At the start of the season ten riders were picked to follow for the year. Here’s a look how they got on.
Isaac Del Toro was a default pick as the Tour de l’Avenir winner. He bossed it, taking all the jerseys including the best young rider. The point of the pick was to introduce a Mexican rider who had competed at the top level in mountain biking and shown well in pro-level time trial races too: the complete package. And he delivered.
He won Stage 2 of the Tour Down Under (pictured) and won it well, matching the best riders on the final climb, handling the descent well and then surging clear in the finish. Fourth in the Volta ao Algarve TT (ahead of Ganna among others), he had more wins in the year and looked solid. Plus he finished the Vuelta, a lot for a 20 year old neo-pro. His rise is also a way to look at the congestion at UAE because with Tadej Pogačar keen to win two grand tours a year and race in between as well who gets the other leadership opportunities, especially with Del Toro on the up. Expect more success in 2025 from Del Toro while the likes of João Almeida watch on.
Once upon a time you’d look at neo-pros to see if they could land a top-10 or even a top-20 in a major race as sign they had something special. For António Morgado, fifth place in the Ronde van Vlaanderen is one of these promising clues but he also placed second in the tough Le Samyn in a photo finish with Laurenz Rex and won the Giro della Romagna, just the kind of hilly race within his reach. So he had an excellent season and established himself as essential to UAE’s cobbled classics squad.
Visma-LAB have their development pipeline and Norwegian pair Per Strand Hagenes and Johannes Staune-Mittet gushed out together. PSH had a busy spring but crashes for Wout van Aert and other leaders didn’t mean he suddenly had leadership, he was there to help his colleagues. It was later in the season that he was able to race for himself and got some top-10s including third in the Renewi Tour and fifth in Québec, joining the brief list of riders who have managed to finish ahead of Tadej Pogačar this season. With all this came a contract extension.
JSM by contrast has seen his contract broken to allow him to move to Decathlon-Ag2r for next year, an unusual move but another example of how contracts are flexible these days and congestion on the top teams too. With the Norwegian conscious that if he wants to lead the team in a stage race when Jonas Vingegaard isn’t present, then the likes of Matteo Jorgenson, Simon Yates or Sepp Kuss will probably get a say first. Still a work-in-progress, even 2025 might be too early to tell whether Visma or Decathlon win from the trade.
With teams creating their own development squads this creates a vertical system where riders move up from junior and U23 teams into the pro squad, rather than the old system of teams recruiting left and right. EF took on seven neo-pros and this was remarkable (although not all from the development team) and Archie Ryan was the pick. The first question was whether he was over the knee injury that plagued his time in the U23s and yes, he had a full season including some podium places and top-10s in World Tour races too, a good start. With hindsight Lucas Nerukar should have been the choice, he’s been a revelation this season and we’ll see if he can convert presence in the finish of a race into wins.
Andrew August was picked but partly to show that he was the only junior from the Worlds TT joining the pro ranks, making the point that not every top junior turns pro. Indeed it’s probably a good thing as being 18 and racing the World Tour is a big jump. Which is why Ineos now join most of their peers in launching a development team for 2025 rather than using up precious World Tour spots, especially as the rules allow “devo” riders to ride with their WorldTeam for a day, but not in World Tour events. August made a name for himself in April by starting Paris-Roubaix and making it to the finish, outside the time cut.
William Junior Lecerf had a flying start to the season with second place in the Saudi Tour, (behind Simon Yates who had made the event a key target because his team is sponsored by the country). WJL later rode the Vuelta, including a fourth place on a stage, all a solid year for a 21 year-old at Soudal-Quick Step and we should see more from him next season where he’ll also double as a useful helper for Evenepoel, a role already begun this year.
Luke Lamperti started out with third place in his first race of the year. Only team mate and fellow neo-pro Paul Magnier won that day and this symbolised the season for the pair with Magnier winning more and arguably already the team’s second house sprinter after Tim Merlier. This was partly achieved because in pre-season training Magnier was regularly beating Merlier and so was quickly given leadership, a testimony to the flat hierarchy at Soudal-Quickstep. Lamperti though had a solid year with placings and completing the Giro but we’ll see if he can keep aiming for sprint wins or if he slots into lead-out duties but given the team he’ll get plenty of opportunities.
Alexy Faure Prost had a tough start to his pro career but at least he knows why now. Despite tenth place in the Tour of Oman he started to feel lacklustre and the diagnosis of low testosterone levels was made in early summer but he didn’t seem to recover for the rest of the season. Again watch to see if he can give Intermarché-Wanty visibility hilly races, Oman is an obvious early target for him.
Emil Herzog was a former junior ski champ before becoming world champ in the junior worlds on the road. Since then no big results this year but the E3, Flanders and Roubaix were done and in the E3 he was up the road most of the day in the breakaway. He should be core to Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe’s classics team but probably in the service of Laurence Pithie and Oier Lazkano for now.
- Looking at more names Joseph Blackmore (IPT) and Igor Arrieta (UAE) caught the eye as neo-pros who thrived. Likewise Frank van den Broek (DSM Firmenich-PostNL) where earning a spot at the Tour de France is impressive, let alone finishing second while helping your leader to win yellow. If readers want to make more suggestions, please do…
It’s a sign of the times that so many of these riders had fantastic seasons in 2024. I’m very curious to see how AJ August develops, as he had a more traditional neo-pro season with some good performances and some DNFs. I don’t think anyone would choose Ineos’ 2024 team as the perfect incubator of talent, but August had a good Czech tour and some other decent results here and there. I’m also curious about new teammate Artem Shmidt, who showed himself well in the latter part of the season. Yes, in case you couldn’t tell, I am American, and no, I didn’t vote for you-know-who.
It’s indeed a sign of the times that several among inrng’s riders to watch had a “ahemm” season, whereas most of the neo-pros had a great one! Easier to pick a neo-pro these days. Now, it’s to be seen where they’ll sit in a couple of years time.
Del Toro looked both strong and at ease, ahead of his years. And I think a UAE rider can make your list for the next year too.
Yes, congestion just rises and rises next year. Jan Christen is on the up and in comes Pablo Torres… who could well make the list, yes.
Some great picks here. Loved the emergence of Blackmore, another MTB rider coming good on the road. And Frank van den Broek supporting Bardet was magical – was great across the whole season, too.
I’d like to know a bit more about the Ineos devo team. They’ve taken over/partnered with a German conti squad, a bit like Jayco and the Axel Merckx team? And will August and other youngsters move to it, freeing up spots on the main team?
Not read otherwise but pretty sure the Ineos riders will stay at Ineos for now, they won’t want to be downgraded. Plus they’re probably being very well paid, you can’t break the contract. Not long ago a neo-pro would sign for the minimum wage and be grateful, maybe since Taylor Phinney joined BMC with the decimal place moved on the salary, attracting neos has become more expensive and rightly so as teams compete for talent. I can’t see Ineos placing probable six-figure salary riders into what looks and feels like a still German Conti team rather than the Ineos structure; but if a rider wants more time and even more chances to race and can see a long term deal with it, why not?
Thanks. That speaks a bit to what I was thinking of – the nature of the relationship between the teams. Would the new outfit receive increased budget and other resource to support riders. Why this route, rather than starting an in-house outfit. Probably cheaper… seems always to be a big Ineos motivator!
Blackmore had done very little road racing, and was on GB’s Olympic/ Off-road programme, racing both XCO & Cyclocross; he decided to skip racing ‘Cross last winter to get in more heavy road miles, after a coach encouraged him to give road a go. He won the National Gravel title in 2023, beating some well known British road riders, including some from Ineos.
His results were astonishing, and can only get better; he still managed to win the European U23 XCC title, but I think MTB racing is behind him now; he never threatened the top U23 MTB riders, and his future is on the road.
I don’t know if he’s considered as a neo-pro for this year of the next (he was stagiaire with Q36.5), but the biggest surprise of the year for me was Jelte Krijnsen. I don’t know his history, but it’s pretty rare these days to see a not-so-young cyclist confirming so impressively his first win, which could have looked like a peloton error just reading the result of the Denmark stage. I wonder what he’ll do next year as a WT neo-pro.
Jegat or Gachignard did some pretty solid first year out of French contis, but it’s not so much a surprise, they were very good the year before.
More exotically, Silva, the Urugayan rider of Caja Rural, did some interesting results too.
For all the talent scouting some riders can find a way through. Particularly if they’re not looking for the next Pogačar but instead want a diesel-style rider who can pull all day. Interestingly Krijnsen goes to Jayco who have also signed another late comer in Elmar Reinders, Paul Double too, it seems to be something they’re looking out for. While Dutch riders make up a big share of these older riders, think Bart Lemmen too.
Gachignard almost made my list of riders who did well. He popped up to finish third in the French champs and was strong at other times.
Elmar Reinders made me do a double-take as he raced Assen Jeugdtour at the same time as many riders who’ve now retired or gone a bit twilight. Is he the oldest-ever neopro of modern times ?
Jim Radcliffe and Ineos have little profile in Germany so is that what this team sponsorship is about? If he’s reading this, the UK road racing scene would really welcome your cash.
– especially given the controversial past of then-Sky procycling and its er, relationship with British Cycling. ( bit controversial, but a Deloitte report and subsequent ‘organisational changes’ bear this out)
Reinders doesn’t technically count as a neo-pro as he’s bounced around Pro Conti teams like Roompot. But it shows if you can ride all day like Tim Declerq there’s a role, like the way UAE have recruited Julius Johansen. It’s harder to measure which riders can do this job aged 17 or 19.
Maybe Bart Lemmen as the oldest rider to turn pro of late? But neo-pro is a UCI term and technically it’s under 25. Roglič turned pro aged 26, Vuelta + Giro KOM Geoffroy Bouchard too.
It’s very odd that Trinity was there for the taking and Ineos have instead invested in a German Conti team. Just one more thing that demonstrates that Ineos really are corporate and unsentimental. Sky, with their “we are British” ethos would certainly have partnered with Trinity.
Trinity are owned by Andrew McQuaid, who is the manager of Tom Pidcock………I’d guess they didn’t want to bale out/take over a team owned by somebody who has caused them ‘issues’.
They now seem to be a quasi development Specialized Factory team.
An interesting aspect is that while young athletes are performing great and being competitive at the highest level, apparently (and, to a certain point, logically) the 2nd-year ones (which some years ago was still included in the UCI definition of a neo-pro) looks often even more impressive… the obvious Lenny Martinez and Jan Christen but also Lipowitz, Onley, Grégoire, Pithie, Thibau Nys, Castrillo etc. Tarling is perhaps the most surprising exception, less so when one considers the situation at Ineos this season.
Also interesting that nearly everybody among the actual neo-pros cited above, i.e. 1st yr ones, already had had the option to compete against the very top pros in a competitive peloton even before turning pros, which shows why some races of an “intermediate” level can be so important, be them Gran Camiño, Tour of Luxembourg, Coppi & Bartali, Limburg, Tour de l’Ain or Wallonie etc. etc.
The most obvious exceptions being precisely Del Toro and Blackmore, I think.
Just wondering if the INEOS-LKH tie up will allow the LKH riders to guest for INEOS…does the nature of the partnership meet the relevant requirements? As mentioned, Jayco-Alula have a partnership with Hagens-Berman, but I don’t think the H-B riders can guest for J-A (couldn’t spot evidence of it on PSS [other than as stagieres after 1st Sept, which is different]).
If not, it sort of doesn’t seem like they’d be getting the full benefit of having a dev team.
Martin Svrcek comes in mind, who struggled with injuries but managed in the last 2 years to prepare himself perfectly for the worldchamp races and animate them