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Lutsenko takes U23 title

Image: Lutsenko celebrates his sprint success

Kazakhstan's Alexey Lutsenko has been crowned the Under-23 World Road Race Champion after sprinting to victory in Limburg.

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Kasakh rider takes rainbow jersey in Limburg

Kazakhstan's Alexey Lutsenko has been crowned the Under-23 World Road Race Champion after sprinting to victory in Limburg. The 20-year-old - who plies his trade with Astana's reserve team - was among 52 riders who survived the split on the final ascent of the Cauberg, and then kicked down the left-hand side of the closing straight to seal his victory by half a bike length. Frenchman Bryan Coquard had to settle for second on the day, with Belgium's Tom van Asbroeck a close third. The action had been hotly-contested from the off with Tomohiro Kinoshita (Japan), Michael Freiberg (Australia) and Jesper Dahlström (Sweden) breaking away early and building an eight-minute advantage as they pressed along the 177km route. Once the chase was on however, that lead dropped sharply and many other riders also tried to shed themselves of the bunch. Australia's Georg Preidler and Latvian Tom Skujins were both prominent in the closing stages, but the Kazakhstan team reeled them back in before setting Lutsenko up for the biggest victory of his fledgling career. Great Britain's Joshua Edmondson was also in that front group, crossing the line in 50th position, with Scott Thwaites 31 seconds back in 97th and Simon Yates 108th.

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