After crashing while in pursuit of the gold medal in Kigali last year, Benjamín Noval of Spain made no mistakes en route to victory in the 2026 UCI Road World Championships junior men’s road race in Montreal on Thursday.
Noval soloed away from the breakaway on the penultimate lap of the 134-kilometre race, holding off Simon Defrance (France) to claim his second straight rainbow jersey of the week.
In the chasing group, Sweden’s Elias Wandel out-sprinted his rivals to bring home the bronze.
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“First of all, I want to thank all my teammates,” Noval said. “The truth is that from the very beginning they did an incredible job – Raúl [Lopez], Luca [Martinez], as well as Aitor [Martinez] – thanks to them.”
In a stunning show of power, Noval blasted out of the peloton with 45 kilometres to go, caught an earlier breakaway, and then soloed for 19 kilometres later to victory.
Before making his move, Noval bided his time, watching attacks fly and chase groups form and then get caught behind a three-rider breakaway. He then put in a massive accelerations to bridge a 1:45 gap in 15 kilometres to reach the front group with 30 kilometres to go.
After trying to shed the others on the climbs, Noval powered away on the start/finish line with two laps to go.
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Although Noval extended his lead to 30 seconds at the start of the final lap, the toll of the hard racing could be seen on his face and body.
“From the start I felt really good, I had very good sensations,” Noval said. “Once I saw that the race was progressing and the moment was approaching, when I decided to attack, I didn’t look back until the finish line.”
Simon Defrance jumped on Noval’s wheel when he bridged up to the front group, and never gave up even after losing contact, pushing on to take the silver medal for France, crossing the line 42 seconds behind the winner.
Wandel was fastest in the sprint for bronze from the chase group ahead of Owen Kinds (Germany) and Michael Hettegger (Austria).
“The truth is that the plan went perfectly. I think the four of us understood each other perfectly from the beginning. We knew very clearly what we had to do, so well, the plan was perfect and we also had the legs and thanks to that we are going to continue.”
The last rider to win both the junior time trial and road race title was Remco Evenepoel in 2018: a fact that Noval knew perfectly well.
“Well, we’re going to take it step by step. We’re going to enjoy today and process it as well, because these have been four incredible days, and I think I won’t fully believe it until a few days pass. So yeah, let’s celebrate, think about it, process it well…”
How it unfolded
The race played out across ten laps of the punishing 13.4km Mont Royal course, each circuit adding roughly 269 metres of elevation gain. Riders faced the toughest tests on Voie Camillien-Houde and Chemin de la Polytechnique, where gradients topped 11% in places, and the finish on Avenue du Parc that looked gentle but ground riders down with its long, steady drag.
Lots of chatter and nerves on display on the start line as the 157 riders, representing 64 nations, lined up on Avenue du Parc on a beautiful sunny day in Montréal.
Mikołaj Legieć of Poland made the first attack but he was reeled back in a few kilometres later. Solo attacks continued but no one could break clear as riders continued to be shed off the back of the peloton, whittling down in relentless attrition.
On the second lap, Murat Kuitenov (Kazakhstan) went off the front solo, while in the back silver medallist in the ITT, Victor de Smets (Belgium) suffered a mechanical, and after a quick bike change, had to mount a chase.
On lap 3 of 10, Lancelot Gayant (France) countered after Kuitenov was reeled in with 97km to go, bringing three riders with him in Carter Deveer (Canada), Sindre Orholm-Lønseth (Norway) and Luca Martinez (Spain). The quartet held a slim 15-second lead by the end of the third lap with De Smets finally back in the peloton.
Martinez was refusing to pull in the break after Deveer dropped out a few kilometres later. With 76km remaining, Sander Willems (Belgium) bridged the 50-second gap to the leading duo while Martinez attacked again, and was joined by teammate Raul Lopez and then Maksym Shcherbatskyi (Ukraine) to form a chase group.
Halfway in the race, Gayant, Orholm-Lønseth and Willems had 1:07 on the chase trio, with another group surging up, only a further eight seconds back. The second chase group included Dean Woolley (South Africa), Jop van den Biggelaar (Netherlands), Elsasso and the USA duo of Enzo Hincapie and Rowan Nistal. The peloton, reduced by half, was also closing in on the chase groups.
A massive acceleration on the climb by newly crowned TT champion Benjamin Noval (Spain) not only shut down the chase groups but also reduced the gap to the lead trio to 32 seconds.
The attacks continued, with Brandon Davide Fedrizzi (Italy) initiating another chase group that included Noval, while another duo of Noel Goijert (Netherlands) and Tobias Gren (Denmark) followed 20 seconds further back. The peloton, of around 50 riders, trailed the break by 1:32.
Noval and Patrik Pezzo Rosola (Italy) bridged to the second chase group with 44km to go, and immediately went to the front, upping the pace to 57km/hr, to connect with the first chase group four kilometres later as they saw three laps to go. Up front, the lead trio kept a consistent pace throughout and held a 1:06 lead.
Taking advantage of the climb, Noval accelerated to briefly shed riders, but Birkedal caught back on after the flatter roads and immediately attacked. The Spaniard tried again and again and finally powered away with Defrance on his wheel as the Frenchman refused to work with his teammate in the break.
Noval and Defrance made it to the front of the race with 30 km to go, with 14 seconds to the revamped chase group with Fedrizzi burying himself for his teammate Pezzo Rosola, Birkedal and Kings.
Noval put in a massive acceleration as the front group crossed the finish line with two laps to go, as the chase group was a slim six seconds back. Gayant and Defrance regrouped quickly to give chase, as his manager screamed encouragement from the car.
Noval had 30 seconds with one lap to a solo Defrance who was not giving up as his teammate Payant was fading. Behind, Gal Stare (Slovenia), Michael Hettegger (Sweden) and Elias Wandel (Sweden) made their way to the chase group in a battle for bronze.
Gap had 30 seconds on Defrance with one lap to go, as Gayant was paying for his time in the break and was caught by the chase group inside eight kilometres to go.
In the battle for bronze, Wandel was able to pass Kings in the finish straight to finish third, 2:12 behind the winner.
Results
|
Rank |
Name |
Time |
|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Benjamin Noval (Spain) |
3:23:35 |
|
2 |
Simon Defrance (France) |
0:00:42 |
|
3 |
Elias Wandel (Sweden) |
0:02:12 |
|
4 |
Owen Kings (Germany) |
0:02:12 |
|
5 |
Michael Hettegger (Austria) |
0:02:12 |
|
6 |
Gal Stare (Slovenia) |
0:02:17 |
|
7 |
Brandon Davide Fedrizzi (Italy) |
0:02:26 |
|
8 |
Enzo Hincapie (United States) |
0:02:26 |
|
9 |
Sander Willems (Belgium) |
0:02:26 |
|
10 |
Patrik Pezzo Rosola (Italy) |
0:02:26 |
|
11 |
Maj Bohak (Slovenia) |
0:02:31 |
|
12 |
Sindre Orholm-Lonseth (Norway) |
0:02:33 |
|
13 |
Lancelot Gayant (France) |
0:02:37 |
|
14 |
Marwan Barhoumi (Switzerland) |
0:02:41 |
|
15 |
Vic de Smet (Belgium) |
0:02:41 |
|
16 |
Milan Husenica (Slovakia) |
0:02:41 |
|
17 |
Finlay Storrie (Great Britain) |
0:02:41 |
|
18 |
Michael Ortner (Austria) |
0:02:41 |
|
19 |
Vanja Kuntarič Žibert (Slovenia) |
0:02:44 |
|
20 |
Jop van den Biggelaar (Netherlands) |
0:02:44 |
|
21 |
Malthe Risbjerg (Denmark) |
0:02:44 |
|
22 |
Connor Wright (Australia) |
0:02:47 |
|
23 |
Kristian Haugetun (Norway) |
0:02:47 |
|
24 |
Daniel Moreno (Mexico) |
0:02:49 |
|
25 |
Luca Gugnino (Italy) |
0:02:49 |
|
26 |
Andre Free (New Zealand) |
0:02:49 |
|
27 |
Raul Lopez (Spain) |
0:02:49 |
|
28 |
Maksym Shcherbatskyi (Ukraine) |
0:02:49 |
|
29 |
Celian Rolland (France) |
0:02:49 |
|
30 |
Gus Dutton (Great Britain) |
0:02:49 |
|
31 |
Marek Stiblik (Czechia) |
0:02:49 |
|
32 |
Santiago Wrolich (Austria) |
0:02:49 |
|
33 |
Evander Wishart (Great Britain) |
0:02:49 |
|
34 |
Jose Rodriguez (Mexico) |
0:03:00 |
|
35 |
Rowan Nistal (United States) |
0:03:16 |
|
36 |
Alistair Forsyth (Australia) |
0:03:26 |
|
37 |
Takumi Matsumura (Japan) |
0:03:53 |
|
38 |
Niklas Wiesmayr (Austria) |
0:06:10 |
|
39 |
Adam Drozdowski (Poland) |
0:06:20 |
|
40 |
Bas Vanden Eynde (Belgium) |
0:06:20 |
|
41 |
Noel Goijert (Netherlands) |
0:06:20 |
|
42 |
Aitor Martinez (Spain) |
0:06:20 |
|
43 |
Nikolaos Georgousakis (Greece) |
0:06:20 |
|
44 |
Sebastian Suppi (Estonia) |
0:06:20 |
|
45 |
Oscar Lorentsson (Sweden) |
0:06:20 |
|
46 |
Freddie Winkley (Ireland) |
0:06:20 |
|
47 |
Bastian Laffitte (France) |
0:06:20 |
|
48 |
Patrik Zacharzewski (Sweden) |
0:06:20 |
|
49 |
Marko Cickaric (Serbia) |
0:06:20 |
|
50 |
Dexter Townsend (Great Britain) |
0:06:25 |
|
51 |
Tobias Gren (Denmark) |
0:06:25 |
|
52 |
Zachari Moreau (Canada) |
0:06:30 |
|
53 |
Julius Birkedal (Denmark) |
0:06:36 |
|
54 |
Dimas Felipe Mota (Brazil) |
0:06:38 |
|
55 |
Goncalo Costa (Portugal) |
0:07:33 |
|
56 |
Enrico Andrea Balliana (Italy) |
0:09:40 |
|
57 |
Mads Furenes (Norway) |
0:09:40 |
|
58 |
Benson Boys (New Zealand) |
0:09:41 |
|
59 |
Erik Eiksund Oksnes (Norway) |
0:09:44 |
|
60 |
Georgs Tjumins (Latvia) |
0:09:46 |
|
61 |
Almir Valiyev (Kazakhstan) |
0:09:46 |
|
62 |
Kristian Flaterud (Norway) |
0:09:46 |
|
63 |
Alex Botha (New Zealand) |
0:09:46 |
|
64 |
Timotej Michalik (Slovakia) |
0:09:46 |
|
65 |
Alejandro Pamplona (Colombia) |
0:09:51 |
|
66 |
Selmane Mansouri (Algeria) |
0:09:53 |
|
67 |
Yuki Inoue (Japan) |
0:09:53 |
|
68 |
Benjamin Coates (Australia) |
0:10:04 |
|
69 |
Yandel de Jesus (Puerto Rico) |
0:11:35 |
|
70 |
Hugh Og Mulhearne (Ireland) |
0:11:42 |
|
71 |
Michal Kacina (Slovakia) |
0:12:20 |
|
72 |
Benedek Berencsi (Hungary) |
0:13:02 |
|
73 |
Finn Bastiaanssen (Netherlands) |
0:13:54 |
|
74 |
Thijs Wiersma (Netherlands) |
0:14:50 |
|
75 |
Dean Woolley (South Africa) |
0:16:01 |
|
76 |
Tristan Hardy (Mauritius) |
0:16:01 |
|
77 |
Leon Atkins (Great Britain) |
0:16:30 |
|
78 |
Jakob Resen (Denmark) |
0:17:17 |
|
79 |
Antoine Salamin (Switzerland) |
0:17:17 |
|
80 |
Matas Kubilius (Lithuania) |
0:17:42 |
|
81 |
Max Jerzyna (Germany) |
0:17:42 |
|
82 |
Cormac Nagle (United States) |
0:17:42 |
|
83 |
Guido Viero (Italy) |
0:17:42 |
|
84 |
So Tanaka (Japan) |
0:17:42 |
|
DNF |
Ollie Jirovec (Australia) |
Row 84 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Vadim Larichev |
Row 85 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Mark Martin Toth (Hungary) |
Row 86 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Lachlan Stewart (Australia) |
Row 87 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Rodrigo Jesus (Portugal) |
Row 88 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Juan Esteban Sanchez (Colombia) |
Row 89 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Abdelkader Bechelaghem (Algeria) |
Row 90 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Alwin Beyer (Germany) |
Row 91 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Kashus Adamski (United States) |
Row 92 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Murat Kuitenov (Kazakhstan) |
Row 93 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Luan Elsasser (Germany) |
Row 94 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Hubert Blokesz (Poland) |
Row 95 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Carter Deveer (Canada) |
Row 96 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Bruno da Silva (Brazil) |
Row 97 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Hussain Alsafr (Saudi Arabia) |
Row 98 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Luca Martinez (Spain) |
Row 99 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Albert Brouillette (Canada) |
Row 100 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Joseph Vargas (Puerto Rico) |
Row 101 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Alvis Pivors (Latvia) |
Row 102 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Yasu Vervoort (Belgium) |
Row 103 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Jakub Tesařik (Czechia) |
Row 104 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Gijs Winters (Netherlands) |
Row 105 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Gleb Novikov (Kazakhstan) |
Row 106 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Chung Ming Yau (Hong Kong) |
Row 107 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Stepan Bortnik |
Row 108 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Jackson Nkurikiyinka (Rwanda) |
Row 109 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Rafael Campos (Venezuela) |
Row 110 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Amos Scott Bouris (Canada) |
Row 111 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Rohnan Nicholson (Zimbabwe) |
Row 112 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Daniel Kuběna (Czechia) |
Row 113 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Ido Dagan (Israel) |
Row 114 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Ege Erulku (Turkey) |
Row 115 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Saif Thani Al Ali (United Arab Emirates) |
Row 116 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Eric Sinfreu Leal (Andorra) |
Row 117 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Brian Ishimwe (Rwanda) |
Row 118 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Jaime Carreno (Chile) |
Row 119 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Dave Cichy (Luxembourg) |
Row 120 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Sylvan Garrelts (United States) |
Row 121 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Jose Manuel Posada (Colombia) |
Row 122 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Jamie Henderson (New Zealand) |
Row 123 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
John Fernandez (Dominican Republic) |
Row 124 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Yoav Lewin (Israel) |
Row 125 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Adrian Solis (Nicaragua) |
Row 126 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Gokturk Yuzerler (Turkey) |
Row 127 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Jonathan Muhawenimana (Rwanda) |
Row 128 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Ryan Thompson (Cayman Islands) |
Row 129 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Abdul Rahman Al Rahbi (Oman) |
Row 130 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Jose Castro (Panama) |
Row 131 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Saleh Al Zayid (Saudi Arabia) |
Row 132 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Mikołaj Legieć (Poland) |
Row 133 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Igor Mitoraj (Poland) |
Row 134 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Andersson Ajpacaja (Guatemala) |
Row 135 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Maximilien Outlet (Luxembourg) |
Row 136 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Aparicio Caraballo (Uruguay) |
Row 137 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Rian McCrystal (Ireland) |
Row 138 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Saifallah Ali Alsayed (Egypt) |
Row 139 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Devyn Major (Belize) |
Row 140 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Keith Enwright Jr (Belize) |
Row 141 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Imrane Serhani (Morocco) |
Row 142 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Benjamin Perez (Chile) |
Row 143 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Obay Mohamed Magdy (Egypt) |
Row 144 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Carlos Alexander Kee-Tui (Zimbabwe) |
Row 145 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Wan Chun Lee (Hong Kong) |
Row 146 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Alexander Dobrescu (Romania) |
Row 147 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Diego Betancourt (Honduras) |
Row 148 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Shneider Destin (Haiti) |
Row 149 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Renelson Mazana (Haiti) |
Row 150 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Diego de Noronha (Zimbabwe) |
Row 151 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Matisse Bonnet (France) |
Row 152 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Juliano Ndriamanampy (Mauritius) |
Row 153 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Matias Adrian Strong (Bolivia) |
Row 154 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Ismail El Bouallioui (Morocco) |
Row 155 – Cell 2 |
|
DNS |
Sultan Alhammadi (United Arab Emirates) |
Row 156 – Cell 2 |