From Evenepoel to Hirschi: What became of the past ten U23 and junior world champions?

Onto the wind swept desert of Doha, where Kristoffer Halvorsen claimed the men's under 23 world title ahead of Pascal Ackermann and Jakub Mareczko. The Norwegian sprinter went on to win races including the Bredene Koksijde Classic and stages of the Tour of Norway and Herald Sun Tour, but retired from professional cycling at the end of 2023 at just 27 years old.

Jakob Egholm made it a Scandinavian double in the men's junior race, where the Dane finished seven seconds clear of Niklas Märkl and Reto Müller. Egholm later spent two seasons in the WorldTour with Trek Segafredo before returning to the Danish continental scene. He rode his final season with AIRTOX Carl Ras in 2025 and has since retired from racing.

The men's under 23 road race in Bergen featured a remarkable collection of future stars, including Tadej Pogačar, Valentin Madouas, Neilson Powless, Jasper Philipsen and Pavel Sivakov. On the Norwegian coast it was Benoît Cosnefroy who prevailed, beating Lennard Kämna to the rainbow jersey. Nearly a decade later, Cosnefroy remains a force in the peloton and joined UAE Team Emirates-XRG for 2026. His first season with the team has included victories at the Grand Prix du Morbihan, Boucles de la Mayenne and Coppa Sabatini, as well as third at Amstel Gold Race and fourth at La Flèche Wallonne.

It was a Danish dream in Bergen for Julius Johansen, who rode away to win the men's junior race after a long solo attack. After joining UAE Team Emirates-XRG in 2025, the Dane has enjoyed a breakthrough 2026 season of his own. Johansen has taken five professional victories, all in individual time trials, including the Boucles de la Mayenne prologue and two wins at the Volta a Portugal.

The 2018 World Championships in Innsbruck featured one of the toughest courses of the decade and a stacked men's under 23 field containing the likes of Tadej Pogačar, Jonas Vingegaard and Jai Hindley. Marc Hirschi emerged on top, attacking clear and finishing 15 seconds ahead of the late Bjorg Lambrecht and Jaakko Hänninen. The Swiss rider has since won races including La Flèche Wallonne and the Clásica San Sebastián, and now races for Tudor Pro Cycling. His 2026 season has included third overall at the Deutschland Tour and eighth at the Clásica San Sebastián.

In the men's junior race, Remco Evenepoel delivered the first of what would become many rainbow jersey exhibitions, winning by more than 1:20 after another huge solo effort. His career since hardly needs much introduction, but 2026 has added another chapter. Now racing for Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, Evenepoel finished second overall at the Tour de France with two stage victories before becoming the first man in history to win four consecutive elite world time trial titles in Montréal.

Samuele Battistella was crowned men's under 23 world champion in Yorkshire after Nils Eekhoff was disqualified following the race, with the Italian taking the title ahead of Stefan Bissegger and Tom Pidcock. Battistella remains in the WorldTour with EF Education-EasyPost in 2026, although his last professional victory remains the Veneto Classic back in 2021.

Quinn Simmons won the men's junior race with a powerful solo effort, finishing 56 seconds ahead of Alessio Martinelli with Magnus Sheffield completing the podium. The American has developed into one of Lidl-Trek's most aggressive classics riders and enjoyed an excellent 2025 before continuing that form into 2026. Simmons has won the US road title for a third time, taken a stage at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and recently finished fourth at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal.

The 2021 World Championships in Leuven marked the return of a full Worlds programme after the disruption of the COVID 19 pandemic. Filippo Baroncini claimed the men's under 23 road race with a late solo attack, finishing ahead of Biniam Girmay and Olav Kooij. His career suffered a major setback after a serious crash at the 2025 Tour de Pologne, but the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider returned to racing in March 2026. He has gradually worked his way back into the peloton, including a second place on a stage of the Vuelta Asturias.

There was a familiar theme in the men's junior road race, where Per Strand Hagenes also won with a solo attack ahead of Romain Grégoire and Madis Mihkels. The Norwegian is now firmly established in the WorldTour with Visma | Lease a Bike. In 2026 he won the Antwerp Port Epic and made his Tour de France debut, where he was also part of Visma's victorious team time trial squad on the opening stage.

The World Championships travelled to Wollongong in 2022, where Yevgeniy Fedorov beat Mathias Vacek to the men's under 23 road race title. The Kazakh has developed into a valuable all rounder at XDS Astana and has been particularly successful in championship races. In 2026 he completed the Asian Championships road race and time trial double, while also winning the Kazakh national time trial title.

Emil Herzog won the men's junior road race ahead of fellow top prospect António Morgado. While Morgado made an immediate impression at the highest level, Herzog's progression has been more gradual. The German remains with Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe in 2026 and is still searching for his first professional victory, although he came close with second place on a stage of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana earlier this season.

Axel Laurance claimed the men's under 23 road race in Glasgow after emerging from a select group in the closing kilometres and holding off António Morgado and Martin Svrček. The Frenchman joined INEOS for 2025 and has taken another step forward this season. Now racing for the renamed Netcompany INEOS team, Laurance has collected four victories in 2026, including a WorldTour stage at Itzulia Basque Country.

In the junior race, Danish super talent Albert Withen Philipsen lived up to expectations with a solo victory on the streets of Glasgow. His transition to the WorldTour with Lidl-Trek has produced some eye catching results, including victory at Paris Roubaix Espoirs, second at Tre Valli Varesine and third at Paris-Tours in 2025. He started 2026 with eighth places at both Amstel Gold Race and the Tour de Romandie, but his season has since been badly disrupted by two training crashes.

The 2024 World Championships in Zurich were held in miserable conditions, with rain affecting much of the week's racing. Niklas Behrens mastered those conditions in the men's under 23 road race, beating Martin Svrček to take the rainbow jersey. His first two seasons with Visma | Lease a Bike have unfortunately been heavily disrupted. After breaking his collarbone in 2025, Behrens suffered another collarbone fracture early in 2026 before undergoing a procedure to treat heart rhythm problems. He has since returned to racing and is back in the peloton this autumn.

Lorenzo Finn dominated the men's junior road race in Zurich, finishing more than two minutes ahead of Britain's Sebastian Grindley. It was a first major glimpse of the Italian's enormous potential and, as it turned out, only the beginning of his relationship with the rainbow jersey.

The first UCI Road World Championships on African soil took the peloton to Kigali, Rwanda, where Lorenzo Finn returned to the Worlds just one year after his junior triumph in Zurich. This time racing in the under 23 category, the Italian attacked late to claim another rainbow jersey. At just 18 years old, Finn became the youngest winner of the men's under 23 road race and only the second rider after Matej Mohorič to win the junior and under 23 world titles in consecutive years.

His rise has continued at remarkable speed. Finn won both the Giro Next Gen and Tour de l'Avenir in 2026 and, despite still being eligible to race at under 23 level, has now been selected for Italy's elite men's road race squad at the World Championships in Montréal.

In the junior race, Great Britain's Harry Hudson produced one of the performances of the championships, attacking with around 36 kilometres remaining and staying clear all the way to the finish. The victory made Hudson the first British rider to win the men's junior road race world title.

Hudson made the step up to the under 23 ranks with Lidl-Trek Future Racing in 2026.