Cycling World Championships: Ryan Gal surprisingly wins the U23 time trial

What a surprise from Montreal! Ryan Gal , a Dutchman born in 2005, literally swept the Under-23 field in the time trial, winning a world title that few had predicted going into the race. The young talent from France demonstrated surprising tactical maturity for his age, perfectly managing his energy on a course full of curves and pitfalls, even managing to maintain a blistering pace on the final ramp, a 400-meter climb at 6.1% that knocked out many of his opponents.

The numbers behind this performance speak for themselves: an average speed of over 50 km/h, the fastest time in all three timed splits, and a final time of 37:26 over the 31.3-kilometer course. Gal then had to wait patiently, sitting in the hot seat, for 26 other runners to cross the finish line before finally being able to celebrate the gold medal.

From a fantasy cycling perspective, this is exactly the kind of performance that turns the rankings on their head: those who had bet on an outsider like Gal find themselves with a valuable wildcard in their hands. A clear signal to those following Under-23 time trials: pace management often matters more than pure brute force, especially on technical courses like Montreal.

At the second intermediate time, only three riders managed to stay ahead of Gal's time: Italy's Nicolas Milesi, Spain's Héctor Álvarez, and Denmark's Mads Landbo. A respectable trio, however, struggled to maintain the pace in the final part of the race, losing ground at the decisive moment, at the third time check.

Milesi still earned a splendid silver medal, stopping the clock at 37:33 , just seven seconds slower than the winner. This performance confirms the Italian rider's strong form, a name to keep an eye on for the upcoming time trials, especially from a fantasy cycling perspective.

Héctor Álvarez rounded out the podium, having surprisingly led the way at both the first and second splits before falling behind in the final stages. The Spaniard nevertheless retained the bronze medal, just 11 seconds behind the winner, making history: it's the first Spanish medal in the Under-23 World Championships time trial.