Ones to watch - Worlds Championship Women's U23 Road Race

The 2025 world road cycling championships contains one additional event to the previous years: a discrete U23 women’s race, for the first time in the history of the world championships. 

While the men have competed at the U23 level at worlds since 1996, the women’s U23 category only came into being in 2022. However, until this year, riders under the age of 23 have ridden in the same race as the elite women, with the chance of winning a separate jersey for their age group in a kind of race-within-a-race scenario. So too in the individual time trial, where a separate rainbow jersey was available for the fastest U23 around the course.

This year, the U23s will enjoy the limelight of their own events for the very first time, and with the depth of the women’s side of the sport currently, as women’s cycling continues on its stratospheric upward trajectory, it’s set to be a spectacle.

With familiar names riding alongside relative unknowns, the field will be small, and with a vast gulf in levels of ability, with WorldTour professionals rubbing shoulders with far less experienced riders (the women do not currently have to same rule in place that prevents riders with WorldTour contracts from competing at U23 level). Just as is often the case in races like this, there’s likely to be a real battle in the road race, with a small peloton and many nations only being represented by one or two riders likely to lead to a race that is difficult to control. 

On a challenging 119.3km course that includes eight circuits of the local lap that includes two punchy climbs, the heat and altitude will add to the day's obstacles for the U23 women, and though the total elevation reaches almost 2,500m, with no long climbs, it may come down to endurance and grit, rather than pure climbing power. With this in mind, it's possible that the older, more experienced riders in the bunch may win the day.

Who are the riders to watch in the women’s U23 category? To find out, we can look to recent results, and in particular the U23 'race of the future,' the Tour de l'Avenir, for indicators of form; with so few other opportunities for women to race in separate U23 races though, it's tricky to predict how this one will unfold, and much will come down to tactics, strategy and who has the legs on the day.

These are Domestique's picks for the race favourites.

There is little doubt when it comes to who to beat: Team Canada boasts the in-form rider of the season, winner of the Tour de l’Avenir, multi-discipline tour de force Isabella Holmgren. With the help of her team which includes twin sister Ava, Holmgren will hope to add another rainbow jersey to her wardrobe.

Her results speak for themselves: formerly the world cyclocross champion at junior level, Holmgren has won back-to-back mountain-biking rainbow bands at U23 level, in a season in which she has also embraced road racing with Lidl-Trek, finishing 7th overall at the Giro d'Italia Women, a truly impressive result at WorldTour level for the 20-year-old.

At the Tour de l'Avenir she proved her versatility, winning both against the clock and in the mountains, and this staying power over distance combined with her climbing prowess, and the ability to maintain repeated punchy efforts - the kind that won her both the short track and cross country U23 titles at the recent mountain-biking world championships - will stand her in good stead to withstand the rigours of the daunting Kigali parcours.

France will pose a serious threat in the U23 category, despite having just three riders in their squad. They are three immensely talented riders, and unlike some of the other bigger teams, their leader is well suited to the parcours. 20-year-old Marion Bunel rides for Visma | Lease a Bike and is on her way to establishing herself as one of the top young climbers in the peloton. She has posted some strong results this season, second only to Holmgren at the Tour de l’Avenir, following on from her win at the event in 2024. She has divided her time between supporting her team leaders, including as part of the Tour de France Femmes winning team in support of Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, and going for her own chances in other stage races, where she has taken the youth classification at the Tour de Feminin Ardeche, Tour de Suisse and Volta Catalunya. 

A second option for France, and a strong support rider should they lead with Bunel, is Célia Gery. At just 19, Gery has delivered a strong first season on the road, winning three stages at the Tour de l’Avenir, and though she isn’t as pure a climber as Bunel, like Holmgren, her multi-disciplinary experience will help Gery on this course. Her three stage wins at l'Avenir proved her ability to handle longer, rolling parcours, and depending on how the day unfolds, she may even prove to be the best option for France.

Belgium’s women have been improving in leaps and bounds at the lower levels over the past few seasons and de Schepper is a product of one of the strongest development squads in all of women’s cycling in AG Insurance Soudal, for whom she has been riding as a pro for the past two seasons. 

De Schepper is a strong all-rounder and future GC hope with an experienced squad around her, who could combine with some of the other bigger teams to try and control the race. If they do, De Schepper could be a good bet to take the win. Her 20th position at Liège-Bastogne-Liège this season proves she has the staying power required to go the distance, handling a number of climbs along the way.

Italy bring just two riders to the U23 road race, but the proven talents of Ciabocco will be a big hope for the nation to scoop a medal in this event. Ciabocco is 21 years old and has had a strong season riding at WorldTour level with Team Picnic-PostNL, where they have invested in her future as a GC rider for the team. 

She performed well at La Vuelta Femenina and although her form had tapered off somewhat by the Giro d’Italia Women, she had a strong month in August, finishing fifth overall at the Tour de l’Avenir and riding well at the Tour Feminin l’Ardeche, meaning she will arrive at the race in the shape she needs to be in to challenge the very best, if she can engineer a situation in which she can stick with the stronger teams.

Though she is one of the oldest competitors in the race at 22, Spain’s Paula Blasi is only riding her second season on the road – despite this, she’s made a significant impact as part of the UAE Team ADQ squad, winning a number of 1.1 races including the attritional Pointe du Raz one-day race in Brittany, a good indicator of form for this Kigali circuit with its repeated punchy ascents.

With a full squad of support riders around her including Movistar's Ruiz Perez twins, Spain could play a significant role in the U23 road race, and Blasi could hope to profit from the depth of her squad in the latter stages of the race.

The youngest and least experienced rider on the Australian squad, 19-year-old Talia Appleton looks to be their best option on paper on this parcours, despite the fact she was a late call-up to the team following her outstanding ride at the recent Tour de l’Avenir, where she achieved a seriously impressive third place, finishing only behind riders with significantly more experience. 

She appears to be a GC talent in the making, and she attracted attention in France, currently linked with the Liv-AlUla-Jayco development team, with whom she should be offered a contract for next season according to Daniel Benson. She is supported by a full squad of talent who will be able to help position her and give her the best possible chance to go for what would be an under the radar victory.

Great Britain arrive at the Kigali road race with one of the strongest teams on paper and without doubt, one of the teams with the most real world top-level racing experience. They are missing a key component in their set-up though: a pure climber. They have the power and speed to shake up and break up the race, and can engineer the most advantageous race situation for themselves, if they are able to go up against the strength of the likes of Canada and Belgium. 

When I first wrote this preview I had come to the conclusion that ultimately, with no out-and-out climber on the team, the intensity of the almost 2,500m of ascent – punchy as the climbs are – may have been too demanding for the likes of Cat Ferguson and Zoe Backstedt - both of them superstar riders in this age category, but both more adept on flatter terrain. British champion Millie Couzens is leading the team, according to the British Cycling press release, and perhaps there's a solid plan that will see the team manage their efforts into the final.

Having seen the course and considered the competition, I've had a slight change of heart. The team will be able to pace themselves over this distance, and Ferguson in particular will have the edge in terms of speed, if the race comes down to a reduced bunch sprint. Having said that, she's had a busy season on the road and it's unclear how her form will be coming into the race. 

Having enough in the tank to survive the repeated ascents of the Cote de Kimihurura and go for victory against the likes of Holmgren and Bunel could be a tall order for the British squad, but if any team has what it takes to cope with the attrition of this kind of race, it’s them.

It feels remiss not to mention the talent that is Viktória Chladonová in this list. Though she is still just 18, and has just completed her first season on the road for Visma | Lease a Bike, the former cyclocross rider has a great deal of talent and will undoubtedly be one to watch for the future. Can she profit from the work of the larger teams and buy herself a ticket to the final of this year’s World Championships road race, as a rider on a team of just two? 

It's probable that it will take another year or two for her to be able to really challenge in this race, however she finished second only to a storming Zoe Backstedt in yesterday's time trial, so it would be wise not to completely rule her out as an outsider with a chance of springing a surprise.