New kids on the block - the 2024 development team landscape

By 2024, the cycling landscape has taken a radical turn. The role of homegrown talents became more important than ever, and everyone wanted to attract the people, regardless of nationality, who could be seen as potential franchise players in the future. I think there are advantages and disadvantages to this. One advantage is that these youngsters, often 18-19 years old, can experience the World Tour structure on a small scale, following almost the same training plan and diet as the World Tour squad riders, and that may make a possible future transition easier for them. It could also be an advantage that, based on their performance in the first half of the season, these young riders could even go to .Pro races on a stagiaire contract, gaining valuable experience. The downside, which for me personally is a really big negative, is that they will „kill” a large number of various Italian/Spanish/French continental junior and U23 teams with national identities. Of course, those teams that are in a so-called affiliate cooperation (see Bahrain with Friuli; TotalEnergies - Vendee U) with their U23 counterparts can play this clever and in order to avoid the sport being too centralizedit should be done, actually, I prefer this method more than creating your own team, however, obviously, here as everywhere else, money talks. At the same time, as not all teams have an own U23 team/ a partner team, there is still place for improvement in this aspect.

Let's see, then, which riders from the development teams should be watched in 2024 (and beyond).

We begin with AG2R development team, which consists of 10 people, that’s not a big squad. But the riders... I've been saying for years that if the AG2R junior team would be used for future purposes, there would be huge benefits for the next generation of the World Tour team. That being said, I have to say that there has been an AG2R U23 team so far, but almost no one knew anything about them. The outstanding element of the 2024 team is Leo Bisiaux, a multi-talented rider who is blessed with climbing, cyclocross, one-day skills, he could be a huge success story already as a neo-U23 rider. The classics squad is also bolstered by Oscar Chamberlain, runner-up in this year's junior Paris-Roubaix & junior TT world champion; CIC U Nantes Atlantique duo Noa Isidore and Rasmus Sojberg Pedersen, with a year of French Cup experience, and Baptiste Veistroffer, who has already proven himself on the French amateur scene. A very good squad, one of the best in the U23s.

Leo Bisiaux. Photo credits: Getty Images

Alpecin. Very briefly: they are fulfilled with cyclocross talents. Niels Vandeputte was second in the Val di Sole World Cup this year, Emiel Verstrynge won the Namur mudfest World Cup and Joran Wyseure was also a podium finisher in Val di Sole with a third place. However, they have very little road experience, so while these results are quite good, they are not necessarily representative for the road scene. What is very representative, though, and to whom I’m looking forward with great anticipation in the neo-u23 category, is Sente Sentjens. The 18-year-old Belgian is blessed with very good skills, he’s very fast, and can handle cobbles well, won the junior E3 last year, was a podium finisher at Gent-Wevelgem, and (although it’s not a significant aspect) has excellent raw training data. He could be the main saviour and success creator for the Alpecin Devo team.

Sente Sentjens. Photo credits: Cor Vos

Arkea-Samsic. Most amazing new development team squad development. They are the perfect examples of how to go back to your roots while still internationalising your own association. For a complete picture: Giosue Epis is a very good puncheur at U23 level, who can be either fast or a Giulio Ciccone-like hilly goat, depending on the route. Hubert Grygowski is one of the most prominent members of the Polish generation, he’s not yet where he needs to be in terms of results, but Arkea gives him the space to achieve his dreams. Remi Lelandais and Leandre Lozouet have also shown positive signs in their first 1-2 years at U23, Embret Svestad-Bardseng started as a big talent and stalled a bit at Human Powered Health, here he can now put his own career back on the right track. And then, we haven't even mentioned Pierre Thierry, who will definitely be competing at World Tour level from 2025 onwards, and who really is a huge prospect. Very stacked squad, one of the best of the development squads.

Embret Svestad-Bardseng. Photo credits: Tommaso Pelagalli.

Astana. Not the strongest Devo Team overall, but they have a couple of pretty decent prospects. Alessandro Romele stands out among them, the 20-year-old Italian won a stage in the U23 Giro this year and also won the Italian Liberazione U23 race. Savelii Laptev is also of a similar caliber, in his first U23 season he did particularly well in the Slovenian and Croatian .2 races, if he can continue this for another (or maybe 2) seasons, then he too could be World Tour bound soon. Artem Fofonov should also be highlighted - anyone who comes from the AG2R junior team is a good rider, so Astana fans can expect a lot from him.

Alessandro Romele. Photo credits: LaPresse

Cycling Team Friuli. By this year, it became effectively official that Friuli had become an affiliate team of Bahrain - and this is reflected in the fact that the team does not only employ Italian riders. Of the Italians, the 20-year-old duo of Marco Andreaus and Daniel Skerl deserve special mention, Skerl is a picture-perfect sprinter, really one from the Caleb Ewan/Sam Bennett vein, while Andreaus, on the other hand, is fast but has a decent emerging puncheur skill. On the other hand, the international prospects... well, they've been very well scouted by the team. Max van der Meulen has left DSM Devo and given that he was probably the best climber in the 2022 junior class, Bahrain has a prospect they'll need in the longer term. Mika Vijfwinkel won't be bad as a first year U23 rider, he could well be a sprinter, puncheur, punchy sprinter - but the one who could still stand out as a neo-u23 man is Zak Erzen. The Slovenian will be a huge rider with a skillset similar to Matej Mohoric, he could be a beast in the classics soon. I don't know if Friuli will be the right place for him to exploit this, but if Bahrain can lock him down in a long haul, he’s gonna be the real deal for the next decade.

Zak Erzen. Photo credits: Kolesarska Zveza Slovenije

FDJ. They are still not close to the 2022 class, but there are now signs of progress and positives. Thibaud Gruel is the brightest shining star in the team's sky, the sophomore U23 rider made his debut in the FDJ World Tour last year in Arctic Race of Norway, where he was seriously on fire, he will almost certainly be going to World Tour in 2025, this season will clearly be about further development for him. Noah Hobbs is of a similar calibre, with similar ambitions, and the two of them will ride hand in hand to drive this team forward. Those who could further improve this season, are Colin Savioz, who finished third at the Cervinia stage at Tour of Aosta, neo-U23 rider Maxime Decomble, who also rides along the puncheur-climber line, and Titouan Fontaine, who is a TT-puncheur combo rider. This is a good team composition; it just needs to be filled with quality results.

Noah Hobbs. Photo credits: Groupama-FDJ.

Wanty Reuz Technord. This is the name of Intermarche's U23 team, who started an amazingly strong season on this stage last year, with 7 of their riders (Busatto, van Sintmaartensdijk, Faure Prost, Dejaegher, Vandenstorme, Huens, Vermoote) signed to a pro or World Tour team for 2024. Replacing these riders, would be a huge task for anyone, and at first glance it didn't seem to be a success in terms of quantity, but there are still some great youngsters left in terms of quality. Aklilu Arefayne in his second season after the U23 Eschborn bronze medal could consistently be expected to do same things, the Eritrean's 'integration' into Europe will hopefully go smoothly. Huub Artz came from ABLOC and showed strong World Tour potential in the second half of the 2023 season, if he continues to do so repeatedly, he could very easily find himself in the pro level in 2025. After cyclocross, the Kuhn-Kuypers duo could also show good things on the road, with Simone Gualdi moving up to the U23s as junior Italian champion and with a GC second place at Eroica under his belt. Not bad at all :)

Simone Gualdi. Photo credits: Rodella

Lidl-Trek Devo Team. They may be new, but they are already the big boys. They've built a fantastic team. Tim Torn Teutenberg is the main backbone of the team, the 21-year-old German sprinter was full of top 5 results last year and made a fine debut with the stagiaire contract at the end of the season, he is the standout of this team and can make a big result anywhere, anytime. He's joined by Leopard teammate Mats Wenzel, who could even help him as a leadout man. The ones who are the big booms for me, however, are the debutants from junior level. The Dane Patrick Frydkjaer, for example, who had a total of 5 top 15 finishes outside the top 15 in the entire 2023 season! Incredible consistency, obviously translating that to a professional level is gonna be hard, but at the same time, I think Patrick is someone who can do it, his mentality to the whole sport is just outstanding. Louis Leidert is another similarly outstanding prospect for the team, the German rider has also been poised - TT is his biggest strength for now, but his stability could pave the way for him to make a big leap in other areas by 2024. Great team composition, looking forward to the debut season.

Tim Torn Teutenberg. Photo credits: Lidl-Trek

Soudal Devo Team. There was a lot of movement here too, with Gelders, Vangheluwe, Lecerf and Warlop all promoted to the World Tour team, and the management (who have added Dries Devenyns this year) bringing in some quality people to replace them. Of those left from 2023, Jonathan Vervenne remains as a standout rider, he looks a bit like Remi Cavagna with his TT-er/attacker type rides for now, and Andrea Raccagni Noviero, who can be a good shot at a one-day/sprint/cobbled rider, this year will decide which type he will actually be. As for the newcomers, there will be plenty of neo-U23s in the team, two I would highlight are Niels Driesen, who comes to the U23 level as a cobbled/puncheur combination, and Lars Vandenheede, who, like Frydkjaer has been terribly consistent, top 20 in all races but the World Championships, that's 31 races. Brutal, and the fact that he signed with the team for 2 years is an indication that he could be a long-term classics/puncheur project for Soudal.

Jonathan Vervenne. Photo credits: Soudal-Quick Step.

DSM Devo Team. They flew a little under the radar for me this year, and are a long shot for the same role next year, but it's not a bad squad. Finland's Axel Kallberg was the best of the bunch last year, he was a sprinter and a podium finisher at the Finnish Nationals, and I'm expecting a lot from him next year, even with just one year of experience. Vlad van Mechelen is the other one to expect a lot from, the Wollongong podium finisher and one of the best juniors in 2022 didn't start his U23 career badly, but you might expect more from him, wins, outstanding results and maybe to not just be a pure sprinter, because he seems to be going in that direction a bit. As for the newcomers, I expect a lot from Ilian Barhoumi, the Swiss junior champion is a very good climber and gravel specialist, and if he avoids injuries, he could be one of the best U23 climbers, and local Thom van der Werff could be good, he could strengthen the sprinter/puncheur section. They are worth keeping an eye on.

Ilian Barhoumi. Photo credits: Guy Sev

Visma Devo Team. They are still probably the strongest development team, and I don't think they were really affected by the fact that two of their franchise riders, Staune-Mittet and Hagenes, graduated to World Tour. Tijmen Graat remained with the team as number one climber, but with Hofstede's retirement, it's possible that he'll go pro, so the question of who will pull this lineup becomes interesting. Because the Dario Belletta-Menno Huising duo from last year are still here, but interestingly Huising has a contract for next year with the World Tour team, even though Belletta did significantly better in 2023. Hopefully this anomaly will be resolved, as Dario is a criminally underrated rider for many in my opinion. As for the neo-u23s, they are all elite, Matthew Brennan and Tomos Pattinson, along with Jed Smithson, were the 3 brightest stars of the British junior generation in 2023, joined by the huge prospect Jorgen Nordhagen, who is expected to win a lot in his first year... The quantity and quality is very much there, the question is what the Wagner management can make of it in terms of workload/results.

Menno Huising. Photo credits: Bram Berkien

UAE Gen Z Team. Surprisingly, UAE has also started a U23 team, but it seems to me that they are still behind in this development from those who have been doing it for years, and I would go further, they are behind some of the teams who are just starting this project. What you can see is that they want to carry on the Slovenian line, because they have got Gal Glivar as captain, who was on the road to have a World Tour contract in the first half of 2023, but I think it wouldn't hurt him to have another season in U23. He can guide the youngsters from the Emirates as well as the Neo-U23s, including Belgian TT/puncheur Duarte Marivoet, Italian also puncheur/TT star Luca Giaimi, Jonathan Guatibonza, who could beat Miguel Angel Lopez on the Colombian Tour, and Anze Ravbar, who became European Junior Champion this year. All in all, not bad, but somehow lacking the usual UAE quality & quantity, it's going to be an interesting season for them.

Luca Giaimi. Photo credits: Rodella

Pro Conti Devo Teams. I'm really just hopping through the names here who will be very worth keeping an eye on. Lotto-Dstny has had a complete generational change in one period, with the current backbone of the squad mostly consisted of 18-year-olds - but they really have put the best of the best together, and the timeframe is perfect in that when Lotto become a World Tour team again, they will fit in perfectly. What's amazing is that they now have Junior Ronde winner Jarno Widar, Junior Roubaix winner Matys Grisel, and they're joined by Victor Vaneeckhoutte, Gent-Wevelgem winner Steffen de Schuyteneer and Junior Gravel European Champion Tars Poelvoorde. They are awfully strong, it's hard to keep so many youngsters in fire, but hopefully they can do it.

Israel's Premier Tech academy only has 7 members so far, but the preliminary squad is already promising, 21-year-old German Moritz Kretschy finished 6th at the Worlds in Glasgow, 20-year-old Joseph Blackmore was almost top 10 without a team at L'Avenir and top 6 at Rwanda, he is a big talent. Vendee U's lineup, a TotalEnergies affiliate team, also features special talents like Bermudian Kaden Hopkins and Clement Sanchez, who was one of the most stable juniors of all in the second half of the 2023 season. In Tudor's U23 squad, special mention should be made of Lithuanian TT specialist Aivaras Mikutis, Frenchman Mathys Rondel, who finished 6th in the Tour de L'Avenir last year, and Juan David Sierra, who almost single-handedly held his own against the Scandinavian powerhouses in Glasgow. Finally comes Uno-X, which features Simon Dalby, who will be joining to the Pro Tour in 2025, U23 European Champion Henrik Pedersen and current Junior Norwegian Champion Mikal Grimstad Uglehus.

Moritz Kretschy. Photo credits: Mareike Engelbrecht.

I hope I've been able to bring you some very exciting prospects to watch out for this year, let me know in the post who you're most looking forward to seeing :)