It was another rainy day at the 2024 UCI Road and Para-Cycling Road World Championships. Five Under-23 Men took on the 174 km road race this morning in Zurich.
Cole Kessler (Newbury Park, Calif.; Lidl-Trek), Colby Simmons (Durango, Colo.; Visma – Lease A Bike Development), Gavin Hlady (Riverside, Calif.; Aevolo Cycling Team), Artem Shmidt (Cumming, Ga.; Ineos Grenadiers), and AJ August (Pittsford, N.Y.; Ineos Grenadiers) lined up for the Under-23 Men’s Road Race.
The first part of the race was relatively flat until the riders entered the city circuit, where they climbed Bergstrasse through Zurich four times. The Americans stayed at the front, launching a few different well timed attacks. Kessler went off the front with Lewis Bower (NZL) with 170 km still to go. Robert Donaldson (GBR) bridged the gap and caught up a few kilometers later. There were several attacks from the group, but nothing stuck. After sitting at the front for over 55 km, the Swiss riders pushed the pace, and the peloton caught the leaders with 118 km remaining.
The rain was pouring, and the peloton gradually thinned out. Shmidt attacked with a British rider with 97 km to go but was later absorbed on the climb. The pace was extremely high, with attacks happening left and right on Bergstrasse. Many riders, including Shmidt and August, started to drop on the second ascent of the major climb.
Ultimately, Jan Christen (SUI) went off the front, with Niklas Behrens (GER) and Martin Svrček (SVK) chasing him down. Christen was eventually caught, and the race came down to a sprint finish, with Behrens taking the win, Svrček in second, Alec Segaert (BEL) in third, and Christian finishing fourth. Simmons pushed the pace and held on to the chase group as the top American finisher, taking 25th place.
1. Niklas Behrens (GER)
2. Martin Svrček (SVK)
3. Alec Segaert (BEL)
25. Colby Simmons (USA)
68. Gavin Hlady (USA)
84. Cole Kessler (USA)
DNF. Artem Shmidt (USA)
DNF. AJ August (USA)
