Great Britain missed out on the medals in the 2013 UCI Road World Championships under 23 race, which saw attacking racing from the first to the last of its 173-kilometres.
De facto Great Britain team leaders Simon and Adam Yates were both in the select group that scaled the climbs of Fiesole and Via Salviati for the last time but a decisive move by eventual winner Matej Mohoric of Slovenia, followed by South Africa’s Louis Mientjes, meant that come the finale the Yates brothers could only race for bronze. In the end the medal evaded them, with Sondre Enger of Norway taking the sprint for bronze while the Yates brothers, who had been forced onto the offensive midway through the race, finished in 17th (Simon) and 19th (Adam) position.
The race saw attacks from the off but the first that stuck was instigated by Jaka Bostner (SLO) and Mihkel Raim (EST). They were joined by Meron Teshome (ERI), Kolya Shumov (BLR), Zoltan Sipos (ROU) and Andz Flaksis (LAT). The sextet built a lead of over five minutes by the time the race headed onto the first of seven laps of the 16.6km finishing circuit.
Soon, the breakaway’s early efforts and the climbs of the finishing circuit, with the Via Salviati climb ramping up to 16% in places, began to take its toll. The gap dropped and the breakaway withered until just three riders remained.
The first break was caught with 45-kilometres to go and the counter-attacks began with France throwing rider after rider into the assault. All the while Simon and Adam Yates were prominent at the front of the chasing group, waiting for their moment.
The race winning move came on the penultimate lap when Mohoric chased down and caught hotly tipped Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe, before South African Mientjes joined the fray. Alaphilippe and Mientjes couldn’t contain the Slovenian, whose descending prowess on the final lap secured the under-23 title, just a year after the rider won the junior world title in Limburg.
Result | Full Results
1 MOHORIC Matej SLO 4:20:18
2 MEINTJES Louis RSA +3
3 ENGER Sondre H NOR +13
4 EWAN Caleb AUS "
5 SKUJINS Toms LAT "
6 VILLELLA Davide ITA "
7 VAN BAARLE Dylan NED "
8 HERKLOTZ Silvio GER "
9 ALAPHILIPPE Julian FRA "
10 KONRAD Patrick AUT "
17 YATES Simon GBR "
19 YATES Adam GBR "
DOULL Owain GBR DNF
DIBBEN Jon GBR DNF
SLATER Alistair GBR DNF
PERRETT Joe GBR DNF
