UCI Road World Championships 2024 - U23 Men Road Race contenders

The U23 men's road race at the 2024 UCI Road World Championships is wide open this year, with last year's winner Axel Laurance (France) and two other riders from the top six not participating in Switzerland.

The U23 men's route will feature a similar distance and elevation gain to the route in Scotland, this time 173.6km with 2,483 metres of elevation gain. All the climbing is packed into four full laps of a city circuit, each lap 27km in length and passing two key climbs each time, the Zürichbergstrasse and Witikon.

There was a breakaway of seven riders last year who stayed away on rolling circuits of Glasgow, Scotland, so the tougher repeat climbs around Zürich are expected to whittle down a big field again for a decisive front group. Cyclingnews provides insight on several up-and-coming riders who should be in the decisive move and contest for the rainbow jersey.

Giulio Pellizzari (Italy)

Giulio Pellizzari is just 20 years old, but he already has three seasons under his belt as a professional on the ProTeam level. This year he showcased his climbing abilities at the Giro d'Italia by finishing second in the mountain classification to KOM and GC winner Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates). He became a sensation at his home Grand Tour when he finished second to the maglia rosa on stage 16's finish to Monte Pana and attacked again on stage 20's Monte Grappa to finish sixth on the day.

"It is always an honor and a great emotion to wear the national team jersey. The course is tough and suits my characteristics, so I will prepare myself as best as I can for this important event," he said in a statement from his current team, VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè. Next year he could very well have a rainbow jersey when he rides for his new team, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe.

Jan Christen (Switzerland)

Born in the small town of Leuggern north of Zürich, Jan Christen will lead the five-rider Swiss  team. He is just 20 years of age and as a neo-pro with UAE Team Emirates this year won Giro dell'Appennino, a stage of April's Giro d'Abruzzo and Prueba Villafranca-Ordiziako Klasika. A brief glimpse at Swiss road race nationals reveals he was just ninth overall, but look closer to see that was in the elite category against the top WorldTour veterans. The former junior European road race champion should be inspired on home turf.

Joseph Blackmore (Great Britain)

Having recently become the first-ever British rider to win the Tour de l’Avenir, Joe Blackmore should find the undulating Swiss course to his liking. The 21-year-old makes an inaugural appearance at Road Worlds, having competed at Worlds in two other disciplines, scoring a top 10 for U23s in Hoogerheide for cyclocross and finishing 26th in the U23 cross-country MTB race. 

He moved up to the Israel-Premier Tech roster in the spring and since has done nothing but excel, winning the GC at both Tour du Rwanda and Tour de Taiwan. He almost taking a podium spot on stage 2 of Tour of Britain into Redcar, holding to fourth place with a rush ahead of Remco Evenepoel. With the development squad, he took a solo victory at U23 Liège-Bastogne-Liège and then used six top 10s across seven stages to secure the Avenir title. Team Great Britain has a loaded roster as well, with Giro Next Generation stage-winner Matthew Brennan and Paris-Roubaix Espoirs runner-up Bob Donaldson and Callum Thornley, who earned the KOM jersey at the Tour of Britain. 

Jørgen Nordhagen (Norway)

This is the first year for Jørgen Nordhagen at the under-23 level and the quickly-developing all-rounder could be the top wild card to watch. He had top 10s in both the ITT and road race at the Worlds last year as an 18-year-old, and last year he was instrumental in aiding his teammate Felix Ørn-Kristoff to the bronze medal in the junior road race in Glasgow. 

This year, the Norwegian comes into Worlds as GC and mountains classification winner from Giro della Regione Fruili Venezia Giulia riding for the Visma-Lease a Bike Development team. He demonstrated his power against older riders with third at U23 Liège-Bastogne-Liège and third overall at Tour Alsace. Just a month ago he dominated the hilly 164.5km one-day Gran Premio Sportivi di Poggiana victory, winning with a 2:49 margin.

Huub Artz (Netherlands)

Huub Artz won the U23 road race at the UEC European Championships a week ago on a hilly 162km course in Belgium, so should flourish on similar roads in Switzerland against many of the same riders. He is not known as a true climber, but has made improvements this year moving to the Wanty-ReUz-Technord development team. He won the longest stage at Giro d'Italia Next Gen with a big uphill finish atop Zocca and soloed to victory at this year's U23 Gent-Wevelgem. Next year he moves to the WorldTour level with Intermarché-Wanty so look for the Dutch rider to do something special.