Matej Mohoric became the first rider to win both the junior and U23 world championships road races when he added the U23 title to the junior championship he took last year. While most pundits didn't point to the Slovenian as one of the pre-race favourites, the 18-year old had a different view on his role.

While most pre-race discussions of race favourites focused on riders like Simon Yates, Jasper Stuyven and Julien Alaphilippe, very few mentioned reigning junior world champion Matej Mohoric as a potential winner. In just his first year at the U23 level, it appeared to be an insurmountable task for the 18-year-old Slovenian to add another rainbow jersey to his tally.

However, Mohoric emerged as a great championships rider when he not only became the first rider to win both the junior and U23 titles. He even did it in successive years when he triumphed in solo fashion in today's U23 race in Florence.

While the win was a surprise to many, Mohoric himself had a different take on the situation. Asked whether he regarded himself as a favourite, he revealed his secret.

"Deep inside, yes, " he told a few media, including CyclingQuotes. "I didn't want to say it out loud because I knew that there is a big difference between the juniors and the U23s. I knew that the races are hard, at least one hour longer. There are more climbs and they are more difficult. I didn't know if I was well-prepared enough to finish among the best. But during the race I saw that I had great legs. I tried and I did it."

Mohoric attacked on the penultimate passage of the steep Via Salvati climb and quickly bridged across to lone leader and pre-race favourite Alaphilippe. The duo combined forces to keep the peloton at bay and Alaphilippe appeared to have found a perfect ally in his quest to add the title to his palmares before joining the pro ranks.

Mohoric defied expectations when he left the French favourite behind during the final ascent of the Fiesole climb. It not only came as a surprise to the spectators, Mohoric had't expected it either.

"The biggest surprise of today was definitely that Alaphilippe wasn't able to stay with me on the climb," he said. "In the Tour de l'Avenir one month ago, we were also together in a breakaway. It was 10k to the finish. I'm lighter than him, I should be better. I knew that I could win but he left me behind."

"Today when I saw that I was with Alaphilippe again and he didn't want to take turns, I thought he was bluffing a bit. But then I looked back on the climb and I thought I'll do it as hard as I could. I once again looked back and then he wasn't there anymore."

Louis Meintjes (South Africa) bridged across on the climb but the Slovenian showed another aspect of his versatile talent when he dropped his companion on the descent from Fiesole. Once again he did so in a surprising fashion with a rarely seen descending technique.

He explained how he had developed his unique style where he stays low on the bars while he keeps pedaling.

"I live near the the middle of a climb," he said. "Each day I have to go uphill when I come home from training and every morning I have to descend. When we were younger, we were 5 guys from the village who did cycling. We always raced downhill. I was not the fastest. There were two guys that were faster than me. I tried different techniques to get faster."

"I rarely meet guys that can catch me on the descents. There are a few guys like Alaphilippe - I can't imagine how he goes - and Silvio Herklotz who is also good but I am among the fastest and I am proud of it."

"Not a lot of guys can do it," he explained. "You have to be really flexible. You keep pedaling when you are sitting on the bars. It is fast because you are low but still pedaling. You can't put out 400W like you can when you are in the saddle but you can do 200W. It is so aerodynamic that you can go much faster."

Last year Mohoric won on a less selective course in Limburg when he escaped on the final ascent of Cauberg and barely held of the peloton. This year he excelled on a tougher course with more climbing. The result came as a consequence of a dedicated effort.

" I was a bit different rider last year," he said. "I has 2-3kg more. I was a bit stronger and a bit slower on the climbs. This year I decided to lose a bit of weight because there are more climbs on this level. I said "Let's try to see if I can be one of the best climbers." I did it. I was even 2kg lighter in the Tour de l'Avenir. I am 1.86m and weighed 62kg. Now it's 64kg. Next year 65kg will do it."

Every year the U23 race is some kind of a dress rehearsal for the elite men's race on Sunday. This year the race was even more anticipated due to the uncertainty over the course. People have been wondering whether it's one for pure climbers or classics riders and the riders themselves have had plenty of disagreements.

Mohoric wasn't impressed by the toughness of the circuit.

"I think it is not very tough," he said. "Riders make the course hard. A climb can be hard but if the riders go slow, it's not tough. We did so today. It was not full power all the time. It will be the same for the pros. Riders like Fabian Cancellara and Peter Sagan can do it. You saw it today. There were maybe 30 riders in the peloton at the finish."

Having signed a contract with Cannondale, Mohoric will only spend one year as a U23 rider. Having shown great promise as a climber and rider for the one-day races, he appears to have plenty of options.

For now, he hopes to excel in multi-day events.

"For now I want to target one-week races because I am still young," he said. "We will see what happens in the future."