Ava Holmgren’s first goal for her home World Championships was simply to reach the start line healthy. On Monday in Montréal, she went considerably further, finishing sixth in the under-23 women’s time trial and taking renewed confidence into Thursday’s road race.
The Canadian clocked 28:42 over the 20.3km course, finishing 1:01 behind race winner Felicity Wilson-Haffenden of Australia, who added an under-23 title to her previous junior rainbow jersey. Nienke Vinke of the Netherlands took silver, with Belgium’s Luca Vierstraete completing the podium.
Wilson-Haffenden was second at the first checkpoint before moving ahead at the second. Her winning time of 27:40 was the only ride under 28 minutes, ending Vinke’s hour in the hot seat.
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For Holmgren, who missed the medals by approximately 16 seconds, improving four places on last year’s result carried particular significance after a difficult season.
“My first goal was to just show up on the line healthy, and it’s been a hard year for me in terms of health, so I’m really happy with that,” she told Cycling Weekly.
“Sixth place compared to 10th last year is a big improvement, so I’m happy with that.”
Her performance followed third place at the Tour de Gatineau, giving her another encouraging result heading into the road race.
American Kylee Hanel was Team USA’s highest finisher in 21st place.
She arrived in Montréal after a breakthrough season that included victories at Unbound Gravel 100 and the US under-23 time trial championships, alongside a stage win and the youth classification at the Tour of the Gila.
Those performances helped earn her a stagiaire opportunity with Visma–Lease a Bike.
She raced the Montréal course on a Cervélo P5, explaining afterwards that she had ridden her time trial bike only four times.
Hanel has spent the past month racing in Europe while also maintaining an off-road programme in the Life Time Grand Prix at home. At the finish, she still bore a black eye from a crash last month and acknowledged the accumulated fatigue.
“I think towards the end of the season you get a little fatigued. I’ve done a lot of racing,” she said. “So it’s more of my body’s kind of getting ready to rest. But I mean, it felt good. It felt fine.”
The course’s repeated efforts presented a challenge of their own.
“It’s just a whole lot of punchy stuff, and that’s not my strength yet. But work in progress.”
The result came as Hanel continues to gain experience on the road, with her stagiaire spell offering a chance to test herself alongside WorldTour riders. Asked whether those opportunities brought added pressure to perform, she said the expectations were her own.
“Right now I’m the only one that’s putting pressure on myself.”
Hanel intends to continue combining road and gravel over the next two years. Returning off-road also means returning to a familiar racing community.
“It’s a different environment, so different people. I know a lot more people there, so I get to race with my friends,” she said.
First, however, comes Thursday’s road race. Hanel said the American squad had yet to work through its tactics but speaking for herself, she said her aim was to “race her best race.”
Ava Holmgren in the U23 time trial
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Holmgren, meanwhile, is looking forward to racing in front of home supporters and alongside her twin sister, Isabella.
“My only other race with her this year was the Tour de Gatineau, and we did really well,” she said.
The sisters made the final break together there, and Ava is eager for another opportunity to work together.
“She’s super strong, and I know how hard she’s been working for this, and she can see the same with me.”
Beyond her sister, Holmgren will have family and longtime supporters on the roadside, including people who helped her make the move to racing in Europe.
“I’m happy that I can finally show them how hard we work, and they can see it firsthand,” she said.
Asked about Team Canada’s chances on Thursday, she said: “I think we have a really strong team, and if we can play our cards right, we can go for the best result.”
Holmgren is set to line up alongside her twin sister Isabella, Kiara Lylyk, Alexandra Volstad and Sidney Swierenga in Canada’s five-rider squad.
Hanel will be joined by US under-23 road champion Katherine Sarkisov, Alyssa Sarkisov, Mia Aseltine and Lidia Cusack.
The women’s under-23 road race starts at 9am EDT on Thursday, September 24, with riders tackling 134km and 2,690 metres of climbing.
