Results World Championships women junior road race | Spain grabs gold medal with Paula Ostiz

Paula Ostiz was proclaimed junior world champion in Kigali after an impeccable performance and a masterful final sprint against a group of five riders. The Spanish rider showed cold blood and power in the last meters, winning a historic gold medal for Spain in the World Championships 2025, at the junior women's road race. Her second medal in the championship after the silver in the time trial.

The 74-kilometer race was marked by the demanding circuit with the climbs to the Kigali Golf and the cobbled climb to Kimihurura. From the first ramps, the race was hardened by the pace imposed by several teams, including Ethiopia, which with Kashay Kiros split the group quite a lot.

The second half of the race was a continuous exchange of attacks. The Czech Antonie Cermanova tried to surprise with 57 kilometers to go, but was neutralized after the effort of Kiros, who re-selected the group in the second ascent to Golf and Kimihurura. The Ethiopian seemed unbeatable, but a mechanical problem 33 km from the finish left her out of the fight. That circumstance allowed Spain to consolidate its strategy with three riders still in the front group.

The final stretch was of maximum tension. With 15 kilometers to go, everything was decided in the last laps with a group of just thirty riders, where the presence of three Italians and the leaders of Canada, United Kingdom and Switzerland stood out. Dutch Roos Muller and Czech Karolina Spicarova tried their luck on the descent, but without success. It was Anja Grossmann who again imposed a strong pace on the climbs, leaving a group of five: Ostiz, Grossmann, Sidney Swierenga; and the Italians Chantal Pegolo and Giada Silo.

The race was resolved in the final sprint. Ostiz, very well protected previously by the work of Neira, showed an impressive serenity. She faced the last meters with temper and launched her sprint at the right time to beat her rivals with authority. Spain, with Ostiz as world junior champion, wrote a historic page in Kigali, achieving a triumph based on the collective work and the cold blood of its leader in the final meters. silver for the Italian Pegolo and bronze for the Swiss Grossmann.

"It's a dream come true, I have no words, my family and the whole country are watching me now. Imanol, the person who is always with me," she said in a post-race interview. "Thanks to him, he is a very important person. I am very happy, I just want to celebrate with my family, with those around me".

"I knew I had to save until the end, I had seen the previous races, I struggled sometimes on the harder climbs, I knew I had to save because in the sprint I could be fast. I had a little cramp and I wanted to save until the sprint. I won and I can't believe it".