Race favourite Léo Bisiaux (France) captured the junior men's title at the UCI Cyclocross World Championships in Hoogerheide, soloing to the win with a dominant display.
The 18-year-old attacked on the second lap of the race and was never caught back by any of his competitors, eventually finishing 11 seconds clear of second-placed Senna Remijn (Netherlands). Yordi Corsus (Belgium) rounded out the podium having earlier managed to briefly match Bisiaux.
"Today I was ready for the battle and it was a good battle. It was really good and I'm really happy with this result," Bisiaux said after the race.
"It was a very long time and not a World Championships with a French win, so it's a big work with the federation. Today was a good race and a good preparation with the French team. It was a good day today."
The very start of the race was marked by chaos and a mass crash inside the opening 100 metres. Many of the favourites came through unscathed, though several Belgian riders were held up.
Corsus came through as the strongest of the Belgians early on, racing with Bisiaux at the front, but the French rider was able to leave the rest behind with an acceleration on lap two.
Behind him formed a group including Belgians Corsus, Wies Nuyens and Seppe van den Boer and Dutchmen Remijn and Keije Solen, though the quintet wouldn't get back to Bisiaux.
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Remijn led the chase, at one point going solo in pursuit of the Frenchman and getting within five seconds of the lead, but not managing to make the catch.
He'd end up in second place after Bisiaux upped the pace to distance him once more, while further back it was Corsus who came out on top during a final lap battle for bronze.
The world title is Bisiaux's 13th major victory of the season, with the French and European titles also on his palmarès along with two rounds of the UCI World Cup.
Dani Ostanek is Senior News Writer at Cyclingnews, having joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor before being hired full-time. Her favourite races include the Paris-Roubaix, Tour de France Femmes, Tro-Bro Léon, and cycling's fourth Grand Tour, the Volta a Portugal.
