisia)<\/p>\n

0:04:51<\/p>\n

52<\/p>\n

Isshin Yamasato (Japan)<\/p>\n

0:04:57<\/p>\n

53<\/p>\n

Kevin Nshutiraguma (Rwanda)<\/p>\n

0:05:16<\/p>\n

54<\/p>\n

Hareb Almarzooqi (United Arab Emirates)<\/p>\n

0:05:21<\/p>\n

55<\/p>\n

Alexander Erasmus (South Africa)<\/p>\n

0:05:21<\/p>\n

56<\/p>\n

Seth Dunwoody (Ireland)<\/p>\n

0:05:54<\/p>\n

57<\/p>\n

Jeremy Raboude (Mauritius)<\/p>\n

0:05:58<\/p>\n

58<\/p>\n

Samuel Quevauvilliers (Mauritius)<\/p>\n

0:06:10<\/p>\n

59<\/p>\n

Rizky Ridho Riyadiyanto (Indonesia)<\/p>\n

0:06:19<\/p>\n

60<\/p>\n

Jaylen Briceno (Belize)<\/p>\n

0:06:28<\/p>\n

61<\/p>\n

Pablo Escajadillo (Peru)<\/p>\n

0:06:32<\/p>\n

62<\/p>\n

Temuulen Khadbaatar (Mongolia)<\/p>\n

0:06:42<\/p>\n

63<\/p>\n

Deska Raya Adya (Indonesia)<\/p>\n

0:07:12<\/p>\n

64<\/p>\n

Arda Tekirdag (Turkey)<\/p>\n

0:07:31<\/p>\n

65<\/p>\n

Prateek Ravla (Zimbabwe)<\/p>\n

0:10:15<\/p>\n

66<\/p>\n

Denver Alphonse (Saint Lucia)<\/p>\n

0:12:07<\/p>\n

67<\/p>\n

John Muchiri (Kenya)<\/p>\n

0:13:24<\/p>\n

DNF<\/p>\n

Reef Roberts (New Zealand)<\/p>\n

Row 67 – Cell 2 <\/p>\n

DNS<\/p>\n

Amaniel Desta (Ethiopia)<\/p>\n

Row 68 – Cell 2 <\/p>\n

DNS<\/p>\n

Goran Gabourel (Belize)<\/p>\n

Row 69 – Cell 2 <\/p>\n

DNS<\/p>\n

Khotsofalang Rakaota (Lesotho)<\/p>\n

Row 70 – Cell 2 <\/p>\n

DNS<\/p>\n

Tekle Alemayo (Ethiopia)<\/p>\n

Row 71 – Cell 2 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ryan Gal of the Netherlands surprised the world by winning the under-23 men\u2019s world time trial title in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":778415,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-778414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-cycling","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=778414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778414\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/778415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=778414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=778414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=778414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}