"I hadn’t expected it to be possible" - Visma youngster becomes world champion on the day of his 19th birthday!
CyclingFriday, 25 September 2026 at 23:12
There will be one birthday party bigger than any other in Montréal this evening. Ashlin Barry turns 19 today, and gave himself the best possible gift - a rainbow jersey! The American rider completed an epic 30-kilometer solo after the entire day in breakaway, and now gets to enjoy many celebrations.
The 174-kilometer under-23 road race at the 2026 World Championships got underway in a rather leisurely pace which was dictated above all by outsider attacks. But after three laps, a five-rider group - Ashlin Barry, Kristian Egholm (Denmark), Samuel Novák (Slovakia), Matthew Dodd (Great Britain), and William Heffernan (Australia) - departed from peloton which eventually managed to reel back in only four them.
"It’s incredible, I can’t believe it," he initially searches for the right words in a quick interview at the finish line. "I don’t know how I did it. To be honest, I wanted to get ahead of the favorites. I didn’t think I was strong enough to keep up. If you have a bit of a lead, you can ride up the climbs more at your own pace."
Caught peloton off-guard
The escaped group worked together well for over 70 kilometers but with four laps left it finally fell apart and only Barry and Egholm were left at the front. Soon, it became clear that the American had more left and dropped the Dane as well.
"Once I was in the lead, I just went for it. I only really believed in it after the final pass over the climb," Barry says, referring to the tough Côte Camillien-Houde (1.8 km at 8%).
"I really can’t believe it. I actually expected to lose time on the climbs, but I rode at my own pace. Luckily, I had strong riders with me in the breakaway. I gave it my all in the last two laps."
Through all this, it appeared that the peloton featuring all big favourites had situation perfectly under control. But once Barry became lonely at the front, he revealed the power he's been hiding thus far, and never let the biggest names of under-23 peloton reach closer to him than 25 seconds.
And once the gap remained consistent even over the last ascent of Côte Camillien-Houde, Barry knew he had the victory in the bag. He could even afford to smile at the camera moto in the last 5 kilometers...
Pre-race favourites Aubin Sparfel or Héctor Álvarez were left to fight only for a silver medal and a spot by Barry's side on the podium. Eventually, Álvarez won the sprint for second place. Norwegian who will turn professional with Tudor Pro Cycling next year Jesper Stiansen completed the podium.
"I didn't think it was possible..."
"It was certainly the goal to become world champion, although I hadn’t expected it to be possible. A medal, that was perhaps the highest achievable. To win here, on this tough course… It is incredible."
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"I have to thank so many people. It was truly unreal to ride around here today, with so many friends and family on the sidelines. I even heard my dog barking! I am hugely grateful for all the support."
It's unclear whether Barry has any further starts in his plans for 2026. It would be nice to show off the new rainbow jersey before the season ends, but the Visma | Lease a Bike Development Team just as well deserves to throw a large party for the double-celebration as he turns 19 as the best under-23 rider in the world.
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- I’m glad he added that last sentence re MVDP coz it would have been stupid to ignore the possibility of him going with WVA or Remco if one attacks, that would put a lot of pressure to work together on PS & IDTJumpyjohn26-09-2026
- How technical is it? The Glasgow circuit was so technical it made chasing very difficult to organise and was an obvious advantage for an early attacker.Jumpyjohn26-09-2026
- And he was angry once he was leading and had to change bikes due to a flat having no idea how close or far the chase behind was. Not sure there’s steady correlation between his level of anger and performance, it seems to work both ways.Jumpyjohn26-09-2026
- Anything is possible. Most people are making their predictions on very selective assessment, looking only at something like elevation gain, one particular race, current performance, body weight or simply rider preference. Every argument has a counter.argument. Those who looked to the results of Montréal forgot to consider many had ridden Quebec 2 days before. The riders most climbing are least suited and experienced or performing in Classics. The rider least suited (MVDP, even though theoretically Wout should climb even less well) is the one who has shown he can destroy prejudice, not only did he finish just behind Tadej and Bardet at LBL (4200m) beating Pidcock but he won in Glasgow, in front of Tadej and Wout, easily, despite a crash and that had 3600m of elevation gain over a similar distance. But as you say, even MVDP has been caught out not knowing there were still riders ahead of him when sprinting for the line.Jumpyjohn26-09-2026
- I’d guess he’s had more than one, ever, although being at an Ineos in decline about 3 years I guess you can seriously ask that question. However, VAM (assuming it’s not a typo for VMA) assessment is not obligatory and can be done just as well through p/w. And then if you read his exact statement, maybe he just did it at 1500 or 2000m in the past and has now done a session at 2500m?Jumpyjohn25-09-2026
- If the three races thathave taken place already give any insight, it is that the circuit does nit reward the climbers as well as the metres suggest. 97.3 m of climbing per lap is from the three short climbs on which no-one can really be out into major difficulties. That amounts to 1264 m of climbing. The remainder of around 2313 m isn't as hard as it sounds. Add in the technical side of things and the nature of the flatter parts and it can be difficult for the lightweight riders to show their watts per kilo. It's attritional, but that seems to benefit the heavier riders more somehow
Rafionain-Glas25-09-2026 - Looking forward to a great weekend of racing. Haven’t been following much lately but for all the talk there was of interest from other teams in Seixas, it seems awfully quiet. Did I miss something or was it all media buzz making attempts?Mistermaumau25-09-2026
- Always nice when someone making the effort wins. CongratulationsMistermaumau25-09-2026
- I think it looks far faster than it actually was, judging by the bike behind he may have been close to 100km/h but it was a dead straight wide stretch. I’ve seen whole convoys of cars passing at such speeds near downhills when the peloton is at full speed and they still have problems not being in riders’ ways. The speed of the caravan at the Tour sometimes when it passes just inches from spectators is far scarier. For me there are just too many vehicles in races.Mistermaumau25-09-2026
- I think the issue with van der Poel, Van Aert, Evenepoel, and Simmons may just be the weight. Some of them are likely too heavy for this amount of climbing - yes, Van Aert has won some major climbs, but that's in a GT setting with more than one race going on at a time and major climbers part of the GC race behind him. None of them has won in Montreal or Il Lombardia. Simmons was great at Il Lombardia not too long ago, but ran out of energy. They all have the goods to win, as do several others. It's just that del Toro and Seixas were the ones who got away 2 weeks ago, they climb, and del Toro sprints. I make no predications, I'm just really excited for what I hope is a great race!RidesHills25-09-2026
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