When Hudson, who had won the junior edition of Liège-Bastogne-Liège this year, attacked, the peloton initially saw no acute threat. The majority of the counter attacks were cancelled out time and again due to disagreement. Karl Herzog, the fourth German on the team alongside Mauss, Benz and Zeno Levi Winter, was also repeatedly on the offensive during this phase. And the one who, on paper, was considered to have the greatest German medal hopes based on his previous performances this season.

While Mauss and Benz finished 24 seconds behind Hudson with the first chasers of the podium places, the brother of Emil Herzog, 2022 Junior World Champion, ultimately finished 16th, 54 seconds behind. However, Herzog is one of the younger age groups and is only 16 years old. He was the fourth youngest starter in the field. "It was a very tough race. I went on too many attacks in the final, didn't play enough poker and was then left behind on the last climb. It's a shame that we couldn't get any riders to the front, but it's difficult to help others when you're at the limit yourself," said Herzog after his race.

World champion Hudson, on the other hand, had to search for words. "I have to process this first. I don't even know what's happening here yet. When I attacked, I saw that the others were preoccupied with themselves. Before that, it was pretty tough on the climb, so I went off," he said, describing the decisive situation in the race. I then rode my pace and one lap before the finish I thought I was going to be caught. My pursuers were close, but I stayed in front. I really suffered on the final climb. I think there was a Frenchman behind me. But I was able to stay in front. It's amazing that I won the first World Championships in Africa."

World Championship 2025 - Road race juniors results

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This is how the 2025 World Junior Road Race went

With eight laps and 119.3 kilometres, the 142 juniors who started the race rode the same package as the U23 women the day before. The only difference was that the juniors went on the offensive. Austria's Heimo Fugger and Switzerland's Loic Schertenleib set a fast pace on the first two laps. Both pulled away. Beckham Drake (USA) joined them on the third lap. Bulgarian Nicholas Van der Merwe also pushed forward.

With a relatively small gap, the line-up at the front changed from time to time, and Winter was also in the mix at times. With four laps to go, only Drake and Van der Merwe remained. But 36 kilometres before the end, it was the end for both of them. At the same moment, Britain's Harry Hudson went on a solo ride.

The pursuers were then divided. They attacked again and again, Herzog was also very active, but also found no support. At some point, Roberto Capello (Italy) and Javier Cubillas (Spain) were able to break away. When the final lap began, they were 34 seconds behind the British rider. Shortly afterwards, a larger group followed, which also included Herzog, Mauss and Benz.

Disagreement among chasers helps Hudson to the title

With 6.5 kilometres to go, the chasing duo was caught. Hudson still had a 15-second lead. However, it was again disagreement that prevented the Briton from being brought back. Cubillas tried again, his Benjamin Noval and Blanc joined him. Noval crashed shortly afterwards after a bend and Cubillas ran out of energy. Going into the final Cote de Kimihurura, Blanc was ten seconds behind the leader and there was no sign of any more chasers.

Almost out of nowhere, however, Jackowiak joined Blanc, who was visibly running out of steam. Nothing more could be done at the front, Hudson rode towards his title. His two pursuers sprinted for silver - with the Frenchman coming out on top. Two more Brits, Max Hinds and Matthew Peace, finished fourth and fifth among the chasers. Mauss and Benz finished ninth and tenth, two top 10 results for Germany.