It was in 2022 at the Road World Championships in Wollongong, Australia that the first Under 23 women's road race title was awarded to New Zealand's Niamh Fisher-Black, but there was no celebration on the line, and no picture of the new rainbow jersey winner with her arms thrown in the air given she was the twelfth rider across the line, earning the title by being the first eligible rider to finish among the combined elite and U23 field. In Rwanda, however, that all changes.
2025 marks the first time the under-23 women will get their own race, with team selection, race tactics and the winner dictated by the chase for their own rainbow jersey rather than dominated by the greater numbers of the elite field.
