22-year-old Norweigian rider Sven Erik Bystrom showed why Katusha made the move to sign him for he next two years when he soloed to win today’s World U23 Road Race.

Having launched his attack on the final ascent of the Mirador, Bystrom showed great descending skills to hold off the field and even had time to celebrate his biggest win.

“It was unbelievable, I felt good today and I took it easy in the beginning to save my legs for the final. I did the right move at the right time,” Bystrom said afterwards.

“I saw what the Australians were doing, so I chose to wait for the last lap,” Bystrom said.

“I put all my power into the last climb, I went full gas and nobody could follow me. I went super fast on the downhill, felt good all day, and I just needed to keep going in the end.”

His win caps off a great last few days for Norway, who were awarded the 2017 World Championships yesterday. With friend and future teammate Alexander Kristoff a good candidate for a win on Sunday in the elite men’s race, Bystrom acknowledged that Norwegian cycling is in a good place.

“I think it’s really good right now, we have really good pros," Edvald Boasson Hagen, silver in 2012, Alexander Kristoff and Lars Petter Norhaug are racing for Norway this Sunday “and hopefully we can get another medal," said Bystrom.

He would love to see Kristoff win and acknowledges that the pro race could turn out differently to how his race went today:

“It’s very different, 100 kilometres longer. The course is hard, but not so hard.”

“Maybe a sprinter who can climb a bit can take the win," he added. This will have delighted Kristoff no end.