UCI Road World Championships: Lorenzo Finn solos to victory in junior men's road race

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Lorenzo Finn (Italy) soloed to the men's junior road race world title in grim conditions in Zürich, racing home from 20km out to score his nation’s first rainbow jersey of the UCI Road World Championships.

Sebastian Grindley (Great Britain) secured the silver medal, crossing the line 2:05 after Finn. He rode solo for the final 13km of the race having dropped fellow chaser Héctor Álvarez (Spain).

Álvarez, who was going backwards since being left behind by Finn’s winning move, was caught and passed by a small chase group in the closing kilometres, missing out on bronze in the process.

Instead, the battle for third came down to a sprint between Senna Remijn (Netherlands), Paul Fietzke (Germany) and Ashlin Barry (United States), with the trio finishing in that order at 3:06 down. Álvarez, meanwhile, crossed the line in sixth 3:44 adrift of Finn.

“It still hasn’t sunk in, to be honest. It still feels like a dream,” Finn said after the finish.

“I felt amazing today, probably the best legs I’ve ever had. When I went on my own the first time with 60km to go I was like ‘Oh, this might be a bit early’. But then Philipsen and a few other guys bridged to me, and I just wanted to go full on the climb.

“Albert crashed behind me and I hope he’s OK. But once I was on my own, I knew I had it in the bag because I was feeling amazing.

“I usually don’t like the rain, to be honest. I like 35 and sunny. But today was perfect.”

The 17-year-old Finn – reigning Italian junior road race and time trial champion – had been at the head of affairs for 70km of the 127km race, 23km of it alone before he was brought back into an elite lead group 37km out.

With the pouring rain and the hilly circuit taking their toll on the riders, the group whittled down until just four remained out front to contest the final. Only bad luck would intervene, too, with reigning champion Albert Withen Philipsen (Denmark) crashing out on a soaked corner 22km from home.

That left Finn and Álvarez in the lead, but Finn, who had already spent plenty of energy in a solo move, had yet more left in the tank and dispatched with the Spaniard to race on alone into rainbows.

How it unfolded

The junior men’s road race would take the peloton on a 127.2km journey from Uster to Zürich, traversing 1,800 metres of climbing along the way. As in the junior women’s race, the climbs of Binz (1.5km at 9.4%) and Witikon (1.4km at 7.2%) were the only major obstacles on the route, though the men would have to contend with three ascents of Witikon, taking them through the finish line three times before the crowning of the new world champion.

The early stage of the race was, unsurprisingly, marked by numerous attacks as those from smaller nations – including Azerbaijan – attempted to get away. It was also marked by several crashes, including a sizeable one which caught out time trial silver medallist Jasper Schoofs (Belgium).

The high pace of the start continued for 30km to Binz and past the day’s opening climb, with no breakaway establishing itself at the front as a result. Already just inside the 90km to go mark, the peloton had been obliterated, leaving only around 20 or so men in front.

Attacks came and went on the approach to Witikon, including from Lorenzo Finn (Italy), Paul Fietzke (Germany), and Héctor Álvarez (Spain), leading the peloton to reduce in size once again.

By this point, with 70km to go, names including time trial world champion Paul Seixas (France), reigning road world champion Albert Within Philipsen (Denmark), Matisse Van Kerckhove (Belgium), Sebastian Grindley (Great Britain) – plus Finn, Fietzke and Álvarez – were in the move.

Withen Philipsen, Seixas and Van Kerckhove all gave it a nudge following the climb to Witikon, though none would get away. Instead, it was Finn who broke clear with an attack 60km out.

On the way up to Witikon for the second time, Finn had gained 20 seconds, whereas the attacks and counters behind provoked another split. This time, Withen Philipsen, Seixas, Alvarez, Grindley and Senna Remijn (Netherlands) made the cut, leaving the rest of the group behind in pursuit of the lone leader.

Finn held out well, however, maintaining a 25-second lead over the top of the climb and into the final 45km, while the dropped chasers lagged behind at 1:10. He held out until the 37km mark at least, at which point Withen Philipsen, Grindley and Álvarez bridged across having left behind Seixas and Remijn.

With four in the lead versus two behind, the mathematics of the situation was always going to in favour of the quartet out front. So, it proved as they added second after second to their lead, crossing the finish line for the penultimate time 26km from home with a 35-seconds lead over the chase.

The situation was quickly becoming even more positive for them, too, as Seixas struggled to keep up with Remijn. That seemed to liberate the Dutchman, if anything, as he swiftly set about closing the gap on the final run to Witikon.

Now 25 seconds up the road, the lead group was busy blowing apart as Finn led Withen Philipsen then Álvarez, then Grindley on the short climb before Witikon. But the Dane’s race, and a chance at another rainbow jersey, was soon brought to an abrupt end as he crashed out on a wet corner.

The fall left plenty of what-ifs about the race, and it also left Álvarez up with Finn in the lead with Grindley, Remijn and Seixas chasing one-by-one behind. That state of affairs didn’t last long either, for at the 20km mark Finn was off again, the Italian leaving Alvarez behind in search of victory.

Finn was on a mission, his advantage swiftly ballooning out past a minute as he hit the 16km mark. Álvarez was struggling, and he soon had Grindley for company in a battle for silver. The pair would have to work together to hold off Remijn, but Grindley wasn’t content with a two-man battle for silver.

Instead, he went for it on his own 13km from the line, with Álvarez unable to offer any resistance to the decisive silver medal move. Little would be seen of the Spaniard or the chase behind on the final run into Zürich, but he wouldn’t hang on for the final medal placing. Instead dropping back behind Remijn, Fietzke and Ashlin Barry (United States), who sprinted it out for third.

The day was Finn’s though, the Italian racing home with a mammoth two-minute gap, having clearly proved himself as the strongest man on the day and rounding off his efforts with the rainbow jersey.

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