Barbora Bukovská (Czechia) soloed to victory at the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships, winning by 15 seconds in the 45-minute race to take the junior women's world title.
The 18-year-old beat Lise Revol (France) to the line, while Lucie Grohová (Czechia) took the bronze medal at 35 seconds back.
Three-time World Cup winner Revol lined up as the top favourite for glory on Saturday morning and duly attacked from the start in Hulst. She was joined up front by Nynke Jochems (Netherlands) and Franco Pellizzotti (Italy), while Bukovská missed out in the early running.
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Revol, who won the junior race last year on home ground in Liévin, was the strongest rider of the early stages, pulling away at the front. Behind her, a chase group formed, with Czech racers Bukovská and Grohová making it into the chase.
Bukovská finished second behind Revol last year and once again led the way behind the Frenchwoman this year. On lap four, she pushed on alone in pursuit of her rival, gradually closing the gap.
In 2025, Revol held on to win by 11 seconds at the finish, but this time around, Bukovská managed to bridge across, making it two out front on the penultimate lap of the race. She continued to put the pressure on, too, and managed to break Revol to lead solo heading into the final lap.
Behind, Grohová had moved into third place, setting up the final medal places well before the finish line. A hard crash into the barriers for the Czech racer looked to throw that bronze medal into jeopardy, however.
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She fell on the finishing straight starting the final lap, damaging a shifter in the process. But, despite the spill, she carried on in third place, improving on last year's eighth to hold off Pellizzotti by nine seconds at the finish.
Up front, Bukovská had gone clear and wouldn't be caught again by Revol, leaving her to race home on her own and savour the gold medal.
Revol, Bukovská and Grohová with their medals on the final podium (Image credit: Getty Images)
Dani Ostanek is Senior News Writer at Cyclingnews, having joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor, later being hired full-time. Her favourite races include Strade Bianche, the Tour de France Femmes, Paris-Roubaix, and Tro-Bro Léon.
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