Results U23 Women's 2025 World Championship Road Race | Célia Gery secures historic win for France ahead of Viktoria Chladonova

In a history-making, standalone edition of the women's under-23 road race at the 2025 World Championships in Kigali, France's Célia Gery has secured the Rainbow Jersey ahead of Viktoria Chladonova in a thrilling finale.

After a strongly fought first half of the day, a much diminished peloton held the lead of the race going into the final 50 kilometres. Among those in the mix were notable names such as Isabella Holmgren, Cat Ferguson, Imogen Wolff, Marion Bunel and Marie Schreiber. Over the next 10km or so however, things thinned out dramatically once again, with only around 25 riders remaining in the lead group as they began the final 3 laps of the finishing circuit.

Inside the final 30km, the race was really ignited at the front with a series of stinging attacks. From these accelerations, a four-woman group broke clear with Julie Bego, Anina Hutter, Paula Blasi and Justyna Czapla involved. Despite the seeming lack of numbers in the chase behind, however, the attack was nullified with 26km to go as Canada's Holmgren herself took to the front of the much-reduced bunch to complete the catch.

The next notable move to gain a clear advantage came in the form of a trio consisting of Celia Gery, Viktoria Chladonova, and Malwina Mul. Ahead of the penultimate ascent of the cobbled Côte de Kimihurura, they held around 15 seconds over the chase. By the time the bell rang though, the trio had been brought back, and a group of around 20 led into the finale.

On the final lap, Sweden's Stina Kagevi looked to launch a surprise with an early attack. With no immediate impetus in the chase, she quickly built up a lead of over 30 seconds. By 7.5 km to go, Kagevi's lead had extended even further to a reported 1:20 although the reliability of this was called into question by commentators. It seemed that time gap might have been inflated too as just inside the final 6km, Kagevi had company at the front in the form of a counter-attack quartet of Holmgren, Gery, Chladonova and Blasi.

Before the final cobbled climb, the lead group's numbers had swelled again to 11 riders, setting up a thrilling finish. Once the road headed upwards, the French came to the fore with Bunel and Gery setting a fierce tempo, one that only Chladonova could match. With the trio having clear seperation from the rest into the final kilometre, the podium looked like it could have been settled.

They couldn't afford to play games though, with the chase still working hard. Bunel was working relentlessly on the front, but it was Chladonova who opened the sprint for the line. She couldn't hold on to the win though as Celia Gery came around to secure the world title for France.