Ten neo-pros to introduce and look ahead to 2026. It’s an uncommon 12 months with few riders turning professional however this 12 months’s draft has some huge names.
For all the frenzy to show professional straight as early as doable, Jarno Widar (20, Lotto-Intermarché/Belgium) patiently spent an additional season within the Underneath-23 ranks. He had ends in 2024 that had been adequate to maneuver up however opted for an additional 12 months of growth and saved on profitable to the purpose the place if his Lotto colleagues may management the race and get him to the ultimate climb of the day the consequence was typically a formality for him. However the determination to attend one other 12 months was additionally as a result of he’s so assured, others might need jumped for concern of lacking the boat.
His 2024 season was sturdy however lacking title was the Tour de l’Avenir solely in 2025 he was pipped by Paul Seixas who’d dropped out of the World Tour for every week to seize it with Widar as runner-up. He’s gained the U23 Giro d’Italia Subsequent Gen, the Giro della Valle d’Aosta and the Ronde de l’Isard so has accomplished the set of newbie levels races for a budding grand tour contender. The palmarès is prolific however he now faces a problem to ascertain himself as a professional. He’s 1m66 tall and 55kg which makes him smaller and lighter than any Tour de France winner. Framed in Belgian expectations he may be the subsequent Lucien Van Impe greater than the brand new Eddy Merckx. For a recent comparability suppose Lenny Martinez or Nairo Quintana. So he generally is a punchy climber able to huge wins however at an obstacle in time trials and crosswinds.
His future is fascinating as Lotto are again within the World Tour however don’t have many apparent leaders. Different groups are enthusiastic about Arnaud De Lie and Lennert Van Eetvelt and plenty of will probably be watching Widar too however the squad must retain them too. Widar is important to their plans within the brief time period for outcomes, and long run for even larger ones.
Jakob Söderqvist (22, Lidl-Trek/Sweden) virtually gained the Tour of Denmark final 12 months however colleague and residential hero Mads Pedersen managed to take it. Söderqvist had been promoted from Lidl-Trek’s growth and gained the time trial stage. The reigning U23 time trial world champion, he took the title in Kigali with a minute over the remainder of the sector and will have gone even quicker solely sat up for a victory salute. If he was “solely” second within the U23 Paris-Roubaix, that’s as a result of he completed alongside staff mate Albert Withen Philipsen for a joint triumph (pictured). The one Swede within the World Tour he’s received the dimensions and engine to make an affect this 12 months within the classics however clearly getting a shot at a result’s a giant ask for a squad led by Pedersen with Milan, Nys, Withen Philipsen, Skujiņš and extra. At 83kg he’s going to be a core their classics staff for years to return and already one to observe within the smaller classics to see how he handles tasks and distance, plus we’ll see if he fancies any lead out work or is used earlier to chase.
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Senna Remijn (19, Alpecin-PremierTech/Netherlands) was third in Paris-Roubaix behind Söderqvist, second in Liège-Bastogne-Liège behind Widar and this in simply his first 12 months out of the juniors. Now he strikes to the professionals aged 19. A cyclo-cross racer too, he’s an apparent classics contender however the place will he specialise? Final September he completed third on a stage of the Tour of Luxembourg, after Ben Healy and stage winner Romain Grégoire had slipped the sector. Remijn completed with general winner Brandon McNulty, Matias Skjelmose, Richard Carapaz, Aurélien Paret-Peintre and Marc Hirschi (pictured). If he can preserve firm like this he’ll be invaluable to the staff on hilly days because the squad has few riders suited to this terrain.
A decade in the past plenty of recruiters, scouts and brokers appeared to Colombia for the subsequent huge factor just for two Slovenians to emerge. There’s much less of a touch to rent Slovenians however they’re establishing themselves as a biking nation and Jakob Omrzel (19, Bahrain/Slovenia) is a brand new flag bearer. He didn’t get into biking to emulate Roglič or Pogačar, it was to repeat his elder brother. He gained the U23 Giro on the final day, overhauling Crimson Bull’s Luke Tuckwell. He was second within the Valle d’Aosta to Widar however there’s vary as a result of as a junior he gained Paris-Roubaix. Bahrain have rushed to signal him so he could have a quiet 12 months whereas he makes the soar up however look to see him serving to leaders on hilly days.
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Maxime Decomble (20, Groupama-FDJ/France) could possibly be a ray of sunshine for the French staff which is seeing its funds fastened whereas rivals preserve spending extra. Nevertheless it’s not all passive, the staff prolonged contracts with Valentin Madouas and David Gaudu whereas letting Lenny Martinez go. Decomble has a small construct and began out seeing himself as a climber however has found he’s a rouleur. He grew to become the French U23 TT champ in 2024 he didn’t have every other huge outcomes however 2025 was very completely different, he lead the Tour de l’Avenir for days and held on within the Alps for fifth place general however then had the vary to take bronze within the U23 TT Worlds, end second within the Euro champs street race to Widar and log off with the win within the U23 Paris-Excursions, and earlier hed raced with the World Tour squad together with third place within the Gran Camiño time trial stage. From Marseille and a little bit of a joker by accounts who boosts ethical on the staff bus and on the dinner desk he’ll hope to carry some cheer to the squad with outcomes too.
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Alfred Bruce Noah Hobbs (21, EF Training-Easypost/Nice Britain) to make use of his full identify used to journey for GFDJ’s growth staff however switched to EF and the dash outcomes adopted together with three levels of the powerful Tour de Bretagne final 12 months. He’s been biking because the age of eight which coincides with the take-off in Britain across the launch of Staff Sky. At 67kg he’s fascinating as a brand new mannequin of sprinter, lighter and capable of recover from brief climbs, consider Paul Magnier and Matthew Brennan too. EF has Marijn van den Berg overlaying this function too so search for Hobb’s within the flat finishes as he has the velocity there for outcomes this 12 months already in sprints exterior the World Tour.
Mattia Agostinacchio (18, EF Training-Easypost/Italy) gained the junior world cyclo-cross champs in 2025 and joins the World Tour straight out of the junior ranks, the one rider doing this for 2026. In signing him EF have dedicated to a cyclo-cross mission as a part of the package deal, an indication of the staff shifting to fulfill him and construct a mission. He may even have prompt the concept as a result of when he crossed over from mountain biking to hitch an Italian newbie street staff in 2023 he additionally insisted on with the ability to proceed with mountain biking in the summertime and cyclo-cross in winter. A broad expertise it feels too early to know the place he’ll specialise however, like Albert Withen Philipsen his polydiscipline strategy, comparisons with Mathieu van der Poel and Tom Pidcock appear apparent.
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UAE have solely signed three riders for 2026. Kevin Vermaercke will probably be a flexible helper probably capable of seize a win right here or there, Picnic-PostNL determined to not signal Benoît Cosnefroy so the staff picked him up in an autumn sale and Adria Pericas (19, UAE/Spain) is the one neo at UAE. He’s on an extended deal till 2030. When Paul Seixas gained the Tour du Pays de Vaud (the mini Tour de l’Avenir for juniors held in Switzerland) in 2024 it was Omrzel and Pericas who had been his greatest challengers. Having signed Madrid’s Pablo Torres final 12 months, Pericas from Barcelona is an apparent comparability. He’s set for stage racing and has gained Spanish junior time trial title. Certainly a 12 months in the past he impressed a lot on the UAE staff coaching camp he was picked for be part of the World Tour staff for the Al Ula Tour and received a top-20 to complete as their greatest rider.
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Emmanuel Houcou (22, Pinarello-Q36.5/France) comes from Martinique, the French island within the Caribbean the place he’s the third era of cyclists and turns into the primary from the island to hitch the professional ranks; Rony Martias from close by Guadeloupe rode for Bouygues and Sojasun. A sprinter, he’s gained European observe championship medals and may deal with some longer efforts and the plan at first is to see him as a lead-out rider for Matteo Moschetti and he can study a factor or two from Sam Bennett.
There are various individuals referred to as Pavel Novak (21, Movistar/Czechia) in central Europe however he’s out to make a reputation for himself. That is an unique signing for Movistar, their most “japanese” signing Sylwester Szmyd over a decade in the past. The Czech rider has been knocking on the door of the professional ranks for some time and getting ends in the mountains with the Colpack Italian staff (then a Conti staff, now ProTeam underneath the identify MBH Financial institution). A stagiaire with Q36.5 after which Jayco, now he joins Movistar and apparently after a giant launch charge was paid to spring him. His stage win within the U23 Giro was spectacular, an 85km raid that noticed him catch the early breakaway after which drop all of them to win solo at Prato Nevoso however he was prompted into this as a result of his general ambitions had dropped away. The raid was adopted the subsequent day with a 3rd place and all this received him on the ultimate podium. The problem is to start out replicating this within the professional ranks.
And extra…That’s ten however Crimson Bull have Luke Tuckwell and Callum Thornley, with Aussie Tuckwell because the stage racer simply shedding out on the U23 Giro final 12 months to Omrzel; whereas Scotland’s Thornley guarantees to be the largest biking export from Peebles because the Velocast and is flexible, he’s had top-10 on Alpine days and king of the mountains within the Tour of Britain however is large enough to be a part of their classics squad too and so has loads of choices forward.
Having cited Lotto-Intermarché’s Widar on the high in addition they signal Felix Ørn-Kristoff, acquainted identify given he’s the half-brother of the freshly retired Alexander Kristoff; Simone Gualdi is a punchy rider for hillier days; Australian sprinter Matthew Fox is notable as a result of has received a contract with Lotto the old-school approach by profitable plenty of newbie races and we’ll see the place he can get an opportunity on a staff with De Lie, Menten as sprinters.
Groupama-FDJ have employed Matteo Milan, child brother of Jonathan and an identical sort of sprinter too. Visma-LAB have Tim Rex, one other brother and this time of Laurenz Rex at Lotto.
CommentIt’s not a giant 12 months for recruitment, there are solely 34 first 12 months neos becoming a member of the World Tour when the typical is over 50 usually. It’s no development, simply depending on locations and hiring choices final 12 months and subsequent 12 months.
More and more the definition is blurred, the times of an newbie catching the attention of a professional staff are virtually over (see Matthew Fox to Lotto-Intermarché), and as a substitute riders are nurtured on growth groups and signed on long run offers and through this time they will be part of their squad’s World Tour staff for some races. Now turning professional is a step alongside the best way relatively than a leap up.
The flipside is a few 21 year-old are abandoning the game as a result of in the event that they haven’t moved out of an U23 staff to a growth squad then their profession path appears like a lifeless finish already, even when there are nonetheless counter examples like 26 12 months outdated Mattia Gaffuri (Picnic-PostNL).
Wanting forward…With few turning professional and lots ready, a draft model of 2027’s piece could possibly be executed already with Juan Felipe Rodriguez (EF/Colombia), Mateo Ramirez (UAE/Ecuador), Benjamin Noval (Ineos, Spain), Aubin Sparfel (Decathlon-CGM CMA/France), Hector Alvarez (Lidl-Trek, Spain), Ashlin Barry (Visma-LAB/USA), Lorenzo Finn (Crimson Bull/Italy) and Max Bock (Crimson Bull/Germany) names to observe among the many newbie races but in addition after they transfer up for the day to race with World Tour colleagues.
