2026 Men's Under-23 World Cycling Championships start list and favourites

2025 Mark Lorenzo Finn
2024 Niklas Behrens
2023 Axel Laurance
2022 Yevgeniy Fedorov
2021 Filippo Baroncini
2020 Not held
2019 Samuele Battistella
2018 Marc Hirschi
2017 Benoit Cosnefroy
2016 Kristoffer Halvorsen

While the elite riders will start in Brossard on Saturday and Sunday, the U23 and junior races start and end in Montreal. The entire race takes place on the circuit, so there is no flat opening section, meaning it will be a race from start to finish. National team coach Tom Leezer felt it would have made more sense if they, too, had been given a short warm-up loop. As it stands, the U23s will actually ride one more lap than the elite riders (13 to 12) on the Montreal circuit.

All right, so we’re familiar with that 13.4-kilometer circuit from the annual Montreal Grand Prix. Aside from one small detail—the U-turn just before the finish line has been widened slightly—it’s an exact replica, so we know what to expect in terms of the track: in particular, the Camillien-Houde section in Mont Royal Park will be the deciding factor, though we shouldn’t underestimate the rest of the course.

Immediately after the finish area, riders turn left onto Avenue de Parc to begin the climb among the trees on the Côte de Camillien-Houde. The statistics for this climb show 1.6 kilometers of climbing at an average gradient of 7.5 percent, with the final 400 meters climbing at 9.1 percent.

Next, we descend before tackling the next climb along the stretch leading to Chemin de la Polytechnique: this climb is 800 meters long, with a gradient of just under 6 percent. It’s tricky, as the climb is divided into three steeper sections and two short plateaus. A little further along the course, after a few turns where you can quickly lose sight of the pack, the incline at Avenue Pagnuelo also awaits: 500 meters at a 7.5 percent gradient.

Just as quickly, the riders will then be at the finish line. Anyone who watched the time trials during the first part of the World Championships will have noticed that this course is anything but flat. The final 550 meters do indeed climb at a steep gradient of about 4 percent. All told, that adds up to 3,497 meters of elevation gain over 174 kilometers, which is quite a challenge.

Times:
Start: 9:00 a.m. (2:00 p.m. GMT)
Finish: 1:20 p.m. (7:20 p.m. GMT)

Since the U23 men will race exclusively on the Montreal circuit and have no warm-up loop, the race will likely have a different character than the elite races on Saturday and Sunday. Riders will likely need to stay on their toes right from the first lap, and the elevation gain will also start to add up after 174 grueling kilometers.

So it seems we’ll have to keep a closer eye on the climbers. In that regard, Belgium appears to have the strongest overall lineup. Our southern neighbors have Niels Driesen and Matteo Vanhuffel, who finished 2nd and 3rd in the Tour de l'Avenir, a race won by Mark Lorenzo Finn, who is not racing in the U23 category in Canada.

In addition, the team includes Bert Bolle and—the slightly more traditional type— Matisse Van Kerckhove, who posted the fastest times on the decisive climb through Mont Royal Park during Wednesday’s reconnaissance. All-rounders Jasper Schoofs and Viktor Soenens round out the team.

If we look purely at individual ability, Aubin Sparfel (France) stands out as the top favorite. Just last week, he won the GP Wallonie, ahead of top riders like Romain Grégoire. Ugo Fabries and Rémi Arsac will be supporting the 20-year-old top talent from Decathlon CMA CGM.

We also place Hector Alvarez from Spain in that same category, although the course in Montreal might be a bit of a stretch for him. Other strong contenders from Europe include Elliot Rowe (Great Britain, riding for the Visma | Lease a Bike development team), Matteo Scalco (Italy), Max Bock (Germany), Noah Lindholm Andersen (Denmark), Jan Michal Jackowiack (Poland), Vaclav Jecek (Czech Republic), Adam Rafferty (Ireland), Jan Huber (Switzerland), and Jesper Stiansen and Kasper Haugland from Norway.

The Netherlands also has a strong lineup across the board. World time trial champion Ryan Gal won’t be there, as he plans to compete in the European Time Trial Championships in Slovenia on Wednesday. Who will be there? Jurgen Zomermaand, Michiel Mouris, Liège–Bastogne–Liège winner Daan Dijkman, Guus van den Eijnden, and David Haverdings. While they aren’t the top favorites, this is a squad that can contend for a top-five finish.

We’re also seeing contenders from somewhat more exotic countries. Brazilian Henrique Bravo, who normally rides for Soudal Quick-Step, has been making a big impression all year. The same goes for the UAE-Ecuadorian Matteo Ramirez, while Ashlin Barry (U.S.) and Jack Ward ( Australia) are joining the race from Anglo-Saxon countries.

Top Favorites: Aubin Sparfel (France) and Niels Driesen (Belgium)
Dark horses: Henrique Bravo (Brazil), Matteo Vanhuffel (Belgium), Hector Alvarez (Spain), and Matteo Ramirez (Ecuador)
Long shots: Matisse Van Kerckhove, Bert Bolle (Belgium), Daan Dijkman, Guus van den Eijnden (Netherlands), Elliot Rowe (Great Britain), Kasper Haugland (Norway), Jack Ward (Australia), and Mack Bock (Germany)

Italy
1 Alessandro Cattani
2 Riccardo Lorello
3 Mattia Negrente
4 Mattia Proietti Gagliardoni
5 Enea Sambinello
6 Matteo Scalco

France
7 Remi Arsac
8 Pierre-Henry Basset
9 Timothée Coudière-Cantin
10 Ugo Fabries
11 Victor Loulergue
12 Aubin Sparfel

Belgium
13 Bert Bolle
14 Niels Driesen
15 Jasper Schoofs
16 Viktor Soenens
17 Matisse Van Kerckhove
18 Matteo Vanhuffel

Estonia
19 Oliver Matik
20 Romet Pajur
21 Frank Aron Ragilo

Czech Republic
22 Vaclav Jezek
23 Alberto Monti
24 Tomas Pridal

Germany
25 Max Bock
26 Paul Fietzke
27 Louis Leidert
28 Moritz Mauss
29 Jermaine Zemke

Spain
30 Hector Alvarez
31 Markel Aranaz
32 Daniel Cepa
33 Francisco Jesús Fernández
34 Manuel Sanroma
35 Enaut Urkaregi

Netherlands
36 Daan Dijkman
37 David Haverdings
38 Michiel Mouris
39 Guus Van Den Eijnden
40 Jurgen Zomermaand

Brazil
41 Henrique Bravo

Great Britain
42 Jacob Bush
43 Matthew Dodd
44 Elliot Rowe
45 William Smith
46 Ben Wiggins

Denmark
47 Noah Moller Andersen
48 Kevin Biehl
49 Kristian Egholm
50 Patrick Boje Frydkjaer
51 Mads Landbo
52 Emil Nymand Nielsen

Australia
53 William Heffernan
54 Wil Holmes
55 Cameron Rogers
56 Oliver Sims
57 Thomas Waites
58 Jack Ward

Slovakia
59 Samuel Novak
60 Richard Riska

Mexico
61 Jose Said Cisneros
62 Cesar Leonel Cisneros
63 José Antonio Prieto
64 Juan Prieto
65 Michael Zarate

Ukraine
66 Danylo Kozoriz
67 Yevhen Testsov

United States
68 Ashlin Barry
69 Nathan Cusack
70 Kade Kreikemeier
71 Marcis Shelton
72 Gavin Sherry

Indonesia
73 Deska Raya Adya
74 Aditya Suryadi Putra
75 Rizky Ridho Riyadiyanto

Serbia
76 Rastko Nikacevic

Switzerland
77 Diego Casagrande
78 Nicolas Ginter
79 Nicolas Halter
80 Jan Huber
81 Melk Zumstein

Ecuador
82 Anthony Sebastian Coque
83 Mateo Ramirez

Hungary
84 Balint Feldhoffer

Kazakhstan
85 Vladislav Bashlykov

Norway
86 Halvor Dolven
87 Kasper Haugland
88 Jonas Kind Hoydahl
89 Kevin Andre Sandli Messel
90 Jesper Stiansen

Eritrea
91 Nahom Efriem
92 Milkias Maekele

Turkey
, 93 Ferhat Emisci
94 Mustafa Tarakci
95 Arda Tekirdag

Cyprus
96 Bogdan Zabelinskiy

Colombia
97 William Colorado
98 Miguel Angel Marin
99 Jaider Muñoz
100 Robert Andrés Plazas
101 Juan Diego Quintero

Ethiopia
102 Tekle Alemayo
103 Amanuel Teweldemedhn Desta
104 Aron Tekle

Kenya
105 John Muchiri

Ireland
106 Seth Dunwoody
107 David Gaffney
108 Liam O'Brien
109 Adam Rafferty

Canada
110 Jerome Gauthier
111 Adam Smith
112 Luke Valenti
113 Jonas Walton

South Africa
114 Joshua Ethan Dike
115 Alexander Francois Erasmus
116 Blaine Kieck

Mauritius
117 Samuel Quevauvilliers
118 Jeremy Raboude

Mongolia
119 Temuulen Khadbaatar

China
120 Yusheng Chen
121 Zhicheng Liu
122 Rongqi Zhang

Portugal
123 Gabriel Baptista
124 Rafael Barbas
125 Daniel Lima
126 Daniel Filipe Vieira Moreira
127 Ruben Rodrigues

Poland
128 Patryk Goszczurny
129 Jan Michal Jackowiak
130 Dawid Lewandowski
131 Filip Surdyk

Hong Kong
132 Shi Ho Cheung

Thailand
133 Isaiah Judah Thompson

United Arab Emirates
134 Mohammed Alaleeli
135 Hareb Almarzooqi

Luxembourg
136 Flavio Astolfi
137 Miil Morang

Japan
138 Taito Shindo
139 Isshin Yamasato

Guatemala
140 Melvin Torres

Uruguay
141 Ciro Perez

Finland
142 Kasper Borremans

Algeria
143 Mohamed Amine Hamzaoui

Slovenia
144 Jaka Marolt
145 Sven Aleksander Mernik
146 Anze Ravbar
147 Erazem Valjavec

Belize
148 Jaylen Briceno
149 Goran Gabourel
150 Kaden Sutherland

Sweden
151 Teodor De Luca

Senegal
152 Neriah Meunier Sow

Trinidad and Tobago
153 Jadian Neaves

Austria
154 Anatol Friedl
155 Valentin Hofer

Costa Rica
156 Sebastian Castro
157 Alejandro Granados
158 Jexon Ledezma

New Zealand
159 Lachlan McNabb

Jamaica
160 Khalil Francis

Argentina
161 Bernardo Gaston Cambareri
162 Mateo Kalejman
163 Ramiro Videla

Rwanda
164 Kevin Nshutiraguma

Andorra
165 Adria Regada

Saint Lucia
166 Denver Alphonse

Bulgaria
167 Nicholas Van Der Merwe

Zimbabwe
168 Prateek Ravla

Iceland
169 David Jonsson

El Salvador
170 Daniel Orellana

Morocco
171 Marouane Kharbouchi

Tunisia
176 Mohamed Aziz Dellai