Isabella Holmgren (Canada) came into the first edition of the women's standalone under-23 road race at the UCI Road World Championships in Kigali as a major favourite following her title in the MTB World Championships U23 race. But a brilliant effort from the French team left Holmgren chasing for sixth place.
Holmgren was part of a group of 10 riders who came into the final climb of the 119.3km race in contention, but eventual winner Célia Gery (France) and her teammate Manion Bunel blew the group apart on the brutal, cobbled ascent.
"I came to win. I think everybody comes to win, so [I'm] a bit upset about that, but I gave it everything and my teammates gave their everything as well, so I'm super proud of that and just wasn't the strongest today," Holmgren said to Cyclingnews.
It was the first separate race for the under-23 women at Road Worlds after three years of a combined race with the elite women, and the resulting confusion in terms of race tactics and team selections. The Rwandan fans packed the final climb to cheer on the women by banging on the barriers and drums.
"It was so amazing, such a cool experience to have road world championships in Rwanda, and the atmosphere was so good, especially the climbs," Holmgren said. "It was a great race."
With such a demanding circuit, there weren't many major attacks or breakaways as attrition whittled down the peloton. Holmgren tried to spark a move on the third lap but was reeled in.
"No one really did any attacks at the start. I tried to do a decent pace on the climbs because I knew the repetitive effort is better for me, but the attacks really started closer to the last half of the race and that's when it got super tough," Holmgren said.
"I think everyone was on the limit before the climb even started, so of course it was super tough. Everyone just went as hard as they could and then Manion Bunel attacked and that was a really smart move because she was able to get away with Célia and they were able to pull off the win."
Canada had the numbers in the race, fielding a five-rider team to France's three, but in the end, the trio of French riders proved to be the strongest in the race.
"My teammates helped a lot, especially with the positioning going into the climbs. Jenaya [Francis] was pulling me down into the last climb for many laps in a row, so it was really helpful. But the French are so strong, all three of them, so I think they did a really good job today."
Holmgren can look back on a successful 2025 season with MTB World titles in both cross-country and short track, the overall win and three stage victories in the Tour de l'Avenir, the Durango-Durango win in May and four MTB World Cup wins.
"I'm super proud and super happy. Lots of people helped me to achieve some really amazing things this year, but I'm excited for offseason and to go home and see my family."
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