In my first article, I’ll write about some of my favourite juniors. I’ve tried to break it down into teams first of all, and then after that I’m writing about some individual riders. This is just a short introduction to some of the main trade teams, as well as some of the other guys, before the racing gets further underway this season. I hope you enjoy.
AG2R Citroen U19
2004: Max Cushway, Estevan Delaunay, Noa Isidore, Leandre Lozouet, Niels Michotte, Maxence Place, Abel Rosado
2005: Ilian Barhoumi, Antoine Bariere, Matheo Baruseau, Alexandre Binggeli, Leo Bisiaux, Arthur Blaise, Artem Fofonov, Matys Grisel, Matteo Viardot
Looking at the French squad’s class of 2004, Maxence Place is definitely on of the top climbers at this level, and I’m expecting a really good year from him. Abel Rosado and Noa Isidore also had good seasons last year, and Isidore was already in the top ten at Kuurne this year. Meanwhile, in the Classics, Michotte and Lozouet were first and third in a truly special day for the team at Paris-Roubaix. Both seem very powerful and built for these kind of races. The 2004 guys are really strong.
The 2005 team is stacked with talented guys too, who will get results this year before becoming the leaders next season. Artem Fofonov is a highly touted climber who has performed well in his opening UCI races, and Leo Bisiaux was even better than Fofonov at the Gipuzkoa Klasika stage race, where some of the best Juniors contested the win. Matys Grysel has been 16th at Gent-Wevelgem, 11th at Tour de Pevele and and 10th at Paris-Roubaix, making him a huge Classics favourite already for next year. He’s not raced often yet, but I hear a lot of good things about Ilian Barhoumi too.
Auto Eder (Germany)
2004: Matteo Gross, Emil Herzog, Mathieu Kockelmann, Romet Pajur
2005: Martin Barta, Max Bock, Duarte Marivoet, Mees Vloet
Bora-hansrohe’s junior team is stacked with amazing talents. Everyone should know Emil Herzog by now, with the German phenom probably being one of the best candidates to graduate from the juniors and go pro immediately. He has four wins already this year and recently took an impressive fifth at Roubaix, showcasing his all-round talent. I’m also a huge fan of Kockelmann, who is Luxembourg champion on the road. He was 6th at both the hilly GP Primavera and Gent-Wevelgem, showing a lot of all-round ability, which should help him a lot as he gets older. Pajur is another fantastic talent, a pure Classics man, who was 2nd in Roubaix and 11th at the Worlds last season. The Estonian also got the win in the last Course de la Paix stage, which was really impressive. The first years are of course doing a lot of work for their older leaders, but they’ve all shown promise already this season, which is really exciting for Auto Eder for life after the 2004 class.
Cannibal Team (Belgium)
2004: Rokas Adomaitis, Hugo Druart, Mihnea-Alexandru Harasim, Kobe Heremans, Klemen Jancic, Antoni Kida, Frederik Lykke, Carson Mattern, Tobias Nakken, Tomas-Casimir Niemi, Tiago Nunes, Frank Aron Ragilo, Casper Ronning, Artem Schmit, Lauri Tamm, Vlad Van Mechelen, Toms Ustups, Simon Vanicek, Jamie Whitcher
2005: Oscar Chamberlain, Chepe Flussi, Markus Maeuibo, Casper Rode, Casey Schats
A large international team, with cool jerseys, this is one of my favourite teams. Mostly made up of older riders, the team has two absolute stars: Vlad and Artem. Both could easily go to the WorldTour next year, although Vlad is sponsored by FDJ Conti, so all roads seem to lead there at the moment. Both are terrific racers and close friends, which you see when they race together, always very in sync. They’re very versatile and can do well in all terrains. Estonian Frank Aron Ragilo had a really good season in 2021, and started this year with a Guido Reybrouck 3rd place and 11th at Roubaix. I like him a lot too. Young Aussie Oscar Chamberlain is also one to watch after sealing the Oceania RR title, won in the past by Finn Fisher-Black, James Fouche and Lucas Hamilton.
Team NPV-Carl Ras Roskilde (Denmark)
2004: Kristian Egholm, Henrik Pedersen, Malthe Sand Thomsen, Theodor Storm, Tobias Svarre, Nicolai Wandahl,
2005: Patrick Frydkjaer, Daniel Weis, Noah Wulff
The 2004s on this team are amazing. Egholm, younger brother of Trek-Segafredo’s Jakob, was 4th in Roubaix. Tobias Svarre was second at Gent-Wevelgem, while Pedersen just wrapped up the win in Omloop Van Borsele. Theo Storm also has a lot of potential, so this is really a team to follow closely this season and beyond. Young Frydkjaer also just took 5th overall in the Tour of South Limburg, so keep an eye on him moving into next year.
Dario Belletta (Italy, 2004)
Belletta was a serial winner in Italy last year, winning eleven times and already once this year. He does need to step up a level in the big junior races, but that shouldn’t be an issue for the fast finisher I don’t think. He should be very good again in 2022.
Josh Tarling (GB, 2004)
Tarling has had some terrible luck so far this year with crashes and injuries, yet he still looked brilliant despite not being healthy at Roubaix, where he really animated the race. He was second in the U23 Worlds ITT last season, and I think he could be a rider for the pros next year really.
Antonio Morgado (Portugal, 2004)
A winning machine in Spain and Portugal last year, Morgado was also 6th at the Worlds RR. Maybe not yet great in a TT, but super explosive and a good climber, he’s a really talented. Second behind Huising in the Basque Country, he’s the next big Portuguese talent and could be WorldTour bound next year.
Menno Huising (Netherlands, 2004)
Huising is off to a dominant start this year, winning Bernaudeau Juniors, Tour de la Pevele and a stage and the GC a the Gipuzkoa Klasika. Seemingly good on short climbs and classics, he’s a real rider to watch in one-day races.
Viktor Hannes (Netherlands, 2004)
A teammate of Sentjens at Acrog-Tormans, Hannes was 4th at the Gipuzkoa Klasika, whilst doing good work to Sente in the Classics. He’s a rider I like and think he projects to be a good U23.
Thibaud Gruel (France, 2004)
Perhaps not spectacular, but really consistent so far in 2022, with 3rd in Kuurne, 5th in Bernaudeau, 18th in Gent-Wevelgem and 5th overall at Gipuzkoa. A really promising rider to watch for the rest of the year, and France’s best junior not racing for AG2R, and maybe he can even say he is better than the AG2R men.
Goncalo Tavares (Portugal, 2004)
Morgado’s running mate, he maybe doesn’t get the same hype, but he’s still really strong. He was 6th overall at Gipuzkoa and had a good Worlds last year, showing his high level already. He should improve a lot this year too.
Daan van den Berg (Netherlands, 2004)
After an aggressive race netted him 9th at Gipuzkoa and the KOM and Sprint jerseys, this is a rider I’m following closely. He is trade teammates with Huising at Willebrord Wil Vooruit.
Thomas Capra (Italy, 2005)
A young man with a lot to learn about himself, he scored an amazing win at Gent-Wevelgem recently, earmarking himself as one to watch in the next 18 months or so at this level.
Jed Smithson (GB, 2005)
A fast finishing Brit, Smithson has marked himself as a real classics man too after 3rd at Wevelgem, 5th at Guido Reybrouck and 10th at Nokere Koerse.
Sente Sentjens (Belgium, 2005)
Winner of the season’s first big rendezvous at Kuurne, Sentjens has staked his claim to be the first pro from the 2005 class by continuing to be great. He was 13th in Roubaix, before showing he can climb a good bit too with 11th on GC at Gipuzkoa Klasika.
Peloton Parlour 