European Championships: Ravbar wins junior men's road race title
Grisel takes silver amid Slovenian 1-3 with Erzen in bronze medal place
Slovenia claimed two of the three medals at the junior men's road race at the UEC Road European Championships as Anze Ravbar claimed gold with a late attack.
The 18-year-old burst from the peloton late on up the Col du VAM to end the 111km race, gaining separation from the group and crossing the line just ahead of the rest.
As he celebrated victory, France's Matys Grisel powered home for second at one second later, edging out another Slovenian, Zak Ersen.
The race all came down to the final ascent of the Col du VAM, which featured eight times as the riders took on eight laps of the circuit.
A group including August Theodor Clemmensen (Denmark), Erazem Valjavec (Slovenia), Felix Ørn-Kristoff (Norway), Hector Alvarez Martinez (Spain) and Andrea Montagner (Italy) had led the way partway through the race, though attacks behind, including from Jarno Widar (Belgium) shook things up.
In the end, a small group headed up the race on the final climb, with Ravbar prevailing with his late attack to claim the big victory.
"I saw that I could make a difference on the cobbles," Ravbar said later. "The race was very tough. The speed was high all the time and I couldn't take any rest. However, in the second half of the race, I saw that the other riders were getting tired and I was a little less tired. That's when I decided to gamble on the sprint.
"I took that opportunity on the cobbles on the last lap and chose to attack there. In the end, I arrived solo."
Results
Results powered by FirstCycling
Thank you for reading 5 articles in the past 30 days*
Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read any 5 articles for free in each 30-day period, this automatically resets
After your trial you will be billed £4.99 $7.99 €5.99 per month, cancel anytime. Or sign up for one year for just £49 $79 €59
Join now for unlimited access
Try your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Daniel Ostanek is Senior News Writer at Cyclingnews, having joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor and later being hired full-time. Prior to joining the team, he had written for numerous major publications in the cycling world, including CyclingWeekly, Rouleur, and CyclingTips.
Daniel has reported from the world's top races, including the Tour de France and the spring Classics, and has interviewed many of the sport's biggest stars, including Wout van Aert, Remco Evenepoel, Demi Vollering, and Anna van der Breggen.
As well as original reporting, news and feature writing, and production work, Daniel also oversees The Leadout newsletter and How to Watch guides throughout the season. His favourite races are Strade Bianche and the Volta a Portugal.
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Thank you for signing up to The Pick. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
Latest on Cyclingnews
-
Connor Swift shows his Gravel credentials with third at World Championships
‘I want to do well on the road, gravel and anything in between’ says Ineos Grenadiers rider -
Keegan Swenson duels with Alejandro Valverde at Gravel World Championships
Spanish ‘veterano’ beats American in sprint after a battle in the Prosecco hills -
Riley Sheehan wins Paris-Tours in reduced-group sprint
Young American takes first pro win ahead of Askey and Johannessen in 117th edition of French Classic -
Matej Mohoric survives late crash to win UCI Gravel World Championships solo
Slovenian drops Vermeersch 18km from the line to claim rainbow jersey with Swift third