Ryan Gal stuns WorldTour prospects to win U23 world time trial title in Montréal

Ryan Gal of the Netherlands produced one of the surprises of the U23 World Championships by claiming the men's individual time trial title in Montréal.

The 21 year old, who rides for Dutch Continental team Metec SOLARWATT p/b Mantel, covered the 31.3 kilomet course in 37:26.16 at an average speed of 50.2 km/h.

Gal's victory came against a field featuring several highly rated riders connected to WorldTour teams. Nicolas Milesi of Italy finished second, 7.01 seconds behind Gal, while Spain's Héctor Álvarez took bronze at 11.88 seconds.

Ashlin Barry of the United States was fourth at 33.78 seconds, with Denmark's Mads Landbo completing the top five.

Gal was not completely unknown against the clock. Earlier this year he won the Dutch U23 time trial title, but stepping up to win a world championship against this level of opposition represented the biggest result of his career.

Bogdan Zabelinskiy of Cyprus set the first significant benchmark, stopping the clock at 38:18.14.

As the stronger contenders began to roll down the start ramp, Héctor Álvarez emerged as the early pace setter. The Spaniard was fastest at the opening time check after 10.7 kilometres, reaching it in 12:10.04 at an average speed of 52.8 km/h, almost eight seconds ahead of Mads Landbo.

Gal was fifth at that point, 11.75 seconds behind Álvarez, before moving up to fourth at the second checkpoint.

The Dutchman then turned the race around between 19.1 and 25.6 kilometres, producing the fastest time of anyone through that section. By the third check, he had moved into the lead, 1.98 seconds ahead of Nicolas Milesi.

Gal continued to gain ground over the final six kilometres, eventually stopping the clock at 37:26.16. His time was 52 seconds faster than Zabelinskiy's earlier benchmark and proved enough to secure the rainbow jersey as the final riders came home.

Milesi finished seven seconds down to take silver, while Álvarez, who had led through the opening two checkpoints, faded to third at 11.88 seconds.

Kristian Egholm of Denmark briefly held the fastest time at the opening checkpoint and eventually finished sixth.

Australia's Cameron Rogers, another of the leading contenders, suffered a mechanical problem and was forced to change bikes, eventually finishing 2:32 behind Gal. Ireland's Seth Dunwoody crashed during his ride and also required a bike change.

Michiel Mouris of the Netherlands, the 2025 junior world champion, finished ninth. Ashlin Barry, who had taken silver behind Mouris in that junior race, reversed their order in Montréal by finishing fourth.

British U23 champion Ben Wiggins finished 11th, 1:07.37 behind Gal.