Nice Britain’s Joe Blackmore stands out within the begin checklist for the lads’s under-23 street race on Friday on the UCI Highway World Championships, with the winner of this yr’s Tour de L’Avenir seeking to proceed his fast-track improvement from a mountain biker to skilled street racer.
Blackmore will tackle fellow prodigious skilled riders in what might be the final time WorldTour and ProTeam riders can compete for the Below 23 world title. Subsequent yr the UCI is anticipated to drive younger professional riders to race in opposition to the elite males, with the under-23 race reserved for beginner and Continental workforce riders.
The 21-year-old from Sidcup in southern England will race in opposition to UAE Staff Emirates riders Jan Christen, Isaac del Toro, Jan Christen and António Morgado, Italy’s Giulio Pellizzari, who will trip for Pink Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe in 2025, and Lidl-Trek stagiaire Tim Torn Teutenberg, Canada’s Michael Leonard and the USA’s Andrew August, who each trip for Ineos Grenadiers.
Different threats embrace new under-23 time trial champion Iván Romeo who rides for Movistar and his younger Spanish teammate Pablo Torres, rides for the UAE Staff Emirates Gen Z workforce.
The 173.6km race will likely be a battle of the tremendous abilities however Blackmore is aware of how one can race good and strike when wanted.
“It is good there are another WorldTour guys dropping right down to the Below 23 race, it ought to be a high-level race,” Blackmore instructed Cyclingnews as he watched the chaotic junior race on Thursday afternoon.
“It might flip to chaos fairly shortly however hopefully most of our race will likely be within the dry. I believe being on the entrance foot will likely be essential. I’ve carried out a recon and the corners are tight and so there will likely be lots of accelerations. I am wanting ahead to it.”
Blackmore raced cyclocross and mountain bikes till his street racing abilities emerged quickly in 2023. He then joined the Israel-Premier Tech improvement workforce for 2024 however his spring success on the Tour du Rwanda and a string of different races shortly earned him promotion to the ProTeam in Could.
The Tour de L’Avenir remained a aim, as did the under-23 world title. He has his complete skilled profession to focus on hilly Classics and weeklong stage races.
“I by no means noticed myself making such speedy development this yr,” Blackmore admitted.
“I began the yr with the Israel Continental workforce as an under-23 rider, so the plan was with GB that I would race L’Avenir and Worlds as an U23.”
Blackmore rode the Baloise Belgium Tour and the Arctic Race of Norway with Israel-Premier Tech in the summertime, then headed to altitude to arrange for the Tour de L’Avenir. He gained the distinguished French stage race with a intelligent trip on sage after which restricted his losses to raised climber Torres to win total.
I’ve gone from race to race and stepped up every time,” Blackmore defined.
“I constructed a stable endurance base within the winter and likewise constructed my confidence, so I used to be capable of put myself in the proper place. I additionally assume I’ve learnt rather a lot from my teammates to maintain getting higher. The plan is to simply preserve it going.
“Because of racing at professional degree, you study one other degree of racing, as a result of management in professional races however then the actually laborious racing. You construct further depth.”
Blackmore will likely be watching his younger skilled rivals and little doubt they are going to be watching him on the testing Zurich circuit.
“There will be lots of riders to control and watch who goes in an early transfer. On the circuit it is going to be troublesome to carry a break again,” Blackmore defined.
“There are lots of locations to assault or be attacked on the Zurich circuit, so I believe it will be essential to save lots of vitality for the ultimate lap. I will be watching Switzerland’s Jan Christen for certain, plus Morgado, del Toro and the opposite guys who had been on the sharp finish of the Tour de L’Avenir.”
Blackmore will likely be Nice Britain’s aggressive, laborious race choice, with Matthew Brennan the workforce beat dash choice.
“Matty Brennan is likely one of the quickest guys within the race however I fancy my probabilities in a smaller dash after a tough race.”
Get limitless entry to all of our protection of the 2024 UCI Highway World Championships – together with breaking information and evaluation reported by our journalists on the bottom from the junior, under-23, and elite time trials and street races because it occurs and extra. Discover out extra.
