Bäckstedt, who will be racing for CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto for the rest of the year, was considered the big favourite despite her young age of 20. She lived up to this role, finishing 1:50 minutes ahead of Chladoňová, who is only 18. Venturelli, also only 20 years old, was 2:11 minutes behind. The best German was Justyna Czapla (21), 2:47 minutes behind the new world champion. Linda Riedmann (22), the second German starter, finished 29th. Eight of the top 10 women are already under contract to a Women's WorldTour team.

The U23 women's time trial course in Kigali had 22.6 kilometres and two climbs in store for the 50 starters; it was a shortened version of the elite women's course. Bäckstedt completed the course in 30:56 minutes, setting an average speed of 43.8 km/h. "The two climbs completely drained our legs, but I have to say that it was a lot of fun to tackle the descent at high speed. I'm curious to see what my top speed was," said the daughter of Swedish ex-professional Magnus Bäckstedt.

"I think I managed the pressure quite well. I was nervous before the start, but I think that's normal for championships. I just went through my normal rituals," said Bäckstedt, who won the world junior time trial title three years ago. She has already announced that she intends to compete in the elite class at the upcoming world championships.

World Championship 2025 - Individual time trial U23 women results

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This is how the U23 women's individual time trial at the 2025 World Championships went

As in the previous races of this World Championships, an athlete from Rwanda kicked off the 47 starters. Claudette Nyirarukundo was the first to roll off the ramp. However, her time of 37:14 minutes barely lasted. Anastasiya Samsonova, who started under a neutral flag, was almost two minutes faster. She was then replaced by Alena Ivanchenko, also running as a neutral athlete. The Russian, who competes for UAE Team ADQ, outlasted Ava Holmgren (Canada), Lore De Schepper (Belgium) and Linda Riedmann, among others.

Only Chladoňová was then able to take over from Ivanchenko and was a good half minute faster. The Slovakian then held her own in the hotseat until the final starter. The highly-rated Paula Blasi (Spain) and Felicity Wilson-Haffenden, junior world champion two years ago, also had to line up behind her. The Australian had been ahead of Chladoňová and on course for silver at the first two split times, but ultimately had to settle for fourth place.

Only Bäckstedt flew past Chladoňová in the end. While the Brit was only 16 seconds ahead of second place at the first intermediate time and then 34 seconds ahead at the second, she was in a class of her own on the final climb.