The third day of the 2026 UCI Road World Championships in Montréal, Canada, saw rainbow jerseys awarded in the last three time trial events, before the road races take centre stage from Thursday until Sunday.
On Tuesday morning, Italy showed their collective strength as Mattia Cattaneo, Filippo Ganna, Matteo Sobrero, Vittoria Guazzini, Elisa Longo Borghini and Monica Trinca Colonel powered to the win in the team time trial - mixed relay.
Then, it was up to the Juniors to conclude the action on the circuits designed around the Jeanne Mance Park. In the men’s event, Spain’s Benjamín Noval Suarez got the better of Belgium’s Vic De Smet and Denmark’s Malthe Risbjerg. Then, Poland’s Maria Okrucińska won the rainbow jersey ahead of Belgium’s Yana Decruyenaere and Great Britain’s Aalia Clay in the Women Junior event.
A strong and deep Squadra Azzurra
Fifteen teams participated in the team time trial - mixed relay, starting with the representatives of the UCI World Cycling Centre. Each team comprised three female and three male athletes. The men were first to take on the 20.3km course, back and forth between the Jeanne Mance Park and Nuns’ Island. Then it was up to the women to cover the same course.
Cattaneo, Ganna and Sobrero powered into the lead for Italy, before Guazzini, Longo Borghini and Trinca Colonel sealed the deal with an overall time of 51:32.28 (47.266km/h average speed), claiming Italy’s first gold medal in the team time trial - mixed relay after finishing second (in 2022) and third (2021, 2024).
“We had been pretty close in each edition,” Sobrero commented. “Finally, we get to the first place.” Longo Borghini was “very happy. We’ve been chasing this rainbow jersey for so long and I really like this specialty, so I’m over the moon”. Second in the Men Elite individual time trial (ITT) on Sunday, Ganna added “It’s a special honour to have this jersey and this victory”.
In their wake, France (Bruno Armirail, Rémi Cavagna, Jordan Labrosse, Juliette Berthet, Marion Borras, Cédrine Kerbaol) and Switzerland (Stefan Bissegger, Stefan Küng, Mauro Schmid, Jasmin Liechti, Marlen Reusser, Noemi Rüegg) traded places until the French edged it at the finish: 51:40.91 for “Les Bleus” against 51:52.18 for the Swiss team.
Men Junior: Noval ramps it up in second section
At 17, Benjamín Noval has already made waves, impressing the world of cycling to the point that he will join a UCI WorldTeam next year in the form of Netcompany Ineos. His impressive record in the youth categories now includes a rainbow jersey after the young Spaniard’s victory in the Men Junior ITT in Montréal.
Among the 69 riders representing 41 nations, Dutch rouleurs Gijs Winters and Thijs Wiersma enjoyed the strongest starts, leading the way after six kilometres, ahead of De Smet and Noval, but the Spaniard unleashed a dominant performance in the second section, up to km 14.5, and eventually set a winning time of 25:17.35 (48.163km/h), holding on to a margin of 6.35 seconds to De Smet at the finish.
“It’s incredible. I prepared all year for these Championships, for this day,” the new UCI World Champion said after hugging his father, also named Benjamín Noval, a professional rider until 2013. “I’m here with my family and the whole team of Spain,” Noval rejoiced as he prepared to celebrate his title with another target in the back of his mind: he is one of the favourites for the Men Junior road race on Thursday.
Only 13th at the first checkpoint, Denmark’s Malthe Risbjerg was particularly impressive in the final stretch to clinch the bronze medal four seconds ahead of his compatriot Julius Birkedal.
Women Junior: Okrucińska impressive from start to finish
The Women Junior ITT brought together 57 riders from 34 nations to try and succeed Spain’s Paula Ostiz, crowned in Kigali (Rwanda) last year. And come the finish, a new nation stood on top of the podium as Maria Okrucińska gave Poland their first rainbow jersey in the category, to nestle alongside titles claimed by her compatriots Piotr Mazur (in 2000) and Michal Kwiatkowski (2008) in the Men Junior ITT.
Okrucińska was head and shoulders above the rest of the field over the 10.7km course that also started and finished at the Jeanne Mance Park. After 5.8km, she was almost six seconds ahead of Yana Decryenaere. She didn’t fade and took victory with a time of 15:17.51 (41.983km/h), 12.25 seconds ahead of her Belgian rival.
“I can’t believe it,” Okrucińska said moments after claiming the rainbow jersey. “I don’t know what is going on, but I think I had really good legs today and everything went really well with preparation and also actually in the race. And… I’m world champion! To be honest, it was my main goal since the start of the season, so I was preparing for it. I came to Canada and did a really good recon. On the start line, I could feel it was my day, and if everything went well then I could do it.”
The bronze medal went to Great Britain’s Aalia Clay thanks to a strong finish. The 17-year-old was sixth at the intermediate checkpoint and she eventually took third place with a time of 15:42.09, just 0.07 seconds ahead of Switzerland’s Anja Grossmann.