Kata Blanka Vas sprints to fourth as best under-23 rider at World Championships

Kata Blanka Vas UCI World Championships road race 2021 Leuven Belgium Flanders Hungary
Kata Blanka Vas on the attack during the women's road race at the UCI Road World Championships (Image credit: Bettini Photo)

If the UCI Road World Championships was run with equality across the age categories for men and women, then Kata Blanka Vas might well have been walking away from Flanders 2021 with a rainbow jersey draped across her shoulders.

The Hungarian was the first under-23 woman to cross the line in Saturday's elite women's road race, a result which – from 2022 onwards – could see the rider in that position awarded as the U23 world champion in a sort of middle-ground between the current setup and one which would involve a full U23 women's race to match the men.

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Senior news writer

Dani Ostanek is Senior News Writer at Cyclingnews, having joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor and later being hired full-time. Prior to joining the team, they had written for numerous major publications in the cycling world, including CyclingWeekly, Rouleur, and CyclingTips.

 

Dani has reported from the world's top races, including the Tour de France and the spring Classics, and has interviewed many of the sport's biggest stars, including Wout van Aert, Remco Evenepoel, Demi Vollering, and Anna van der Breggen.

 

As well as original reporting, news and feature writing, and production work, Dani also oversees The Leadout newsletter and How to Watch guides throughout the season. Their favourite races are Strade Bianche and the Volta a Portugal.