Men Under 23 individual time trial: Milesi, first King of Stirling

Lorenzo Milesi surprised the world

Italy’s Lorenzo Milesi surprised the world in the medieval city of Stirling, winning the Under-23 individual time trial ahead of Alec Segaert (BEL) and Hamish McKenzie (AUS).

On day seven of the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships, the small town of Stirling hosted the first rainbow battles in the individual time trials. The Men Under 23 competed on Wednesday for the first of the six UCI World Champion titles awarded in the specialty from now until Friday.

Lorenzo Milesi succeeded Søren Wærenjskold (NOR) in the Scottish medieval city. Belgium’s Alec Segaert had to settle for the silver medal (+11”27), while the Australian Hamish McKenzie showed his skills and power taking the bronze medal (+50”79).

The 79 riders at the start competed on a rolling course of 36.2km, with a demanding cobbled ascent to finish in the city centre of Stirling.

Australia’s Alastair Mackellar set a first reference at the top of the final climb in 44:42.88. But he was quickly edged from the hot seat by Canada’s Michael Leonard, 13 seconds faster than Mackellar.

The Swiss Jan Christen, a new recruit of UCI WorldTeam UAE Team Emirates, showed his undoubted talent. However, he couldn’t finish as strongly as Hamish Mckenzie (AUS), who set of just behind him. Mckenzie took the new provisional first place in 43:51.25, 30 seconds ahead of the Swiss.

Milesi flies to the best time

Split after split, Italy’s Lorenzo Milesi smashed the three intermediate points on the circuit. With an average higher than 50km/h, the rider from Team DSM-Firmenich continued increasing his lead all the way to the line, finishing 50 seconds ahead of McKenzie. An impressive time that gave him strong hopes for the rainbow jersey (43:00.46), even with 50 riders still to cross the finish line.

Logan Currie (NZL), who took fourth place in the individual time trial at last year’s UCI Road World Championships in Wollongong, Australia, could not challenge the leader. Already distanced at the first split, the national Under 23 Champion in the ITT and the road race eventually had to settle for eighth.

Segaert fails to overthrow Milesi

Comfortably ensconsed in the leader's chair, Milesi saw a long list of candidates stumble against the uphill cobblestones of downtown Stirling. Irishman Darren Rafferty finished well (5th) as did Spain’s Raul Garcia Pierna (4th). But it wasn’t enough.

Few candidates could still hope to overthrow Milesi. But their were still some impressive names on the list to come, not least Josh Charlton (GBR) and Alec Segaert (BEL).

Although Charlton was in the red at the first checkpoint (+18”), the Briton had a good second section to make up one second (+17” at point 2). In this remote battle, Segaert took the lead in the first split, 10 seconds ahead of Milesi. But the Belgian’s lead was down to 3’’ at the second checkpoint!

Josh Charlton saw his hopes of victory fade away as he trailed by 42’’ after the third intermediate checkpoint. The podium also escaped him (6th) in the tortuous finale in Stirling after he suffered a mechanical at the worst time, just at the bottom of the last climb of the day.

Denmark’s Carl-Frederik Bevort, last to start, was quickly out of contention, meaning Segaert was Milesi’s last real threat. But the Belgian was bleeding more time, finding himself behind the Italian for the first time at the third checkpoint (+3’’80). The battle would be settled in the streets of Stirling. And the favourite Segaert couldn’t reverse the deficit, eventually crossing the line with 11’’ slower than Milesi.

"I do not believe it. This race was so difficult. We were very close throughout the course. There was a headwind in the first part; you had to manage your effort well. I only thought of Alec [Segaert] during my race. I told myself I really had to push to be in front of him. It's incredible. I’m going to need a little while to realise,” Milesi said.

On Thursday, the women will be racing for the individual time trial rainbow jersey in Stirling: the Junior and Elite (including Women U23) individual time trials will begin at 11:15.

Full results