# 2018 UCI Road World Championships – Men's under-23 road race

The Men's under-23 road race of the 2018 UCI Road World Championships was a cycling event that took place on 28 September 2018 in Innsbruck, Austria. It was the 23rd edition of the event, for which French rider Benoît Cosnefroy was the defending champion, having won in 2017. 178 riders from 52 nations entered the competition.
The race was won by Switzerland's Marc Hirschi – becoming the first Swiss rider to win the gold medal – after he attacked from a small group on the final descent into Innsbruck, and soloed away to a fifteen-second margin of victory. The remaining members of that small group, Bjorg Lambrecht from Belgium and Finland's Jaakko Hänninen, did battle for the remaining medals, with silver going to Lambrecht and bronze to Hänninen.

## Course

The race started in Kufstein and headed south-west towards Innsbruck with a primarily rolling route, except for a climb of 5 kilometres (3.1 miles) between Fritzens and Gnadenwald – as had been in the time trial events earlier in the week – with an average 7.1% gradient and maximum of 14% in places. After 84.2 kilometres (52.3 miles), the riders crossed the finish line for the first time, before starting four laps of a circuit 23.8 kilometres (14.8 miles) in length. The circuit contained a climb of 7.9 kilometres (4.9 miles), at an average gradient of 5.9% but reaching 10% in places, from the outskirts of Innsbruck through Aldrans and Lans towards Igls. After a short period of flat roads, the race descended through Igls back towards Innsbruck and the finish line in front of the Tyrolean State Theatre.

## Qualification

Qualification was based mainly on the UCI Under-23 Continental Rankings by nations as of 12 August 2018, with varying number on qualifications depending on the continent. In addition to this number, any rider within the top placings of the continent's elite tour ranking that was not already qualified, the outgoing World Champion and the current continental champions were also able to take part.

### Qualification methods

The following nations qualified.
| Tour | Criterium | Rank | No. of riders to start | Nations |
| UCI Africa Tour | Under-23 Ranking by Nations | 1st | 5 | Rwanda |
| UCI Africa Tour | Under-23 Ranking by Nations | 2nd | 4 | Morocco |
| UCI Africa Tour | Under-23 Ranking by Nations | 3–5 | 3 | Algeria South Africa Eritrea |
| UCI America Tour | Under-23 Ranking by Nations | 1–3 | 5 | Colombia Ecuador United States |
| UCI America Tour | Under-23 Ranking by Nations | 4–6 | 4 | Mexico Costa Rica Canada |
| UCI America Tour | Under-23 Ranking by Nations | 7–10 | 3 | Argentina Brazil Chile Venezuela |
| UCI Asia Tour | Under-23 Ranking by Nations | 1–2 | 5 | Kazakhstan Japan |
| UCI Asia Tour | Under-23 Ranking by Nations | 3–4 | 4 | Hong Kong Mongolia |
| UCI Asia Tour | Under-23 Ranking by Nations | 5–7 | 3 | South Korea Singapore Iran |
| UCI Europe Tour | Under-23 Ranking by Nations | 1–15 | 5 | Netherlands Belgium Denmark France Italy Norway Germany Switzerland Ireland Slovenia Great Britain Turkey Poland Spain Croatia |
| UCI Europe Tour | Under-23 Ranking by Nations | 16–20 | 4 | Luxembourg Russia Ukraine Portugal Serbia |
| UCI Europe Tour | Under-23 Ranking by Nations | 21–27 | 3 | Czech Republic Sweden Hungary Israel Azerbaijan Austria Romania |
| UCI Oceania Tour | Under-23 Ranking by Nations | 1st | 5 | Australia |
| UCI Oceania Tour | Under-23 Ranking by Nations | 2nd | 3 | New Zealand |

### Continental champions

| Name | Country | Reason |
| Masaki Yamamoto | Japan | Asian Champion |
| Marc Hirschi | Switzerland | European Champion |
| Federico Vivas | Argentina | Pan American Champion |

### Participating nations

178 cyclists from 52 nations were entered in the men's road race. The number of cyclists per nation is shown in parentheses.
* Australia (5)
* Austria (4)
* Azerbaijan (2)
* Belgium (5)
* Bolivia (2)
* Brazil (1)
* Burkina Faso (1)
* Canada (4)
* Chile (3)
* Colombia (5)
* Costa Rica (1)
* Croatia (4)
* Cyprus (1)
* Czech Republic (3)
* Denmark (5)
* Ecuador (5)
* Eritrea (3)
* Ethiopia (1)
* Finland (1)
* France (6)
* Germany (6)
* Great Britain (5)
* Hong Kong (3)
* Hungary (3)
* Ireland (5)
* Israel (1)
* Italy (6)
* Japan (5)
* Kazakhstan (3)
* Luxembourg (4)
* North Macedonia (1)
* Mexico (3)
* Mongolia (2)
* Morocco (2)
* Netherlands (5)
* New Zealand (3)
* Norway (5)
* Poland (5)
* Portugal (4)
* Romania (2)
* Russia (4)
* Rwanda (5)
* Serbia (2)
* Slovakia (1)
* Slovenia (6)
* South Africa (2)
* Spain (5)
* Sweden (3)
* Switzerland (6)
* Trinidad and Tobago (1)
* Ukraine (3)
* United States (5)

## Final classification

Of the race's 178 entrants, 90 riders completed the full distance of 179.5 kilometres (111.5 miles).
| Rank | Rider | Country | Time |
| 1 | Marc Hirschi | Switzerland | 4h 24' 05" |
| 2 | Bjorg Lambrecht | Belgium | + 15" |
| 3 | Jaakko Hänninen | Finland | + 15" |
| 4 | Gino Mäder | Switzerland | + 35" |
| 5 | Mark Padun | Ukraine | + 37" |
| 6 | Jaime Castrillo | Spain | + 45" |
| 7 | Tadej Pogačar | Slovenia | + 47" |
| 8 | Ethan Hayter | Great Britain | + 47" |
| 9 | Patrick Müller | Switzerland | + 47" |
| 10 | James Shaw | Great Britain | + 47" |
| 11 | Jai Hindley | Australia | + 47" |
| 12 | Clément Champoussin | France | + 47" |
| 13 | Aurélien Paret-Peintre | France | + 1' 06" |
| 14 | Georg Zimmermann | Germany | + 1' 06" |
| 15 | Aleksandr Vlasov | Russia | + 1' 07" |
| 16 | Samuele Battistella | Italy | + 1' 07" |
| 17 | Robert Stannard | Australia | + 2' 48" |
| 18 | Stefan de Bod | South Africa | + 3' 21" |
| 19 | Alessandro Fedeli | Italy | + 3' 21" |
| 20 | Eddie Dunbar | Ireland | + 3' 23" |
| 21 | Mikkel Frølich Honoré | Denmark | + 3' 46" |
| 22 | Tobias Foss | Norway | + 3' 46" |
| 23 | Lennard Kämna | Germany | + 3' 50" |
| 24 | Andrea Bagioli | Italy | + 3' 50" |
| 25 | Neilson Powless | United States | + 4' 28" |
| 26 | Mark Donovan | Great Britain | + 4' 45" |
| 27 | Valentin Madouas | France | + 4' 57" |
| 28 | Marcel Neuhauser | Austria | + 4' 57" |
| 29 | Max Kanter | Germany | + 5' 41" |
| 30 | Pascal Eenkhoorn | Netherlands | + 5' 41" |
| 31 | Barnabás Peák | Hungary | + 5' 41" |
| 32 | Wilmar Paredes | Colombia | + 5' 41" |
| 33 | Viktor Verschaeve | Belgium | + 5' 41" |
| 34 | Adam Ťoupalík | Czech Republic | + 5' 41" |
| 35 | Nikolay Cherkasov | Russia | + 5' 41" |
| 36 | Ibai Azurmendi | Spain | + 5' 41" |
| 37 | Mikkel Bjerg | Denmark | + 5' 41" |
| 38 | Gonçalo Carvalho | Portugal | + 5' 41" |
| 39 | Jaka Primožič | Slovenia | + 5' 41" |
| 40 | Hafetab Weldu | Ethiopia | + 5' 41" |
| 41 | José Félix Parra | Spain | + 5' 41" |
| 42 | Sean Bennett | United States | + 5' 41" |
| 43 | Thymen Arensman | Netherlands | + 5' 45" |
| 44 | Jonas Gregaard | Denmark | + 5' 48" |
| 45 | Steff Cras | Belgium | + 5' 53" |
| 46 | Lucas Eriksson | Sweden | + 7' 57" |
| 47 | Roger Adrià | Spain | + 8' 35" |
| 48 | Miguel Flórez | Colombia | + 8' 35" |
| 49 | Jefferson Alexander Cepeda | Ecuador | + 8' 35" |
| 50 | Joel Fuertes | Ecuador | + 8' 35" |
| 51 | André Carvalho | Portugal | + 9' 27" |
| 52 | Michael Storer | Australia | + 9' 27" |
| 53 | Alessandro Monaco | Italy | + 9' 27" |
| 54 | Einer Rubio | Colombia | + 9' 27" |
| 55 | Nicolas Prodhomme | France | + 9' 54" |
| 56 | Lukas Rüegg | Switzerland | + 9' 54" |
| 57 | Kamil Małecki | Poland | + 10' 47" |
| 58 | Dimitri Bussard | Switzerland | + 10' 47" |
| 59 | Torjus Sleen | Norway | + 10' 47" |
| 60 | Jakub Otruba | Czech Republic | + 10' 47" |
| 61 | Andreas Leknessund | Norway | + 10' 47" |
| 62 | Florian Stork | Germany | + 10' 47" |
| 63 | Felix Gall | Austria | + 10' 47" |
| 64 | Jonas Vingegaard | Denmark | + 10' 49" |
| 65 | Attila Valter | Hungary | + 11' 52" |
| 66 | Luis Villalobos | Mexico | + 11' 52" |
| 67 | Kevin Geniets | Luxembourg | + 11' 52" |
| 68 | Benjamin Brkic | Austria | + 14' 08" |
| 69 | Stephen Williams | Great Britain | + 16' 25" |
| 70 | Alessandro Covi | Italy | + 16' 29" |
| 71 | Pit Leyder | Luxembourg | + 19' 25" |
| 72 | Jan Maas | Netherlands | + 19' 25" |
| 73 | Magnus Bak Klaris | Denmark | + 19' 25" |
| 74 | Brandon McNulty | United States | + 19' 25" |
| 75 | Stepan Kurianov | Russia | + 19' 25" |
| 76 | Alejandro Osorio | Colombia | + 19' 25" |
| 77 | Michel Ries | Luxembourg | + 19' 25" |
| 78 | João Almeida | Portugal | + 19' 25" |
| 79 | Yevgeniy Gidich | Kazakhstan | + 19' 25" |
| 80 | Ryan Christensen | New Zealand | + 21' 36" |
| 81 | Henok Mulubrhan | Eritrea | + 21' 36" |
| 82 | Luc Wirtgen | Luxembourg | + 21' 36" |
| 83 | Joseph Areruya | Rwanda | + 21' 36" |
| 84 | Conn McDunphy | Ireland | + 21' 36" |
| 85 | Charles-Étienne Chrétien | Canada | + 21' 36" |
| 86 | Jordan Cárdenas | Ecuador | + 21' 36" |
| 87 | Márton Dina | Hungary | + 21' 36" |
| 88 | Fernando Barceló | Spain | + 21' 36" |
| 89 | Max Stedman | Great Britain | + 21' 53" |
| Rank | Rider | Country | Time |
| 90 | Idar Andersen | Norway | + 23' 05" |
| | Ide Schelling | Netherlands | DNF |
| | Victor Lafay | France | DNF |
| | Brent Van Moer | Belgium | DNF |
| | Daire Feeley | Ireland | DNF |
| | Jakub Murias | Poland | DNF |
| | Filip Maciejuk | Poland | DNF |
| | Masahiro Ishigami | Japan | DNF |
| | Patrick Haller | Germany | DNF |
| | Tegshbayar Batsaikhan | Mongolia | DNF |
| | Jonas Rutsch | Germany | DNF |
| | Adam Roberge | Canada | DNF |
| | Joab Schneiter | Switzerland | DNF |
| | Viktor Potočki | Croatia | DNF |
| | Jambaljamts Sainbayar | Mongolia | DNF |
| | Mario Gamper | Austria | DNF |
| | Dinmukhammed Ulysbayev | Kazakhstan | DNF |
| | Gerardo López | Mexico | DNF |
| | Alex Hoehn | United States | DNF |
| | Kent Main | South Africa | DNF |
| | Awet Habtom | Eritrea | DNF |
| | Žiga Horvat | Slovenia | DNF |
| | Samuel Hakiruwizeye | Rwanda | DNF |
| | Matteo Sobrero | Italy | DNF |
| | Iván Sosa | Colombia | DNF |
| | Wilson Haro | Ecuador | DNF |
| | James Mitri | New Zealand | DNF |
| | Igor Chzhan | Kazakhstan | DNF |
| | Matúš Štoček | Slovakia | DNF |
| | Rasmus Tiller | Norway | DNF |
| | Nickolas Zukowsky | Canada | DNF |
| | Kakeru Omae | Japan | DNF |
| | Julius van den Berg | Netherlands | DNF |
| | Diego Ferreyra | Chile | DNF |
| | Jacob Eriksson | Sweden | DNF |
| | Veljko Stojnić | Serbia | DNF |
| | Ognjen Ilić | Serbia | DNF |
| | Nik Čemažar | Slovenia | DNF |
| | Denis Nekrasov | Russia | DNF |
| | Masaki Yamamoto | Japan | DNF |
| | Karel Tyrpekl | Czech Republic | DNF |
| | Tiago Antunes | Portugal | DNF |
| | Shoi Matsuda | Japan | DNF |
| | Zemenfes Solomon | Eritrea | DNF |
| | Filip Kvasina | Croatia | DNF |
| | David Jabuka | Croatia | DNF |
| | Fung Ka Hoo | Hong Kong | DNF |
| | Vladyslav Soltasiuk | Ukraine | DNF |
| | Cyrus Monk | Australia | DNF |
| | Fernando Finkler | Brazil | DNF |
| | Musa Mikayilzade | Azerbaijan | DNF |
| | Kevin Rivera | Costa Rica | DNF |
| | Eugenio Mirafuentes | Mexico | DNF |
| | Didier Munyaneza | Rwanda | DNF |
| | Piotr Pękala | Poland | DNF |
| | Omer Goldstein | Israel | DNF |
| | Callum Scotson | Australia | DNF |
| | Orluis Aular | Venezuela | DNF |
| | Edward Walsh | Canada | DNF |
| | Darragh O'Mahony | Ireland | DNF |
| | Szymon Tracz | Poland | DNF |
| | Kenny Molly | Belgium | DNF |
| | José Autran | Chile | DNF |
| | Jefferson Alveiro Cepeda | Ecuador | DNF |
| | Alexandros Agrotis | Cyprus | DNF |
| | Jonny Brown | United States | DNF |
| | Izidor Penko | Slovenia | DNF |
| | Paul Daumont | Burkina Faso | DNF |
| | Jean Paul René Ukiniwabo | Rwanda | DNF |
| | Timur Maleev | Ukraine | DNF |
| | Choy Hiu Fung | Hong Kong | DNF |
| | Ayumu Watanabe | Japan | DNF |
| | Leonel Quintero | Venezuela | DNF |
| | Michael O'Loughlin | Ireland | DNF |
| | Andrej Petrovski | North Macedonia | DNF |
| | Cyril Barthe | France | DNF |
| | Emil Dima | Romania | DNF |
| | Denis Vulcan | Romania | DNF |
| | Mateo Bratić | Croatia | DNF |
| | Erik Sandersson | Sweden | DNF |
| | Karim Shiraliyev | Azerbaijan | DNF |
| | Vincent Lau | Hong Kong | DNF |
| | Tyler Cole | Trinidad and Tobago | DNF |
| | Žiga Jerman | Slovenia | DNF |
| | Samuel Mugisha | Rwanda | DNF |
| | Ahmed Galdoune | Morocco | DNF |
| | Othman Harakat | Morocco | DNF |
| | Luke Mudgway | New Zealand | DNF |
| | Ignacio Espinoza | Chile | DNF |