Italian rider Lorenzo Mark Finn, the youngest rider in the Men Under-23 Road Race, put up a spectacular performance at the 2025 UCI Road World Championships.
In the race, which attracted 79 riders, Finn showcased immense talent, revealing a new way of riding the championship and outperforming all the riders in the race.
The Italian-British rider was the UCI Junior Road World Champion last year with a solo victory in Zürich, and he brought some of his clever tricks to Kigali, using his opponents to make a surprise move.
Waving a peace sign and a thumbs up to the Kigali spectators, Finn clocked 3:57.27 to win gold in a race where he was initially not visible at the starting point.
“I knew I was in good shape and was one of the favorites but you never expect this,” he said with anticipation that since he is under 23 he will retain the title for another year, adding to the one in Zürich.
He defeated Swiss title contender Jan Huber, who finished +31 seconds later to claim a silver medal after a challenging race where Finn worked him over for hours.
From the Australian team, Marco Schretti managed to break away in the second chase and finished 3rd with +1.13.
Race Review:
With 141.4 km remaining, the Belgians took the lead of the 2nd peloton with four of their five riders, making it difficult for the rest of the peloton.
In green and gold striped jerseys, the Australians made their presence known in the peloton, which was mainly led by the Italian team in blue. The Belgians didn’t sit back; they quickly took over the lead from the Italians on the cobblestone road.
The Norwegians and Slovenians stayed at the back of the peloton, playing a waiting game, as the chances of making their winning move weren’t immediately clear.
With only 5 laps left, the Belgians continued to push the pace of the race, resulting in over 20 riders dropping out, leaving only 45 riders.
Despite losing one rider on the hot cobblestone roads, the Belgians quickly regained their team lead with all five riders at the front, while the French team pulled up the rear.
After a slow pace, Tim Rex, a rising talent in Belgian cycling, almost dropped out of the lead but surprised his team with a quick return as two Eritrean riders fell back.
The Australians and Spanish teams remained represented, even with the Belgians accelerating uphill.
With just over 60 km to go, Spanish rider Hector Alvares Martinez dashed through the Belgian team, causing trouble for them as he looked back to see how far he had left them.
Only Belgian rider Jarno Widar tried to counter this, but with only 3 riders, the Italian team didn’t let up, telling the racers to make everyone else work.
The Italians launched their attack, leaving teammate Lorenzo Finn, a clever rider, to push the pace on the leader, Martinez, who was also being chased by Halvor Dolven, a rising Norwegian cyclist.
Finn Becomes Visible:
After 3 hours and 14 minutes, the Belgians crumbled as Italian rider Lorenzo Mark Finn and Jan Huber from Switzerland made the final lead moves in the last two laps.
Finn looked strong and controlled Huber, positioning himself to overtake the leader, even on the bone-shaking cobblestone roads.
Spaniard Martinez continued to push relentlessly to secure a top position.
With 20 meters left, Huber briefly took the lead from Finn, but the clever Finn quickly regained his position.
In the last 4 km, Finn took the lead, using the wind-cheater trick on the slopes in Nyarutarama and grabbing as many water bottles as he could to maintain his lead.
In the final kilometers, Finn and Huber pushed their limits to claim the championship, with Finn using his attacking and passing skills at the right time.
With 3 km left, Huber refused to give in on the painful cobblestones, but Finn had already seen the finish line.
