When Viktória Chladoňová (Slovakia) raised her arms on the finish line of the UCI Road World Championships in Montreal, having just beaten home favourite Isabella Holmgren (Canada) in the U23 women's road race to win the rainbow jersey, it was the fulfilment of a dream she'd had ever since her silver medal in Kigali last year, where she finished behind Célia Gery (France).
"It was my dream [to win] after last year's second place; I really wanted to have a first place now. I had a plan in my mind. I tried to attack to make it as small a group as possible, and it was perfect.
"With Isabella, we really cooperated well, and then it was up to the final sprint. I'm super happy that I could take the world title," she said at the press conference in the Athletics centre of McGill University, just off the finishing straight.
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Chladoňová took charge of the race herself, not waiting for the bigger nations to make their moves. Instead, she went on the attack and made the decisive selection when she got Holmgren and Fleur Moors (Belgium) with her.
"I had a plan that I wanted to go first, maybe solo, or at least with some strong girls, to make the group smaller and without sprinters. That was the first goal, so with three laps to go, I attacked multiple times. In the end, it was Fleur, Isabella and me, and I think it was a perfect situation because we all cooperated and it was such an amazing ride also from them," Chladoňová explained.
Holmgren attacked several times on the final lap, attempting to shake off the Slovakian rider who is a better sprinter. Moors had to let go on the Voie Camillien-Houde, leaving a duo at the front, but Chladoňová could reply to each and every attack.
"I knew she really wanted to go solo. It was a very hard attack, but I managed to stay on her wheel, and then I knew that my chances in the sprint were higher. It was the perfect tactical play, and also what I had planned, so it's even better that I could finish it off," she said.
The Canadian crowds were cheering for Holmgren, but their claps, bells, whistles, and roars also helped Chladoňová along.
"The crowd was really pushing us. I can imagine it means a lot for the Canadians, and they also had a super strong team, so I tried to focus on them. But the crowd was amazing, and it really gave me extra watts," she said.
Just before the right turn onto the finishing straight, Holmgren let Chladoňová come through, securing the position on the Slovakian's wheel ahead of the uphill sprint. Holmgren faked a first acceleration, then launched her sprint but saw Chladoňová react right away.
"I knew that the second position is maybe better for a sprint, but I kept an eye on her, and when she started sprinting, I immediately responded. It was a very hard, long sprint, not like a flat sprint. It was about who had more in the legs. I was pretty confident to start in the first position," the new world champion was always in control on the final kilometre.
In a race where the biggest nations had five or even six riders, Slovakia came through to take the victory with only three riders. Sofia Ungerová went into the early breakaway while Nina Andacká stayed with Chladoňová to support her in the peloton.
"We definitely wanted to send someone in the break. It was super helpful for me because I could stay on the wheels and take it easy. And I had one teammate with me who really helped me with the nutrition or the positioning, to get me to the front or just a little pacing on the climb. That was definitely also a big help. I couldn't have done it without them," Chladoňová thanked her teammates.
Already in her second year on the Women's WorldTour with Visma-Lease a Bike, it's easy to forget that Chladoňová is still only 19 years old, not turning 20 until November. This added a complication her 2026 season as she had to take exams in the spring.
"At the start of the season, I had school duties, so I couldn't train and race properly. I finished high school in the spring, so now I can focus fully on cycling. I took the steps to train, and it felt amazing that my goal came true. It gives me even bigger motivation to have next season be even more successful."
With high school ticked off and a road race rainbow jersey – her second rainbow jersey after winning the junior women's world title on the mountain bike in 2024 – on her shoulders, it is now time to enjoy the success, though without losing the next objective out of sight.
"I want to celebrate it with my teammates and the whole Slovak national cycling team. It's something so big that I still can't imagine. I want to just celebrate it with them and enjoy, maybe have a nice dinner. I also need to focus on Europeans afterwards, but now the plan is to celebrate with the team around me," she finished.
Since Montreal is renowned for its excellent food scene, Chladoňová and her whole team can look forward to a very good dinner to celebrate her new rainbow jersey in style.
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