Mohoric wins U23 men's road race world championship
By Alasdair Fotheringham published
Meintjes earns silver while Enger sprints to bronze medal
A year after he took silver and gold at Valkenburg in the junior men's time trial and road race world championships, Slovenian Matej Mohoric claimed gold again, but this time with a solo win in the U23 men's road race.
Due to turn pro with Cannondale next year, the 18-year-old Slovenian proved that he is more than ready for the step up into cycling's top league as he rode a near-faultless race at Florence.
Saving his energy through the first five of seven laps of the circuit, Mohoric bridged across to France's Tour de L'Avenir stage winner Julian Alaphilippe on the second last lap then dropped the Frenchman on the last ascent of the Fiesole climb for a solo challenge.
Riding to his considerable strengths as a descender, the lankily built Mohoric opened up the throttle on the technical, fast drop off the Fiesole back down into Florence, creating a gap of 28 seconds by the time the road flattened out.
Behind the chase, initially led by the Italians, spluttered and fizzled fitfully into some sort of life as Mohoric, often in view ahead on the longer straights, continued to plough onwards regardless, only for the pursuit to die away again as riders took their own chances here and there.
The only one that succeeded in actually going clear was South African Louis Meintjes, and on the second, shorter, punchier climb of the Via Salvati, Mohoric came painfully close to being caught by his nearest pursuer.
But the summit of the 600-metre ascent came too soon for Meintjes to close the gap definitively, and Mohoric's ultra-fast descending - clipping the corners perfectly and wrapped around the top tube - helped the gap widen again.
With 400 metres of the 172.3-kilometre course left to race, the penny dropped with Mohoric that barring divine intervention with a capital "D", the victory was in the bag, and he slowed slightly to allow himself to savour the moment. After raising his arm skywards one last time, the Slovenian crossed the line with three seconds on Meintjes, whilst Norway's Sonder Enger led in the tiny front bunch of 17 chasers 13 seconds later for bronze.
Full Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Matej Mohoric (Slovenia) | 4:20:18 |
2 | Louis Meintjes (South Africa) | 0:00:03 |
3 | Sondre H Enger (Norway) | 0:00:13 |
4 | Caleb Ewan (Australia) | |
5 | Toms Skujins (Latvia) | |
6 | Davide Villella (Italy) | |
7 | Dylan Van Baarle (Netherlands) | |
8 | Silvio Herklotz (Germany) | |
9 | Julian Alaphilippe (France) | |
10 | Patrick Konrad (Austria) | |
11 | Clement Chevrier (France) | |
12 | Jan Hirt (Czech Republic) | |
13 | Nathan Brown (United States Of America) | |
14 | Frederico Figueiredo (Portugal) | |
15 | Merhawi Kudus Ghebremedhin (Eritrea) | |
16 | Odd Christian Eiking (Norway) | |
17 | Simon Yates (Great Britain) | |
18 | Sebastian Henao Gomez (Colombia) | |
19 | Adam Yates (Great Britain) | |
20 | Ilia Koshevoy (Belarus) | 0:00:16 |
21 | Flavien Dassonville (France) | 0:00:45 |
22 | Ildar Arslanov (Russian Federation) | 0:00:52 |
23 | Felix Grossschartner (Austria) | 0:00:53 |
24 | Stefan Rabitsch (Austria) | |
25 | Jasper Stuyven (Belgium) | 0:01:14 |
26 | Jasha Sutterlin (Germany) | 0:01:25 |
27 | Stefan Kueng (Switzerland) | |
28 | Karel Hnik (Czech Republic) | |
29 | Adrien Chenaux (Switzerland) | |
30 | Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev (Kazakhstan) | 0:01:27 |
31 | Adam Phelan (Australia) | |
32 | Zico Waeytens (Belgium) | 0:01:30 |
33 | Tanner Putt (United States Of America) | 0:01:39 |
34 | Andrea Zordan (Italy) | 0:01:45 |
35 | Daniel Alexander Jaramillo Diez (Colombia) | 0:02:27 |
36 | Magnus Cort Nielsen (Denmark) | 0:02:33 |
37 | Mike Teunissen (Netherlands) | |
38 | Sjors Roosen (Netherlands) | |
39 | Gregor Muhlberger (Austria) | |
40 | Emanuel Piaskowy (Poland) | |
41 | Daniil Fominykh (Kazakhstan) | |
42 | Louis Vervaeke (Belgium) | |
43 | Derk Abel Beckeringh (Netherlands) | |
44 | Frayre Moctezuma Eder (Mexico) | |
45 | Lukasz Wisniowski (Poland) | |
46 | Antoine Duchesne (Canada) | |
47 | Tilegen Maidos (Kazakhstan) | |
48 | Luis Enrique Davila (Mexico) | |
49 | Cristian Raileanu (Republic of Moldova) | |
50 | Damien Howson (Australia) | 0:02:42 |
51 | Bjørn Tore Nilsen Hoem (Norway) | 0:03:18 |
52 | James Oram (New Zealand) | 0:04:14 |
53 | Fredrik S Galta (Norway) | |
54 | Tiesj Benoot (Belgium) | |
55 | Facundo Lezica (Argentina) | |
56 | Fredrik Ludvigsson (Sweden) | 0:05:27 |
57 | Alexis Gougeard (France) | 0:06:36 |
58 | Alberto Bettiol (Italy) | |
59 | Davide Formolo (Italy) | |
60 | Michael Valgren Andersen (Denmark) | |
61 | Roman Katyrin (Russian Federation) | 0:06:52 |
62 | Juan Ernesto Chamorro Chitan (Colombia) | |
63 | Natnael Berhane (Eritrea) | |
64 | Johann Van Zyl (South Africa) | 0:07:07 |
65 | Ruben Fernandez Andujar (Spain) | 0:08:06 |
66 | Mikhail Akimov (Russian Federation) | 0:08:40 |
67 | Gennady Tatarinov (Russian Federation) | |
68 | Emanuel Buchmann (Germany) | |
69 | Nicolae Tanovitchii (Republic of Moldova) | |
70 | Emiel Dolfsma (Netherlands) | 0:10:49 |
71 | Simon Pellaud (Switzerland) | 0:11:10 |
72 | Heiner Rodrigo Parra Bustamente (Colombia) | |
73 | Kristian Haugaard Jensen (Denmark) | |
74 | Patryk Stosz (Poland) | 0:11:40 |
75 | Issak Tesfom Okubamariam (Eritrea) | 0:14:45 |
76 | Rick Zabel (Germany) | 0:15:24 |
77 | Dion Smith (New Zealand) | |
78 | Jaka Bostner (Slovenia) | |
79 | Emils Liepins (Latvia) | 0:15:54 |
80 | Erik Baska (Slovakia) | 0:16:08 |
81 | Marlen Zmorka (Ukraine) | |
82 | Ihar Mytsko (Belarus) | |
83 | Carlos Barbero Cuesta (Spain) | 0:16:10 |
84 | Mario Gonzalez Salas (Spain) | |
DNF | Roy Goldstein (Israel) | |
DNF | Yoav Bear (Israel) | |
DNF | Rene Corella (Mexico) | |
DNF | Henry Velasco (Ecuador) | |
DNF | Peeter Tarvis (Estonia) | |
DNF | Emil Vinjebo (Denmark) | |
DNF | Kolya Shumov (Belarus) | |
DNF | Ait El Abdia Anass (Morocco) | |
DNF | Maxat Ayazbayev (Kazakhstan) | |
DNF | Awet Ghebremedhin (Eritrea) | |
DNF | Meron Teshome Hagos (Eritrea) | |
DNF | Uladzislau Dubovski (Belarus) | |
DNF | Oskar Svendsen (Norway) | |
DNF | Olivier Le Gac (France) | |
DNF | Nick Van Der Lijke (Netherlands) | |
DNF | Julio Marcelo Paspuezan Carlozama (Ecuador) | |
DNF | Mikel Iturria Segurola (Spain) | |
DNF | Lawson Craddock (United States Of America) | |
DNF | Sven Erik Bystrøm (Norway) | |
DNF | Edward Theuns (Belgium) | |
DNF | Nathan Wilson (United States Of America) | |
DNF | Haritz Orbe Urrutia (Spain) | |
DNF | Alistair Slater (Great Britain) | |
DNF | Campbell Flakemore (Australia) | |
DNF | Bradley Linfield (Australia) | |
DNF | Zhandos Bizhigitov (Kazakhstan) | |
DNF | Ariel Sivori (Argentina) | |
DNF | Tsgabu Gebremaryam Grmay (Ethiopia) | |
DNF | Tim Mikelj (Slovenia) | |
DNF | Samuel Spokes (Australia) | |
DNF | Richard Carapaz (Ecuador) | |
DNF | Andzs Flaksis (Latvia) | |
DNF | Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier (France) | |
DNF | Joseph Perret (Great Britain) | |
DNF | Owain Doull (Great Britain) | |
DNF | Mark Dzamastagic (Slovenia) | |
DNF | Brayan Stiven Ramirez Chacon (Colombia) | |
DNF | Eduardo Sepulveda (Argentina) | |
DNF | Michele Scartezzini (Italy) | |
DNF | Jovan Zekavica (Serbia) | |
DNF | Milos Borisavljevic (Serbia) | |
DNF | Johannes Weber (Germany) | |
DNF | Eduard Michael Grosu (Romania) | |
DNF | Burr Ho (Hong Kong, China) | |
DNF | Pedro Rodriguez (Ecuador) | |
DNF | Feritcan Samli (Turkey) | |
DNF | Samir Jabrayilov (Azerbaijan) | |
DNF | Adil Barbari (Algeria) | |
DNF | Kim Magnusson (Sweden) | |
DNF | Maxim Rusnac (Republic of Moldova) | |
DNF | Marcus Faglum-Karlsson (Sweden) | |
DNF | Gavin Mannion (United States Of America) | |
DNF | Haddi Soufiane (Morocco) | |
DNF | Josef Cerny (Czech Republic) | |
DNF | Josef Hosek (Czech Republic) | |
DNF | Lukas Postlberger (Austria) | |
DNF | Dieter Bouvry (Belgium) | |
DNF | Mraouni Salah (Morocco) | |
DNF | Alexander Foliforov (Russian Federation) | |
DNF | Hichem Kab (Algeria) | |
DNF | Ben Einhorn (Israel) | |
DNF | Mekseb Debesay (Eritrea) | |
DNF | Zoltan Sipos (Romania) | |
DNF | David Dvorsky (Czech Republic) | |
DNF | Lubos Malovec (Slovakia) | |
DNF | Nassim Saidi (Algeria) | |
DNF | Carlos Eduardo Quisphe-Quishpe (Ecuador) | |
DNF | Ido Zilberstien (Israel) | |
DNF | Krists Neilands (Latvia) | |
DNF | Alex Frame (New Zealand) | |
DNF | Christopher Jennings (South Africa) | |
DNF | Jonathan Dibben (Great Britain) | |
DNF | Michael Kolar (Slovakia) | |
DNF | Juraj Lajcha (Slovakia) | |
DNF | Asbjørn Kragh Andersen (Denmark) | |
DNF | Andris Vosekalns (Latvia) | |
DNF | Harrouch Tourki Youssef (Morocco) | |
DNF | Kristian Neemela (Estonia) | |
DNF | Mohd Adiq Husaini Othman (Malaysia) | |
DNF | Julio Cesar Benitez Rubio (Mexico) | |
DNF | Mihkel Raim (Estonia) | |
DNF | Abdallah Elar (Lebanon) | |
DNF | Andrei Voicu (Romania) | |
DNF | Marko Danilovic (Serbia) | |
DNF | Ilhan Celik (Turkey) | |
DNF | Luka Pibernik (Slovenia) |

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Alasdair Fotheringham has been reporting on cycling since 1991. He has covered every Tour de France since 1992 bar one, as well as numerous other bike races of all shapes and sizes, ranging from the Olympic Games in 2008 to the now sadly defunct Subida a Urkiola hill climb in Spain. As well as working for Cyclingnews, he has also written for The Independent, The Guardian, ProCycling, The Express and Reuters.
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