As the headline elite road races loom large at the UCI Road World Championships in Rwanda, the final junior race of the event will serve as the opener to the closing weekend of racing in Kigali, on Saturday morning, with the best women's junior riders set to do battle over 74 kilometres.
Four days have passed since Megan Arens stormed to victory in the junior women's time trial for the Netherlands. Many of the same players who fought out that race against the clock for the rainbow jersey, including the Dutchwoman, will once again star in the road race.
While more of a time trial specialist, Arens has impressed in road races season already, notably at the junior versions of Gent-Wevelgem and the Tour of Flanders, finishing second to two of her rivals on Saturday at both. Also, after seeing a long-range move successfully work in the men's junior race, getting up the road early could see Arens time trial her way to a double at the World Championships.
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Arens will be backed up by Jente Koops, who was third at junior Flanders and is already in strong form, having finished second at the recent junior GP Plouay, behind top Norwegian challenger for Saturday, Oda Aune Gissinger, who was third in the time trial.
Paula Ostiz (Spain) can probably be counted as the overall favourite, as the champion from junior Flanders, which was raced over a similar distance 73.9km course, but also after winning seven races and playing a key role in Spain being the top-ranked women's junior nation in 2025.
She'll ride for Movistar from next season, and will be eager to go one better than her silver medal in the time trial with overall victory on Saturday. Her punchy abilities will be perfectly suited to the Côte de Kigali Golf and cobbled Côte de Kimihurura climbs.
Ostiz was also second at last year's junior Worlds road race, behind Cat Ferguson (Great Britain), who has now stepped to the under-23s and Movistar's WorldTour team, with Arens the next-best first-year junior last year, finishing in fourth. Over a similarly difficult course to that of Zurich, expect them to light up the Kigali roads.
Erin Bootham (Great Britain) beat Arens to the line in Ieper at Gent-Wevelgem, and will be looking to bounce back after finishing a disappointing fourth in the time trial due to clipping out of her pedal and losing vital time in the final few kilometres.
She'll be backed up by a five-rider strong British team, which also features Abigail Miller, who was fourth at junior Flanders. The British team is looking for their fourth junior women's road race champion in five years, and someone to emulate what Ferguson did last season and Zoe Bäckstedt did twice in 2021 and 2022.
Other nations with big hopes should include Canada, who will have five starters in Kigali, including junior national time trial champion Sidney Swierenga, who finished third at the junior version of Trofeo Alfredo Binda this season, and junior national road race champion Rafaelle Carrier.
From the USA will come the strong duo of Alyssa Sarkisov, the junior national road race champion, and the US junior ITT champion, Liliana Edwards.
France, as always, will be a top contender in Saturday's road race, led by both the junior World Cyclocross Champion, Lise Revol, and junior French national road race champion Thaïs Poirier.
Many of the key contenders will make quick jumps to the Women's WorldTour as early as next season, so the junior women's road race is always a great one to watch, and after the thrilling action from the road races we've seen so far, it's not one to be missed.
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