World Championships: Axel Laurance wins U23 road race from early break

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Axel Laurance (France) claimed victory in an attritional under-23 road race at the World Championships in Glasgow after he formed part of the day’s early break before soloing clear with a shade under two laps remaining.

Antonio Morgado (Portugal) won the sprint for the silver medal ahead of Martin Svrcek (Slovakia), with Jack Rootkin-Gray (Great Britain) taking fourth in front of time trial champion Lorenzo Milesi (Italy).

Laurance’s crisp acceleration with 27km to go carried him clear of the reduced front group and he managed his lead smartly thereafter, bounding up the final ascent of Montrose Street to claim the rainbow jersey just two seconds ahead of the fast-closing chasers

On a day of persistent rain and in a race punctuated by crashes, Laurance’s decision-making was flawless. By tracking the eight-man move sparked by Milesi with some 148km still to race, Laurance was able to avoid the crashes and confusion that reigned in the peloton, while his timing was impeccable in the finale, with the lack of cohesion among the chasers allowing him to amass a winning lead.

“It wasn’t the plan to go really early, but with the rain it was so hard, every corner was really nervous, so I said, ‘Ok, maybe it’s better to be in the front and have this pace,’” Laurance explained afterwards.

“I was really waiting and waiting because it was still really far to the finish. I knew it was only 40 or 50 seconds and it was impossible to gain more time, but I really managed to save my legs as much as possible. Then in the finale, I didn’t want to see four or five guys coming back so I said let’s try. My legs were not insane with 30k to go, but I said, I’m in the front so now I have to try.”

Laurance spent the 2022 season with B&B Hotels, placing second behind Wout van Aert at the Bretagne Classic and winning a stage at the CRO Race. He signed for the Alpecin-Deceuninck development squad following the collapse of the B&B team last winter, but a permanent promotion to the WorldTour is surely imminent.

By the time Laurance took the bell with 14km to go here, he had a lead of 24 seconds over a chasing group that featured two men – Milesi and Rootkin-Gray – who had also spent the entire day off the front. Morgado and Svrcek were notionally fresher but, in truth, on a race as nervous as this, there had been precious little hiding place.

The chase grow more coherent on the final lap, with Milesi particularly impressive, and they closed to within sight of Laurance at the foot of Montrose Street, but the Frenchman had enough in reserve to make it to the top of the climb out in front, and he had time to savour his victory in the closing metres before he collapsed on the roadside in exhaustion beyond the line.

Morgado, who recently signed a long-term deal with UAE Team Emirates, won the sprint for the silver medal, though the Portuguese rider’s disappointment at missing out on the rainbow jersey was evident. Laurance’s victory, however, was a triumph of strength and cunning.

“I knew on this course it was possible to do something like this, but I didn’t believe it until the last 500m because I was totally in my effort, so I was thinking about nothing,” Laurance said. “I gave everything on my bike in the last lap. I was seeing stars in my eyes. So for the moment it’s impossible to believe it.”

How it unfolded

The peloton was flagged away from Loch Lomond beneath low cloud and persistent rain, and it was quickly apparent that there would be tangible benefits to getting out ahead of the peloton and away from the inevitable slew of crashes and mishaps that would follow on the technical, city-centre course.

World time trial champion Lorenzo Milesi sparked the day’s key move, and he was joined on the offensive by Laurance, Antoine Huby (France), Jack Rootkin-Gray (Great Britain), Moritz Kretschy (Germany), Trym Brennsæter (Norway), Brody McDonald (USA) and Alastair Mackellar (Australia).

The eight leaders were never allowed a huge degree of leeway, with the Belgian squad taking up the reins of pursuit, but they maintained an advantage of around a minute as they made their way towards Glasgow and the seven laps of that 14km circuit.

Laurance’s spell in front was not without its own issues, as he was forced into a lone pursuit of the front group after an early bike change, but the Frenchman was back aboard by the time they reached Glasgow.

Once on the circuit, Laurance would lose his teammate Huby to a crash with 72km to go, but a reinforcement would arrive in the front group in the form of Ivàn Romeo (Spain), who managed to bridge across alone.

The eight leaders still had a minute in hand with four laps remaining, while the peloton continued to split and reform amid the ongoing spate of crashes. 2021 European road champion Thibau Nys (Belgium) made a spirited effort to bridge across, but he was unable to make it up to the leaders.

The leading group eventually fragmented as the race drew on, with Milesi, Rootkin-Gray, Kretschy, and Laurance left in front with 45km to go, while Alec Segaert led the chase behind for Belgium.

None of the Belgian squad would manage to make it across, however, and instead it was Morgado and Svrcek who succeeded in making the junction with a little over two laps to go. By then, it seemed clear that the world champion would come from the front group. Rootkin-Gray was particularly aggressive, looking to split the group when the road climbed, but it was Laurance who delivered the key attack with 27km to go.

At first, Rootkin-Gray tried to follow alone before he dropped back to the rest of the chasers. Morgado showed his strength every time the road climbed but, initially at least, the pursuit followed a staccato rhythm. Laurance didn’t need a second invitation to build a winning advantage.

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