Junior and U23 thread (Spoilers)

[Archie from BR]

The Vuelta Cantabria, a junior mens race starts today in Spain.
Suprisingley there is no Benjamin Noval on the startlist for MMR Acadamy, he must be training hard somewhere for the Worlds

 

[Pross]

The Vuelta Cantabria, a junior mens race starts today in Spain.
Suprisingley there is no Benjamin Noval on the startlist for MMR Acadamy, he must be training hard somewhere for the Worlds

He should be racing as much as possible now before NCI ruin his career.

 

[DeadCalm]

3 out of the 4 are first year juniors, too. Decathlon also with a 4 man team and lost 7 secs.

Finlay Storrie in yellow.

Looking at the revised startlist, I'd imagine Vic de Smet will be favourite with Maj Bohak and Milo De La Mare worth keeping an eye on.

De Smet takes stage 2 and moves into the lead of the race. Gaps are very small, though. Storrie is 5th at 3 seconds.

 

[Archie from BR]

He should be racing as much as possible now before NCI ruin his career.

Yes, it will be a different world for him when he dosen't have Samu as the big boss man.

 

[Archie from BR]

Stan Vemaillen won stg 1 at Cantabria and no I have never heard of him, he is however the Belgium MJ Gravel champion

 

[Archie from BR]

A good day for 2 British youngsters.
Cantabria stg 2 was won by Dexter Townsend for Harrogate Nova RT.
While at GP Ruebliland stg 3 saw Finlay Storrie get his second stg win of the race and move up to 2nd in GC 3secs behind De Smet

 

[DeadCalm]

A good day for 2 British youngsters.
Cantabria stg 2 was won by Dexter Townsend for Harrogate Nova RT.
While at GP Ruebliland stg 3 saw Finlay Storrie get his second stg win of the race and move up to 2nd in GC 3secs behind De Smet

Young Finlay is exceeding my hopes! Riding for JEGG SKIL DJR, he's on a path that should eventually take him to the Visma WT team if he continues to impress.

Dexter Townsend, who rides for Harrogate Nova RT and is in his final year as a junior, has no such clear path. He's won a couple of the lesser junior stage races and has shown himself to be a decent rider. Hopefully, that'll be enough for him to get a place in one of the trade team development squads.

 

[DeadCalm]

Tijs Witte of the Netherlands won the final stage. Diego Lopez, de Smet's teammate, took the overall victory. Soudal QS had 3 of the top 4 in the final GC with Lopez in first, Victor Devos in second and de Smet in fourth.

Mark Ketteringham of CAMS Majaco seems to be becoming a mountains jersey specialist, adding the KOM jersey here to the jersey he picked up at Aubel-Thimister-Stavelot. With CAMS Majaco's link to Netcompany Ineos, he will be hoping he's done enough to earn himself a spot on their devo team.

 

[DeadCalm]

It's been a busy week in the U23s.

Netcompany's Cameron Rogers (nephew of Michael) took a stage in the Giro della Regione Friuli Venezia Giulia.

The Sauerlandrundfahrt was won by Paul Fietzke of the Red Bull Rookies team. My favourite Viking, Noah Møller Andersen (also Red Bull Rookies), finally seems to be coming into some form after his injury, taking second on the final stage and 11th overall.

And talking of Vikings, Mads Landbo of Team ColoQuick won the first stage (a TT) and the GC of the Flanders Tomorrow Tour. Landbo, who has a decent TT and sprint, is rumoured to be about to go pro with Movistar.

 

[No Ta Doctor]

And talking of Vikings, Mads Landbo of Team ColoQuick won the first stage (a TT) and the GC of the Flanders Tomorrow Tour. Landbo, who has a decent TT and sprint, is rumoured to be about to go pro with Movistar.

In a country that always takes TT pretty seriously, he's double u23 champ and was 5th in the elite this year. But 2nd in Eschborn-Frankfurt U23 suggests he's not completely allergic to gradients either. Oh and GP Herning might only be a flat 1.2 but 23 gravel sections make a win there more of a strong-man classic result than a sprint - they always come in in small groups. Hope he gets a pro gig, he's got the engine for it I think

 

[Archie from BR]

Soen La Pann has had to finish his season early for knee surgery after his crash last week and so no World Champioships this year for the young French talent.
It's a shame as he would have had a fair chance in Montreal.

 

[DeadCalm]

In a country that always takes TT pretty seriously, he's double u23 champ and was 5th in the elite this year. But 2nd in Eschborn-Frankfurt U23 suggests he's not completely allergic to gradients either. Oh and GP Herning might only be a flat 1.2 but 23 gravel sections make a win there more of a strong-man classic result than a sprint - they always come in in small groups. Hope he gets a pro gig, he's got the engine for it I think

If we were to do lazy Danish comparisons, I'd see him as 1/3 Mads, 2/3 Mikkel Bjerg in his characteristics. Not to say he'll be as good as either, but there is definite promise there.

 

[Archie from BR]

The Giro Della Lunigiana gets underway tomorrow with Seff Van Kerckhove and Vic De Smet riding for Belgium and Karl Herzog riding for Germany.
No I couldn't go thorough the starlist looking for other fancied riders, although the Belgium team is standout strongest.

Let's keep this in the junior thread but Lorenzo Finn turns out at Giro Della Toscana with the big boys tomorrow, that's my afternoon viewing sorted, should be better than a sprint stage in Spain.

 

[Archie from BR]

Stg 1 of Lunigiana was cancelled today due to rain and flooding.

 

[DeadCalm]

Stg 1 of Lunigiana was cancelled today due to rain and flooding.

S2 was also cancelled. My man Seff Van Kerkhove won S3b and moves into the leader's jersey with a 2 second lead over Austria's Michael Hettegger. SVK's Belgian teammate, Vic de Smet, is in third.