Viktoria Chladonova, under-23 world gold with Paula Ostiz without options

After the brilliant world time trial gold in the junior category for Benjamín Noval and after the no less brilliant bronze against the stopwatch in the sub-23 category for Héctor Álvarez, the online tests They take the baton from this Thursday in the Montreal World Championship with varied assets for Spanish cycling. This Thursday’s races were the under-23 women’s online races, with Paula Ostiz as the leader, and the junior men’s online races, with Noval in front.

The first option to add in this modality could not be completed in the first test of the afternoon for the Spanish delegation. Paula Ostiz, junior world champion in 2025, has not been able to fight for the medals in the under-23 event, in which she finished sixteenth, 3:40 from the winner. Ostiz, only nineteen years old and in the season of her jump in category, has been in the group of favorites, but He dropped out twenty-five kilometers from the finish line.

The triumph was the Slovakian Viktoria Chladonovawho played for gold and silver in a two-card sprint in which she beat the Canadian Isabella Holmgren (both 3:49.10). Runner-up in the world last year in both the online event and the under-23 time trial, in 2026, in which she had been fourth in the fight against the clock, Chladonova has obtained her golden reward. The Belgian Fleur Moors He took the bronze after entering at thirty-three seconds and after having to fight until the end.

On a tour of 134 kilometers with departure and arrival in Montreal and with five laps of a circuit with the main difficulty of the ascent to Voie Camillien-Houde (five 1.6 kilometer climbs at 7.7%), It was Chladonova who took the coveted gold. The Visma-Lease a Bike rider, who has five professional victories, but all in her country, has thus managed to leave her mark in a big way. Ostiz, one of the young values ​​of the Movistar Team, has not been able to fight for the podium.

It was in a race in which Ostiz was the Spanish representative in the group of favorites. They have been dropped before Leyre Almena (thirty-eighth at 10:58), Ayala Serrano (thirty-ninth with the same difference), Celia Torres (forty-sixth in the same group) and an Irati Aranguren who had to abandon the race. However, Ostiz has not been able to enter the second team and has also seen how the front team escaped.

Located in the group of favorites, this great reduction of the group has started with the hunt for the cyclists who have enjoyed prominence for a good part of the day. Thirty-nine kilometers from the finish line, the escape ended, coinciding with the penultimate ascent to Voie Camillien-Houde. Holmgren has set the pace to select the main group from about thirty-five cyclists to about twenty.

Ostiz’s acceleration that ends up being insufficient

With this attitude, Chladonova tried to go one step further with a succession of attacks thirty-three and thirty-one kilometers from the finish line. Ostiz hunted him down in the first, in which they were joined by the Canadian Sidney Swierenga so that the three opened a few seconds apart. However, from behind the pace increased and The adventure barely lasted a couple of kilometers.

The good attack was the one Chladonova performed just after. Thirty-one kilometers from the finish he was dragging Isabella Holmgren and Fleur Moors, taking advantage of the uphill terrain. The three of them began to open the gap until twenty seconds in, with Ostiz trying to stay in the chasing group.

However, he couldn’t either. With the head trio ahead, Ostiz paid for the wear and tear and was left out of a second cut with Reijhout, Swiereenga, De Schepper, Appleton, Coupland, Dixon, Czapla, Sarsikov, Hutter and Winter. Coupland was trying to jump out of it, just as the Spanish woman was trying to jump from the third group to the second, but with no options.

The resolution of the test was three. Holmgren moved ahead with thirteen kilometers to go to overtake a Moors who was being chased by De Schepper, Appleton and Winter six kilometers from the finish to leave a double fight open. In the second, despite being hunted, Moors held on in the sprint to take the bronze medal. Behind this group, Ostiz entered seventeenth after giving up a lot of ground at the end, 3:40 behind the winner.

In the first fight, in the main one, Holmgren did not let go of Chladonova, despite his attempts. Thus, both were competing for world gold for speed, which the Slovakian won. In this way, the Visma runner obtained her prize after her numerous attempts to select the race: She is the new under-23 world champion of the online event.