Ledanois becomes U23 World Champion

Kevin Ledanois (France) came home with a thrilling victory in the men’s U23 World Championships in Richmond, Virginia after a well-timed attacked in the closing stages of the race. Despite a late surge from the bunch, the Frenchman was able to hold off Simone Consonni (Italy) and Anthony Turgis (France) who finished in second and third.

The race, as predicted, came down to the final lap of 10, with Italy and France well positioned before the final set of three climbs. A crash on Libby Hill from Belgian Nathan Van Hooydonck initially split the field but Ledanois made his move on the climb of 23rd Street.

He only had a small margin of a few seconds at the foot of Governor Street with Italy setting a frantic late chase. With 500 meters to go it looked as though Ledanois would be reeled in as Consonni and Gianni Moscon (Italy) gave chase but with Turgis sitting in and Ledanois just having enough in the tank, France were able to celebrate a rainbow jersey and a bronze medal.

Italy had ridden an intelligent race throughout with Davide Martinelli in two key moves. They had strength in depth in the finale too but the French had numbers as well and timed their offensive play to perfection.

Turgis and Ledanois swept by a fading Martinelli near the summit of Libby Hill and Ledanois, son of former rider Yvon Ledanois – now a team director at BMC Racing – surged clear. The 22-year-old only held a thin margin over the splinted field but the Bretagne - Séché Environnement rider ground his way up the final two climbs. He desperately sprinted out of the saddle when Italy started to close the gap and held off Consonni.

How it unfolded

Frantic, fast, frenetic. Everything you really expect from a U23 race at this level when there’s a rainbow jersey on the line.

Omer Goldstein (Israel), Jean Bosco Insengiyumva (Rwanda) and Joao Rodrigues (Portugal) attacked on the first lap and created the first break of the morning with Algeria’s Adil Barbari soon joining them.

Eddie Dubar (Ireland), Greg Daniel (USA) Paredes (Colombia), and Astafyev (Kaz) soon joined them but it wasn’t until a move that contained Dubar, Davide Martinelli (Italy), Oleg Zemlyakov (Kazakhstann), Maximillian Schachmann (Germany) and Jose Luis Rodriguez (Chile) formed did the race move into a more settled format.

Martinelli presence was clear from the start – contain the break but offer little in the way of assistance but with just over 50 kilometres to go the strain was beginning to tell with Dubar the first to fall from the back of the group on the ascent of Libby Hill.

The remaining four leaders had just a minute on the peloton with three laps of the circuit to go but an untimely mechanical for Martinelli took him out of the running at that stage.

With two laps remaining the French, Italians - now that Martinelli had dropped back – and the British took control with the break caught on the penultimate time up Libby Hill.

Søren Kragh Andersen (Denmark), a double stage winner in the Tour de l'Avenir crested the top alone and he built up a 10 second lead on the descent but the peloton were still bristling with strong legs and well-represented nations. The Dane was caught inside the final 10 kilometres with Martinelli, Nils Politt (Germany), Jakub Kaczmarek (Poland) striking clear on the now, slightly wet roads. They lacked the necessary cooperation and so it came down the final set of three hills.

Nathan Van Hooydonck (Belgium), Owain Doull (Great Britain) and ads Würtz Schmidt (Denmark) were all taken out by crashes with the French able to stay ahead of the falls. Over the top off Libby Hill Ledanois still had much to do but with Turgis present and Consonni admitting later that he lacked the confidence to attack earlier, the Frenchman stayed clear.

Full Results

Swipe to scroll horizontally
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Kevin Ledanois (France)3:54:45
2Simone Consonni (Italy)Row 1 - Cell 2
3Anthony Turgis (France)0:00:02
4Gianni Moscon (Italy)Row 3 - Cell 2
5Alexander Kamp Egested (Denmark)0:00:05
6Fabian Lienhard (Switzerland)Row 5 - Cell 2
7Michal Schlegel (Czech Republic)Row 6 - Cell 2
8Lucas Gaday Orozco (Argentina)Row 7 - Cell 2
9Adam De Vos (Canada)0:00:10
10Lennard Kamna (Germany)0:00:12
11Merhawi Kudus Ghebremedhin (Eritrea)Row 10 - Cell 2
12Tom Bohli (Switzerland)Row 11 - Cell 2
13Jack Haig (Australia)Row 12 - Cell 2
14Tim Kerkhof (Netherlands)0:00:13
15Mihkel Raim (Estonia)Row 14 - Cell 2
16Michal Paluta (Poland)Row 15 - Cell 2
17Benjamin Declercq (Belgium)Row 16 - Cell 2
18Jakub Kaczmarek (Poland)Row 17 - Cell 2
19Maxime Farazijn (Belgium)Row 18 - Cell 2
20Miguel Angel Benito Diez (Spain)0:00:16
21Alexander Wachter (Austria)Row 20 - Cell 2
22Sam Oomen (Netherlands)Row 21 - Cell 2
23Twan Brusselman (Netherlands)Row 22 - Cell 2
24Imanol Estevez (Spain)Row 23 - Cell 2
25Rok Korosec (Slovenia)0:00:24
26Benjamin Perry (Canada)Row 25 - Cell 2
27Lucas Eriksson (Sweden)Row 26 - Cell 2
28Felix Grossschartner (Austria)Row 27 - Cell 2
29Soren Kragh Andersen (Denmark)Row 28 - Cell 2
30Sebastian Schonberger (Austria)Row 29 - Cell 2
31Ignacio Prado (Mexico)Row 30 - Cell 2
32Fabien Grellier (France)0:00:29
33Stylianos Farantakis (Greece)Row 32 - Cell 2
34Josip Rumac (Croatia)Row 33 - Cell 2
35Jan Dieteren (Germany)0:00:35
36Dylan Page (Switzerland)0:00:37
37Laurens De Plus (Belgium)Row 36 - Cell 2
38Truls Engen Korsaeth (Norway)Row 37 - Cell 2
39Nuno Matos (Portugal)Row 38 - Cell 2
40David Per (Slovenia)Row 39 - Cell 2
41Cristian Raileanu (Republic of Moldova)Row 40 - Cell 2
42Anders Skaarseth (Norway)Row 41 - Cell 2
43Metkel Eyob (Eritrea)0:00:48
44Hector Saez Benito (Spain)Row 43 - Cell 2
45Yuri Kobashi (Japan)Row 44 - Cell 2
46Samir Jabrayilov (Azerbaijan)Row 45 - Cell 2
47Erik Baska (Slovakia)Row 46 - Cell 2
48Daniel Eaton (United States Of America)Row 47 - Cell 2
49Gasper Katrasnik (Slovenia)Row 48 - Cell 2
50Nils Politt (Germany)Row 49 - Cell 2
51Michael Gogl (Austria)Row 50 - Cell 2
52Oliviero Troia (Italy)0:00:59
53Josten Vaidem (Estonia)0:01:03
54Sergey Luchshenko (Kazakhstan)0:01:07
55Rui Carvalho (Portugal)0:01:09
56Nicholas Schultz (Australia)0:01:12
57Ildar Arslanov (Russian Federation)Row 56 - Cell 2
58Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Eritrea)Row 57 - Cell 2
59Hugo Hofstetter (France)Row 58 - Cell 2
60Guy Gabay (Israel)Row 59 - Cell 2
61Toshiki Omote (Japan)Row 60 - Cell 2
62Yevgeniy Gidich (Kazakhstan)Row 61 - Cell 2
63Ryan Gibbons (South Africa)Row 62 - Cell 2
64Daan Myngheer (Belgium)Row 63 - Cell 2
65Maximilian Schachmann (Germany)Row 64 - Cell 2
66Davide Martinelli (Italy)Row 65 - Cell 2
67Gregor Muhlberger (Austria)Row 66 - Cell 2
68Artem Nych (Russian Federation)Row 67 - Cell 2
69Roman Kustadinchev (Russian Federation)Row 68 - Cell 2
70James Oram (New Zealand)0:01:17
71Anass Ait El Abdia (Morocco)0:01:20
72Jose Luis Rodriguez (Chile)0:01:25
73Daniel Hoelgaard (Norway)Row 72 - Cell 2
74Odd Christian Eiking (Norway)Row 73 - Cell 2
75Wilmar Paredes (Colombia)Row 74 - Cell 2
76Oleg Zemlyakov (Kazakhstan)Row 75 - Cell 2
77Lennard Hofstede (Netherlands)Row 76 - Cell 2
78Harry Carpenter (Australia)0:01:48
79Patrick Muller (Switzerland)0:02:08
80Juan Felipe Osorio (Colombia)0:02:20
81Marcus Faglum Karlsson (Sweden)0:02:22
82Nathan Van Hooydonck (Belgium)0:02:49
83Adrian Banaszek (Poland)0:03:02
84Dion Smith (New Zealand)Row 83 - Cell 2
85Daniel Turek (Czech Republic)Row 84 - Cell 2
86Josef Cerny (Czech Republic)0:03:31
87Logan Owen (United States Of America)Row 86 - Cell 2
88Leonardo Basso (Italy)0:03:32
89Jayde Julius (South Africa)0:03:34
90Colin Joyce (United States Of America)Row 89 - Cell 2
91Markus Hoelgaard (Norway)0:04:11
92Owain Doull (Great Britain)0:04:25
93Michael Carbel Svendgaard (Denmark)0:04:40
94Krists Neilands (Latvia)Row 93 - Cell 2
95Gustav Hoog (Sweden)Row 94 - Cell 2
96Davide Ballerini (Italy)0:05:17
97Bonaventure Uwizeyimana (Rwanda)0:05:42
98Thery Schir (Switzerland)0:06:11
99Pedro Rodriguez (Ecuador)0:06:53
100Fabrizio Von Nacher Suess (Mexico)0:08:14
101Juraj Bellan (Slovakia)0:08:51
102Stepan Astafyev (Kazakhstan)0:09:46
103Esteban David Villareal Almeida (Ecuador)Row 102 - Cell 2
104Joao Rodrigues (Portugal)Row 103 - Cell 2
105Abderrahmane Mansouri (Algeria)0:10:44
106Aksel Nommela (Estonia)Row 105 - Cell 2
107Ludvig Bengtsson (Sweden)Row 106 - Cell 2
108Eddie Dunbar (Ireland)Row 107 - Cell 2
109Adil Barbari (Algeria)Row 108 - Cell 2
110Dmitriy Lukyanov (Kazakhstan)Row 109 - Cell 2
111Mamyr Stash (Russian Federation)Row 110 - Cell 2
DNFJonas Gregaard Wilsly (Denmark)Row 111 - Cell 2
DNFLubos Malovec (Slovakia)Row 112 - Cell 2
DNFFranck Bonnamour (France)Row 113 - Cell 2
DNFHayden Mccormick (New Zealand)Row 114 - Cell 2
DNFJuan Ignacio Curuchet (Argentina)Row 115 - Cell 2
DNFRoy Goldstein (Israel)Row 116 - Cell 2
DNFYonas Tekeste Haile (Eritrea)Row 117 - Cell 2
DNFTao Geoghegan Hart (Great Britain)Row 118 - Cell 2
DNFRuben Guerreiro (Portugal)Row 119 - Cell 2
DNFAviv Yechzkel (Israel)Row 120 - Cell 2
DNFYuma Koishi (Japan)Row 121 - Cell 2
DNFJhonatan Ospina (Colombia)Row 122 - Cell 2
DNFTyler Williams (United States Of America)Row 123 - Cell 2
DNFValens Ndayisenga (Rwanda)Row 124 - Cell 2
DNFScott Davies (Great Britain)Row 125 - Cell 2
DNFAlex Peters (Great Britain)Row 126 - Cell 2
DNFAlejandro Morales (Chile)Row 127 - Cell 2
DNFTom Wirtgen (Luxembourg)Row 128 - Cell 2
DNFSalvador Martinez (El Salvador)Row 129 - Cell 2
DNFJonas Koch (Germany)Row 130 - Cell 2
DNFMartin Laas (Estonia)Row 131 - Cell 2
DNFMarlen Zmorka (Ukraine)Row 132 - Cell 2
DNFSergiy Kozachenko (Ukraine)Row 133 - Cell 2
DNFNigel Ellsay (Canada)Row 134 - Cell 2
DNFRuslan Giliazov (Russian Federation)Row 135 - Cell 2
DNFAlexander Cataford (Canada)Row 136 - Cell 2
DNFMarc Fournier (France)Row 137 - Cell 2
DNFSuguru Tokuda (Japan)Row 138 - Cell 2
DNFMads Wurtz Schmidt (Denmark)Row 139 - Cell 2
DNFCaio Godoy Ormenese (Brazil)Row 140 - Cell 2
DNFGregory Daniel (United States Of America)Row 141 - Cell 2
DNFXavier San Sebastian (Spain)Row 142 - Cell 2
DNFRustom Lim (Philippines)Row 143 - Cell 2
DNFAtsushi Oka (Japan)Row 144 - Cell 2
DNFAlvaro Jose Hodeg Chagui (Colombia)Row 145 - Cell 2
DNFJean Bosco Insengiyumva (Rwanda)Row 146 - Cell 2
DNFGabriel Cullaigh (Great Britain)Row 147 - Cell 2
DNFNikolay Cherkasov (Russian Federation)Row 148 - Cell 2
DNFFrantisek Sisr (Czech Republic)Row 149 - Cell 2
DNFAndrej Petrovski (Macedonia)Row 150 - Cell 2
DNFFridtjof Roeinaas (Norway)Row 151 - Cell 2
DNFDominic Perez (Philippines)Row 152 - Cell 2
DNFSebastian Molano (Colombia)Row 153 - Cell 2
DNFDominique Mayho (Bermuda)Row 154 - Cell 2
DNFMiles Scotson (Australia)Row 155 - Cell 2
DNFJhon Mark Camingao (Philippines)Row 156 - Cell 2
DNFJefferson Cepeda (Ecuador)Row 157 - Cell 2
DNFOskar Nisu (Estonia)Row 158 - Cell 2
DNFGerardo Medina (Mexico)Row 159 - Cell 2
DNFNassim Saidi (Algeria)Row 160 - Cell 2
DNFNarankhuu Bat-Erdene (Mongolia)Row 161 - Cell 2
DNFAbderrahmane Bechlaghem (Algeria)Row 162 - Cell 2
DNFOmer Goldstein (Israel)Row 163 - Cell 2
DNFNickolas Dlamini (South Africa)Row 164 - Cell 2
DNFKolya Shumov (Belarus)Row 165 - Cell 2
DNFJhonatan Restrepo (Colombia)Row 166 - Cell 2
DNFElias Abou Rachid (Lebanon)Row 167 - Cell 2
DNFSteven Lammertink (Netherlands)Row 168 - Cell 2
DSQAlistair Donohoe (Australia)Row 169 - Cell 2

Thank you for reading 5 articles in the past 30 days*

Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read any 5 articles for free in each 30-day period, this automatically resets

After your trial you will be billed £4.99 $7.99 €5.99 per month, cancel anytime. Or sign up for one year for just £49 $79 €59

Join now for unlimited access

Try your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

Daniel Benson

Daniel Benson was the Editor in Chief at Cyclingnews.com between 2008 and 2022. Based in the UK, he joined the Cyclingnews team in 2008 as the site's first UK-based Managing Editor. In that time, he reported on over a dozen editions of the Tour de France, several World Championships, the Tour Down Under, Spring Classics, and the London 2012 Olympic Games. With the help of the excellent editorial team, he ran the coverage on Cyclingnews and has interviewed leading figures in the sport including UCI Presidents and Tour de France winners.

Latest on Cyclingnews