A year after claiming the rainbow jersey in the Junior category, Italy\u2019s Lorenzo Mark Finn conquered the Under 23 title with a strong performance at the 2025 UCI Road World Championships in Kigali, Rwand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Three months before his 19th birthday, he becomes the youngest winner of the Men Under 23 road race and is only the second to take consecutive victories in both categories, after Slovenia\u2019s Matej Mohori\u010d in 2012 and 2013. Switzerland\u2019s Jan Huber took silver and Austria\u2019s Marco Schrettl rounded out the podium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Earlier in the day, Harry Hudson made a solo effort to the Men Junior rainbow jersey. The British rider covered the last 36 kilometres on his own to claim gold ahead of France\u2019s Johan Blanc and Poland\u2019s Jan Michal Jackowiak. He is the first rider from Team GB to win the Men Junior road race, held since 1975, while his countrywomen top the historical Women Junior road race standings with seven titles, including Cat Ferguson\u2019s in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Under 23 action got rolling at noon precisely, with a 118-man peloton (representing 56 nations) taking on eleven laps of the local circuit for a total of 164.6 kilometres. Moves started from the gun but attackers struggled to make it stick at the front as Belgians set a strong pace in the bunch, trying to make the most of the massive elevation gain – 3,350 metres in total – to favour the ambitions of their climber Jarno Widar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Attackers were rapidly reeled in, and a race of survival ensued. Italian and French riders also showed their ambition to shake up the race, thinning out the peloton as stragglers went off the back. Spain got in the mix with H\u00e9ctor \u00c1lvarez powering to the front 62km from the finish. Norway\u2019s Halvor Dolven joined him as they entered the last 50 kilometres before Lorenzo Mark Finn made the jump with three more attackers ahead of the final three laps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finn accelerated again on the cobbles of the C\u00f4te de Kimihurura, with 32km to go. Jan Huber was the only rider to follow him while Widar failed to bring the main group back to the attackers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the final lap, Finn attacked at the bottom of the C\u00f4te de Kigali Golf, immediately distancing his Swiss rival just under 7km away from glory and eventually taking victory with a gap of 31 seconds. In their wake, Austria\u2019s Marco Schrettl punched away from the rest of the chasers to take bronze (+1\u201913\u2019\u2019).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s like last year, it\u2019s just unreal,\u201d Finn said moments after claiming his second rainbow jersey. \u201cJust the crowds here\u2026 In the last 500 metres, my ears were hurting because there were so many people cheering me on from different nations. The people here in Kigali are fantastic. It\u2019s been a wonderful week obviously with the result, but it\u2019s a life experience. I\u2019ll remember forever.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The contenders in the Men Junior road race faced eight laps on the 15.1km local circuit, for a total of 119.3 kilometres, with 2,435 metres of elevation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n