Ahead of the weekend Elite road races of the 2026 UCI Road World Championships, the Men Under 23 and the Women Junior categories battled for the rainbow jerseys on Friday in Montréal, Canada.+
The first title of the day went to the USA’s Ashlin Barry, winner of the Men Under 23 road race after an impressive display on his 19th birthday. Spain’s Héctor Álvarez Martinez and Norway’s Jesper Stiansen joined him on the podium.
Spain’s Alejandra Neira Domínguez took the Women Junior rainbow jersey the day after her compatriot Benjamín Noval Suárez won the Men Junior event. Italy’s Matilde Rossignoli and Switzerland’s Anja Grossmann finished second and third, respectively.
Ashlin Barry makes a name for himself
Born in Spain with a USA and a Canadian background on 25 September 2007, Ashlin Barry enjoyed a very special birthday as he brought the USA their first UCI World Champion title in the Men Under 23 road race. He follows in the footsteps of his mother, Dede Demet-Barry, the first American winner of the rainbow jersey in the Women Junior ranks, and his father, Michael Barry, who represented Canada in many international competitions at the turn of the 21st century.
Ashlin Barry had already claimed silver in Kigali (Rwanda) last year in the Men Junior individual time trial (ITT) and had impressed during the road race the year before in Zürich, Switzerland (fifth). This time, his power and his grit led him to his first rainbow jersey after a 30km solo to take the win from a field of 176 riders representing 69 nations.
“It’s incredible, honestly, I don’t know how I did that,” Barry said after he rode aggressively early on the 13 laps of the Mont-Royal circuit (total distance 174.2km). With four breakaway companions, he opened a significant gap to the peloton and maintained a margin of just under a minute ahead of a five-man group led by Álvarez Martinez at the line.
“It was just unreal being out there, seeing so many friends, my family, to hear my dog barking on the side of the course,” Barry added. “It really felt like a home race out there. I’m so grateful for the support I had, and there’s just so many people I have to thank.”
Neira completes Spain’s Junior dominance
The 101 riders (43 nations) in the Women Junior race faced six laps (80.4km) on the same circuit in the centre of Montreal. The successive attacks and ascents on the Voie Camillien-Houde (1.67km at 7.4% with a maximum gradient of 10%) significantly reduced the peloton.
Onto the final lap (13.4km), Mexico’s Nabyenka Valentina Garcia Bareño Dominguez led by a handful of seconds ahead of a reduced bunch, but she suffered a mechanical at the bottom of the climb. At the summit, Alejandra Neira Domínguez, Matilde Rossignoli and Anja Grossmann had opened a gap with just over 10km remaining.
Poland’s Maria Okrucińska and the Netherlands’ Mirthe Mons returned inside the final three kilometres to make it a five-woman sprint, but they lacked the freshness to contest the podium positions as Neira Domínguez powered to victory ahead of Rossignoli and Grossmann.
“It’s the best day of my life,” the young Spaniard said. “I can’t believe that I’m a world champion. When we were three and the other riders arrived, I lost my confidence a little bit because Maria Okrucińska is a really good sprinter, but I tried to keep her wheel and then I had what it took to pass her.”
Like Benjamín Noval Suárez in the Men Junior event, Neira Domínguez is Spain’s second Women Junior road race UCI World Champion, just a year after Paula Ostiz. “She is a big friend, also a teammate, and to be the world champion after her is incredible,” Neira said.