Finn Wins U23 Road World Championship, Follows Up Junior Title
Kigali, Rwanda – Lorenzo Finn of Great Britain secured the U23 men’s road world championship title Friday, adding to his junior world title won in Zürich last year. the 18-year-old launched a decisive attack 6km from the finish, distancing Jan Huber (Switzerland) and ultimately claiming victory in a race of attrition that saw over 50 riders fail to finish.
finn’s win comes after narrowly missing the podium in Monday’s U23 time trial and signals his rapid ascent in the sport. Racing for the Red Bull Bora-Hansgrohe devo team, Finn is contracted through 2026, but his performance suggests a potential fast track to the WorldTour team featuring Remco Evenepoel and primož Roglič.
“It’s exactly one year, it’s like last year, it’s just unreal,” Finn said at the finish. “My ears were hurting becuase there were so many people from different nations cheering me on. The people here in Kigali are fantastic. It’s been a marvelous week. Obviously there’s the result, but I’ll remember this for the rest of my life.”
Jan Huber held on for second place, while Marco Schrettl (Austria) finished third. The 165km race saw Finn animate the front group with an attack at 32km to go, initially joined only by Huber. He then unleashed a series of accelerations on the Côte de Kigali in the final lap, proving too strong for his rival.
Pre-race favorite Jarno Widar (Belgium) was caught out by Finn’s early move and unable to mount a successful chase. USA’s Cole Kessler was dropped from the bunch around 50km to go, finishing 22nd, nearly 9 minutes behind the winner. More than half the starting field did not finish, with only 56 riders reaching the finish line.
Full results are available at https://www.procyclingstats.com/clients/velo/results.php?id=312288&key=b09f5sd65sdf23jas33gs8a6e.
