Great Britain's Joe Blackmore stands out in the start list for the men's under-23 road race on Friday at the UCI Road World Championships, with the winner of this year's Tour de L'Avenir looking to continue his fast-track development from a mountain biker to professional road racer.
Blackmore will take on fellow prodigious professional riders in what is probably the last time WorldTour and ProTeam riders can compete for the Under 23 world title. Next year the UCI is expected to force young pro riders to race against the elite men, with the under-23 race reserved for amateur and Continental team riders.
The 21-year-old from Sidcup in southern England will race against UAE Team Emirates riders Jan Christen, Isaac del Toro, Jan Christen and António Morgado, Italy's Giulio Pellizzari, who will ride for Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe in 2025, and Lidl-Trek stagiaire Tim Torn Teutenberg, Canada's Michael Leonard and the USA's Andrew August, who both ride for Ineos Grenadiers.
Other threats include new under-23 time trial champion Iván Romeo who rides for Movistar and his young Spanish teammate Pablo Torres, rides for the UAE Team Emirates Gen Z team.
The 173.6km race will be a battle of the super talents but Blackmore knows how to race smart and strike when needed.
"It's good there are some other WorldTour guys dropping down to the Under 23 race, it should be a high-level race," Blackmore told Cyclingnews as he watched the chaotic junior race on Thursday afternoon.
"It could turn to chaos quite quickly but hopefully most of our race will be in the dry. I think being on the front foot will be important. I've done a recon and the corners are tight and so there will be a lot of accelerations. I'm looking forward to it."
Blackmore raced cyclocross and mountain bikes until his road racing talents emerged rapidly in 2023. He then joined the Israel-Premier Tech development team for 2024 but his spring success at the Tour du Rwanda and a string of other races quickly earned him promotion to the ProTeam in May.
The Tour de L'Avenir remained a goal, as did the under-23 world title. He has his whole professional career to target hilly Classics and weeklong stage races.
"I never saw myself making such rapid progression this year," Blackmore admitted.
"I started the year with the Israel Continental team as an under-23 rider, so the plan was with GB that I'd race L'Avenir and Worlds as an U23."
Blackmore rode the Baloise Belgium Tour and the Arctic Race of Norway with Israel-Premier Tech in the summer, then headed to altitude to prepare for the Tour de L'Avenir. He won the prestigious French stage race with a clever ride on sage and then limited his losses to better climber Torres to win overall.
I've gone from race to race and stepped up each time," Blackmore explained.
"I built a solid endurance base in the winter and also built my confidence, so I was able to put myself in the right place. I also think I've learnt a lot from my teammates to keep getting better. The plan is to just keep it going.
"Thanks to racing at pro level, you learn another level of racing, due to the control in pro races but then the really hard racing. You build extra depth."
Blackmore will be watching his young professional rivals and no doubt they will be watching him on the testing Zurich circuit.
"There'll be a lot of riders to keep an eye on and watch who goes in an early move. On the circuit it will be difficult to bring a break back," Blackmore explained.
"There are a lot of places to attack or be attacked on the Zurich circuit, so I think it'll be important to save energy for the final lap. I'll be watching Switzerland's Jan Christen for sure, plus Morgado, del Toro and the other guys who were at the sharp end of the Tour de L'Avenir."
Blackmore will be Great Britain's aggressive, hard race option, with Matthew Brennan the team beat sprint option.
"Matty Brennan is one of the fastest guys in the race but I fancy my chances in a smaller sprint after a hard race."
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