Yevgeniy Fedorov thrilled to win "my last chance to win a U23 race"

Yevgeniy Fedorov was a known name at the start of the World Championships' road race at the under-23 level, however few would've expected the Astana rider to take the win, as he surprised with a late move to beat the sprinters that chased the medals.

“Of course I rode the Vuelta with the Astana Qazaqstan Team. I was in good shape because of that and came here with the aim of winning," the Kazakh said in a post-race interview, assisted by Alexander Vinokourov with the translations. "It's great that it works, ten years after Alexey Lutsenko's victory. I remember that well.”

Fedorov started the race as an outsider, but took advantage of the early aggressive riding to launch himself into the winning move. As the peloton struggled to close the gap, he as Mathias Vacek rode clear in the final climb, and had enough of a gap to hold off the chasers. Vacek was a dangerous rider in the final sprint, but as soon as Fedorov launched his, the Czech had no response.

“I have indeed tried a lot. The climb was very difficult and I am not a real climber. But I did try it two or three times. In the last lap we came up with two men," he described. "Then I knew we had a good chance of making it. I still had a strong sprint at home, the legs made the difference today.”

Ten years exactly after his compatriot Alexey Lutsenko won the very same title, Fedorov rode clear to conquer is own. A second-year World Tour pro, Fedorov won't be showing off his rainbow stripes next season, but this result came as a career-changing achievement for the 22-year old.

“This is very good for me and for the team. It was my last chance to win a U23 race as it is my last year as a U23. I'm very happy with this. Everyone said after the Vuelta that I could do it, but now I have done it," he concluded.