Pre-race favourite Gerald Ciolek (Germany) is the new U23 men's world champion after winning a sprint from a small breakaway at the end of the 177 km race. Ciolek escaped with five other riders on the Gschaiderberg with 12 km to go, and comfortably beat Romain Feillu (France) and Alexander Khatuntsev (Russia) for the gold medal. The bunch finished just six seconds back, but wasn't able to close the gap to the leaders.
The U23 race was very aggressive on the hilly but fast parcours around Salzburg. Mikhail Ignatiev (Russia) attacked on the first lap and stayed clear until km 70, when he was caught by a small group of chasers which were then absorbed by the peloton. Russia, Italy, France, Belgium and the Netherlands were the main aggressors in the race, and a group of 11 formed with two laps to go. They managed a minute's lead, but everything came back on the final lap. The winning breakaway went with just 12 km to go, with Ciolek, Khatuntsev and Feillu joined by Gavazzi (Italy), Vanendert (Belgium) and Gesink (Netherlands). They were able to stay away and Ciolek had no problems winning the sprint.
