When the reduced peloton was shredded to pieces by vicious accelerations at more than 30km to go in the women's road race at the Glasgow World Championships, Blanka Vas (Hungary), Shirin van Anrooij (Netherlands) and Anna Shackley's chances of playing any further role in the battle to cross the finish line first slipped away, but then another race began.
That’s because the rainbow jersey Lotte Kopecky (Belgium) was riding towards out the front wasn’t the only one up for grabs as the U23 world title would be awarded to the first rider in that category over the line in the combined elite/U23 women's race.
It was more than four minutes after Kopecky crossed that there was a sprint from a group of nine that held far greater significance than a battle for minor placings, as securing the 11th spot at the race also ended up meaning a rainbow jersey for Vas and Hungary.
"I really didn't expect to become world champion,” said Vas in a statement put out by her SD Worx trade team, which is also the squad of elite winner Kopecky. “I am very happy about this. It might have been even nicer if this was a separate race and you actually crossed the finish line first.
“It is special to be able to put on that coveted jersey. The fact that Lotte crowned herself elite world champion only makes it more beautiful. Whether I also hope to achieve this one day? Of course, but for that I need to improve a lot. For now, let me just enjoy this U23 title first."
Vas lined up at the road race just two days after taking on the dedicated U23 women's race in the mountain bike cross-country Olympic, finishing fifth even after starting well back on the grid. In the road race she went in the early break and even though she initially fell away from that group the 21 year old kept fighting back.
"That was the right decision because my legs didn't actually feel super. I couldn't follow the pace on the climb and blew back to the peloton," said Vas. "When we got to the local circuit, I almost had to drop out on the first lap, but I felt myself getting better towards the end."
Good enough that when she came to the line in a group of nine her with two U23 rivals within it, her speed was unmatched, with Van Anrooij finishing two places back in the overall race to claim the U23 silver while 17th spot for Shackley secured bronze in the U23 category.
Work done, legs done yet another battle begins
The women's U23 title was introduced as part of the elite race in 2022 but will not be a stand alone race until 2025, nearly thirty years on from when an U23 men's race was introduced to the Road World Championships in 1996. The combination of the U23/elite women's road race means that riders have to gain selection for the elite team, so even some strong cycling nation's like Australia didn't have a single rider in the category. Plus team priorities can also often be all about the elite title.
Vas was Hungary's best prospect for either title, so for her that wasn't an issue, although she had to chase it with only one teammate lining up alongside her. On the other hand Van Anrooij, as part of the Dutch team, was part of the most powerful squad but that also meant the elite title was the unquestionable priority. When Van Anrooij fought her way back to the lead peloton after being dropped on the long early climb of Crow Road, the U23 world cyclo-cross champion wasn't looking to rejoin to add another U23 rainbow jersey for herself – she was instead trying to help put teammate Vollering into the elite one.
"We could come back with 2k to go before entering the local lap and then I just knew it was all about positioning," said Van Anrooij in an interview on Cycling Pro Net. "Then I was there and just tried to help Demi as much as possible and we tried to close the gap to Elise [Chabbey] and then she took over. Then my job was actually done and my legs were also done,” she added with a chuckle.
“But then I discovered we were also fighting for the U23 title as well which was of course not a goal before the start but if you are then in a position to try and fight for the win of course you want to win.”
Finding herself in a group off the back with Riejanne Markus and unable to help her team leader anymore, Van Anrooij checked to see if she could turn her mind to a different chase.
"I just asked her ‘can I now try and go for the U23 title because we can’t help Demi anymore?’. And then she said I was allowed to do that and then it came down to a sprint and I don’t really like sprinting for a title,” said Van Anrooij, who secured her cyclocross world title solo.
The sprint didn't exactly play to Shackley's strengths either but she was safely on the podium regardless, with the next U23 riders more than ten minutes behind the podium trio. That meant she got to celebrate taking a medal at a home World Championships.
"I'm pretty stoked; I didn't know what to expect today on the course but I was just so happy to be racing on roads I grew up riding on," said Shackley in a statement put out by Scottish Cycling. "When we got to the course, my legs didn't feel so good, but so neither did everyone else’s, and I just held on and I'm very happy with my bronze medal."
There were 57 riders in the U23 category of the race, out of a start list for the combined event of 207. Just 19 of those U23 riders finished the tough 154.1km race with 2,229m of elevation gain and six laps of a gruelling, technical finishing circuit in Glasgow.
