UCI Road World Championships 2024 - Junior Men's Road Race contenders

The distance of the junior men's road course at the 2024 UCI Road World Championships is a carbon copy of Glasgow's 127.2km route but the climbs on the city circuit around Zürich are a little different, opening the door for rivals to defending champion Albert Philipsen (Denmark). 

Most of the 1,913 metres of elevation gain takes place on back-to-back sections of the Zürichbergstrasse and Witikon, while last year there were short, punchy climbs around Glasgow for 1,863m total. 

The course is more suited to the climbers rather than Classics-style racers, but adrenaline and aggressiveness can turn things upside down in any juniors competition.

Cyclingnews looks at a few of the top contenders for the medals from among the deep field.

Albert Withen Philipsen (Denmark)

Last year Albert Withen Philipsen (Denmark), at 16 years, 11 months, became the youngest winner of the junior men's road race. On top of that he added a second gold medal while in Glasgow, winning the junior men's cross-country title at UCI Mountain Bike World Championships. He competes in his final year as a junior in Switzerland and will be one of the favourites in the road race.

Philipsen added more hardware at Danish nationals this year, winning the time trial and cyclocross on a final season with a Norwegian-based amateur team, Tscherning Cycling Academy as he is set to turn pro in 2025 with a four-year deal at Lidl-Trek. 

A strong road campaign saw him place fourth in Paris-Roubaix Juniors and earn GC wins at a pair of stage races, the four-day Bourse de la Paix Juniors and the UCI 2.1 Ain Bugey Valromey Tour, where his two stage wins came on medium-sized distances of under 90 kilometres. 

Ashlin Barry (United States)

Team USA will have an advantage as four of the five athletes named to the squad are like family, competing as teammates on EF Education-ONTO - Gray Barnett, Ashlin Barry, Peyton Burckel and Noah Streif. Joining them is Braden Reitz (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale U19), the reigning men's junior road race silver medallist. 

Barry is the reigning US junior champion in both the road race and time trial so he will compete in both disciplines in Zürich and gets the nod as the most likely rider on Team USA to grab a medal. He's been strong in other competitions as well, finishing in the top five on all five stages at LVM Saarland Trofeo to finish second overall, going seventh at Paris-Roubaix Juniors and winning GC titles at Tour du Bocage et de l'Ernée and Valley of the Sun.

Add to that, a win at the Blue Mountains Gravel Fondo, a 120km pro gravel race. Burckel, who won the overall at the prestigious Green Mountain Stage Race, so he should be the teammate to watch if Barry falters.

Paul Seixas (France)

The Lyon-born rider celebrates his 18th birthday two days before the junior men's road race and he'd like nothing better than to finish off the celebration on the podium. 

Paul Seixas is making a habit of finishing races among the top spots this year with an amazing tally of visits to the podium which also includes race wins at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Classique des Alpes Juniors as well as GC wins at Tour du Pays de Vaud and Giro della Lunigiana. He also won the time trial national title and had third places at road races of the French National Championships and European Championships. 

Felix Ørn-Kristoff (Norway)

The newly-crowned junior champion from UEC European Road Championships is Norwegian Felix Ørn-Kristoff. In Switzerland, he is leading a five-rider squad that will try and turn his bronze from last year into a gold medal. He excels on longer stages in road races, taking podiums at Giro della Lunigiana, Eroica Juniors and Course de la Paix Juniors, with fifth overall at Nation's Cup Hungary to follow his GC win there in 2023.

The 18-year-old has already carved a path to follow his older brother and WorldTour veteran Alexander Kristoff. The younger Kristoff will ride for development team Wanty-ReUz-Technord in 2025 and then move to the Intermarchè-Wanty squad in 2026. He is also skilled on the track, where he won several national titles and races in the Apeldoorn Next Generation event.