Ashlin Barry, from a knocked-out knee to a rainbow: "A memory that will last a lifetime."

Just nineteen years old and already wearing the rainbow jersey: Ashlin Barry hasn't had time to enjoy the most incredible birthday present possible. After his solo on the ramps of Mont Royal in the U23 road race at the UCI Road World Championships, the young American flew straight to Los Angeles for a track training camp with Team USA and then on to Shanghai for the UCI Track World Championships.

There's no resting on our laurels, because Barry's mind is already set on a Californian version of the dream: the Los Angeles Olympic Games, now 639 days away.

"Right now, I'm focusing a lot on the track, the team pursuit, and then maybe qualifying for the Omnium, or something will come of it. If I could qualify on the road [for the Games], that would be really nice. But I think I need to make a step up physically from where I am now to be selected," he explained to Cyclingnews in an exclusive interview in Montreal.

His is quite a balancing act: multiple disciplines, trips around the world, and a new commitment until 2029 with the Visma-Lease a Bike development team, which could open the doors to the WorldTour for him sooner than expected. Fantasy cycling insight: if the Dutch team decides to speed up the process, Barry would be a name to keep in mind for the long term.

His resume speaks for itself. Two years ago, he had already impressed with a silver medal in the Omnium at the Junior Track World Championships, a double of US national titles in the road race and time trial, and the national titles in the Madison among juniors and elites. In 2025, fresh out of high school, he was second in the E3 Saxo Classic and the Paris-Roubaix juniors, won silver in the junior time trial at the Road World Championships, and gold in the junior time trial at the US Pro National Championships.

2026, however, didn't start as planned. The plan to send a strong message on the track was dashed by a fall in January. "It was a tough year, because I was supposed to compete in the Pan American Championships in February. I fell on my knee in January and couldn't ride my bike. I even struggled to walk," he recalled.

"Things didn't go as planned. I was in Spain on a training camp, I had to have stitches on my knee and I couldn't bend it. It could have been much worse, I was off the bike for a couple of weeks, but because of that I skipped the track."

Her road career has been impressive, however: two podiums at the Olympia Tour in late March, fifth place in the In Flanders Fields U23, then a victory in the US Pro U23 road race and fourth place the following day in the elite race. This season also saw a call-up to the Visma-Lease a Bike WorldTour team for the Antwerp Port Epic, where she finished 15th.

Given these conditions, when he finished fourth in the U23 time trial in Montreal, expectations were still low. Two days before the road race, he admitted he could be competitive, but "he shouldn't go in thinking he had a very good chance of a medal."

Instead, the rainbow jersey arrived, the result of a solo breakaway in the final 30 kilometers of the 174-kilometer race. Barry called it "a memory that will last a lifetime." He wore the colors of the United States to victory in front of family and friends from two countries, being both an American and Canadian citizen.

Even as he was pushing on the twelfth of 13 laps around Mont Royal, he wasn't sure he had the legs to defend a 40-second lead. Having conquered the main climb for the last time and widened his lead, he allowed himself to believe, spurred on by the cheering along the route.

"Once I got going, I just gave it my all. It really felt like a home run. It was incredible to see so many friends and family. I could hear my dog ​​barking on the side of the road," he told reporters.

The success is part of a very special family history. His mother, Dede Demet-Barry , a former US national elite road champion, won a professional race in Montreal in 2002, five years before Ashlin was born. His father, Michael Barry , a two-time silver medalist at the Canadian Road Championships, rode two editions of the Montreal Cycling Grand Prix on the Mont Royal circuit, when his son was old enough to remember ringing the cowbell for him.

Both parents competed in multiple World Championships on the road: Michael's best result was an eighth-place finish in the 1996 U23 race, while Dede won the junior title in 1989 and also raced frequently on the track, finishing fourth at the Junior World Championships. Later, Demet-Barry converted that speed into an Olympic silver medal in the individual time trial in Athens. An Olympic medal, of any color and on the road or track, is a goal their son has clearly in mind.

The value of the group

One of the reasons Barry loves the track so much is the importance of teamwork, between team pursuits and events like the Madison. His favorite moment of 2025 wasn't even a win, but a fourth-place finish.

"[Last year] at the World Track Championships, we were one step away from a medal. But seeing how this program has been built has been beautiful, I'm proud of it, just as I'm proud of those guys and the progress they've made," he said of the US men's quartet.

"The [track] World Championships will be a great opportunity for me, and next year I hope to do it again to gain even more experience on the track."

This year's pursuit of gold in the team pursuit began on the first day of the UCI Track World Championships in Shanghai, with Barry once again joining Grant Koontz and Anders Johnson, along with newcomer Taylor Phinney. The foursome made it through qualifying but were defeated in the first round by France. Barry will compete again in the individual pursuit and elimination race in the coming days.

Even on the road, the best moment before the world title was tied to team spirit. "There's something special about achieving a result with another person or a group and being able to share that moment. The story of the Olympia Tour comes to mind. It was a fantastic moment, I mean, a one-two is a beautiful thing," said Barry, recalling the March race with his teammates on the podium.

"We had a fantastic team, a great atmosphere, and I really enjoyed that course. I'm proud of how I raced and how I worked with my teammate Aldo.

"My teammate and I were in the leading group and had more or less an equal chance of winning. In the end, he finished second, but he helped me prepare the winning attack. He could have gone to the finish line and won. I was just lucky that I won."

But Barry isn't just lucky: he's talented. Those two peak moments over the past two seasons have seen him slip to second place after the U23 world title, which is also a historic victory for his country: the first-ever U23 world championship gold medal for an American athlete. And who was the last American runner to stand on the U23 men's podium? His track teammate Taylor Phinney in 2010, sharing bronze with Canadian Guillaume Boivin.