The UCI has officially decided to introduce an under-23 women's category at the road world championships to be held later this year in Wollongong 2022, Australia. However, a stand-alone U23 women's race will have to wait until the 2025 Rwanda World Championships.

Plans for a U23 women's category to be on par with the men's schedule were first revealed at last year's World Championships in Belgium when Cycling News asked UCI President David Lapartiento about the issue.

This week, the UCI held its latest Management Committee meeting, where the road map for the U23 women's category at the Road World Championships was finalized.

As suggested by La Partiente in September, the first step is to establish U23 women's titles in road races and time trials. In a format already used by several federations for national championships, the winner of the U23 title would simply be the highest finisher under the age of 2023.

Such a plan drew widespread criticism from within the women's peloton, but the UCI decided not to accelerate plans for a separate U23 women's race and confirmed at a committee meeting that it would only happen starting in 2025. [A statement from the UCI said, "As a transitional measure for the UCI Road World Championships in 2022, 2023 and 2024, the women's race will include both elite and under-23 women's categories for technical and logistical reasons and due to commitments already made. [The two titles will be awarded at a medal ceremony, where the UCI World Champion will receive the rainbow jersey and the three podium finishers will receive medals for their respective placings. Beginning with the 2025 edition in Kigali (Rwanda), there will be a separate competition for athletes in the under-23 women's category.

The UCI claimed that the creation of the U23 category was "a further step towards equality" and part of the UCI's policy that "after incremental progress, will lead to the full achievement of this important goal."

The U23 women's category at the World Championships is comparable to the men's program and provides a bridge from juniors, who already have their own category, to elite professionals. Australian rider Sarah Gigante said the current system is "completely unfair."

However, the new "transition" plan is unlikely to satisfy many, with 21-year-old Niamh Fisher-Black questioning the logic of the "race within a race" format.

"If you're going to give the u23s a title, give them their own race. It's a whole different dynamic," the New Zealander wrote on social media.

"The point of this sport is not to finish somewhere in the pack and get rewarded, but to cross the line first. That's not why I race. Come back when you can race properly."

The UCI already organizes U23 women's categories in other disciplines such as cyclocross, and the European Federation has an independent category in the European Road Championships.

In a press release on Saturday, the UCI referred to "technical and logistical reasons" and reiterated comments made by La Partiente in September.

"It's great to welcome the World Championships, but if you're the mayor of the host city and you say, 'We're going to close the city for eight or nine days and add another day' - because this is what happens - that's something to consider," he said, adding that technical director Peter van den Abel added, "The road world championship program is already quite busy."