In 2025, there will be 107 neo-pros joining the WorldTour and ProTeam ranks (50 in WT and 57 in PT), the top two divisions in world Cycling. To take stock of all these new arrivals, Cyclism’Actu offers you a top 10 young (or not so young) runners to follow in 2025 and for the future.
Video – Laurent Dufaux explained to us the new nugget hunt
10. Alan Haterly (South Africa, 28 years old) / MTB > Jayco AlUla
He is the “oldest” rider in this top 10. At 28 years old, Alan Haterly will make his debut in high-level road cycling. World champion and bronze medalist at the Paris Olympic Games in cross-country mountain biking, the South African will therefore take to the road with Jayco AlUla. Despite everything, many questions still surround it. On what grounds does he want or will he shine? What is his runner profile? Even if he should concentrate on the road in 2025, he will still participate in mountain bike events… a winning combination?
9. Brieuc Rolland (France, 21 years old) / Conti Groupama-FDJ > Groupama-FDJ
Brieuc Rolland was undoubtedly the most successful Frenchman in the Espoirs ranks in 2024. Winner of the Tour of Lombardy U23, winner of the Peace Race, 8th in the Tour de l'Avenir, 5th in Liège-Bastogne-Liège U23 … Rennais has really reached a milestone. An excellent puncher-climber, he will be eagerly awaited in 2025 within Groupama-FDJ. Marc Madiot's team, lacking leaders after the departures of Lenny Martinez and Laurence Pithie, will therefore count on its young rider, whether on certain classics or even on a Grand Tour.
8. Niklas Behrens (Germany, 21 years old) / Lidl-Trek Future Racing > Visma | Lease a Bike
This may seem obvious, but yes, the U23 World Champion will obviously be one to follow in 2025! On the other hand, Niklas Behrens will change teams. While he was in the Lidl-Trek development team, the American team was unable to sign him in the WorldTour, since its squad was already complete… he will therefore finally debut under the colors of the Visma | Lease a Bike. The German is a very solid runner, capable of sprinting very quickly and a Classics specialist, he is also very comfortable on hilly circuits, despite his impressive size (1.95 meters). He could thus play an important role as a team member in high-level races, while having a chance in less renowned events from his first year.
7. Léo Bisiaux (France, 19 ans) / Decathlon AG2R Development > Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale
4th in the Tour de l'Avenir, 6th in the Giro d'Italia Next Gen, 3rd in the Grand Prix de la Paix… Léo Bisiaux shone in the biggest U23 races on the calendar in 2024. Also a cyclo-cross specialist – he who was Junior World Champion in the discipline in 2023 – the Frenchman has high hopes placed in him. Possessing a pure climber profile, he should wreak havoc on long climbs with high percentages in the coming years. In the meantime, at only 19 years old, he will first have to get tougher and gain experience within his Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale team.
6. Matthew Brennan (Great Britain, 19 years old) / Visma | Lease a Bike Development > Visma | Lease a Bike
He is undoubtedly one of the least known riders in this top 10, but Matthew Brennan has enormous talent. After just one short year spent in the U23 ranks, the Briton will take the plunge by joining the WorldTour and the great Visma | Lease a Bike. Nothing more logical, after its year 2024 XXL. An excellent sprinter-puncher, but also capable of expressing himself during more difficult races, Brennan raised his arms three times in 2024, notably on a stage of the Giro d'Italia Next Gen. Having already shone in professional UCI races, he could therefore get his first victory in the coming season.
5. Tim Torn Teutenberg (Germany, 22 years old) / Lidl-Trek Future Racing > Lidl-Trek
In 2024, Tim Torn Teutenberg was the most consistent sprinter on the U23 circuit. The German is also an excellent classiman, as his victory in Paris-Roubaix Espoirs shows. With a John Degenkolb profile, Teutenberg undoubtedly represents the future of German cycling in these races. Older and more seasoned than the runners who will follow in this ranking, it would not be surprising if the new Lidl-Trek nugget is the neo-pro with the most victories on the clock at the end of 2025.
4. Pablo Torres (Espagne, 19 ans) / UAE Team Emirates GenZ > UAE Team Emirates XRG
We enter this top 4, with a whole new dimension of riders, those who are expected to be generational cracks, capable of winning Grand Tours or Monuments in the future. And we start with Pablo Torres. Fairly unknown among the Juniors, the Spaniard literally exploded in 2024. On the Tour de l'Avenir, he delivered an exceptional performance during the queen stage, breaking the Colle del Finestre ascent record. A pure climber, Torres should have a tailor-made calendar for his first year in the WorldTour with UAE Team Emirates XRG. If he is not expected to do a Grand Tour in 2025, he will undoubtedly have his chance in one-week events. There is no doubt that his qualities in the mountains are extraordinary, it remains to be seen whether he will be able to progress in time trials to hope to shine on Grand Tours in the future.
3. Jorgen Nordhagen (Norvège, 19 ans) / Visma | Lease a Bike Development > Visma | Lease a Bike
If he had a lot of bad luck on his main objectives in 2024 – ill on the Ronde de l'Izard and on the Giro d'Italia Next Gen and absent from the Tour de l'Avenir following financial problems within the Norwegian federation – Jorgen Nordhagen is one of the greatest talents of his generation. Winner of the Tour du Frioul ahead of Giulio Pellizarri and Pablo Torres, 3rd in Liège-Bastogne-Liège U23, 7th in the Tour of Germany, winner at the top of the Planche des Belles Filles on the Tour d'Alsace… the Norwegian has it all similarly proven in 2024 that the hopes placed in him are not of the order of fantasy. Excellent rider and even better climber, Nordhagen is seen as the successor to Jonas Vingegaard at Visma | Lease a Bike, will he manage to confirm these expectations placed on him?
2. Albert Withen Philipsen (Danemark, 18 ans) / Tscherning Cycling Academy > Lidl-Trek
There are two of them to go directly from Juniors to the WorldTour this year: Paul Seixas and Albert Withen Philipsen. Two exceptional talents from the 2006 generation… who therefore monopolize the first two places in this ranking. The Dane has a very particular profile, since he practices several disciplines. He is notably the Junior World Mountain Bike Champion (2023 and 2024) and the World Road Champion (road race and time trial in 2023). Philipsen has a very good burst of speed, but is also an excellent puncher and a very good climber (as shown by his victory on the Ain Bugey Valromey Tour 2024, ahead of Seixas and company). It therefore has a very complete profile, capable of shining on all terrains. It now remains to be seen what he will do for his first year under the colors of Lidl-Trek.
1. Paul Seixas (France, 18 ans) / Decathlon AG2R U19 > Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale
As you will have understood, Paul Seixas occupies first place in this ranking. The hype around the young French prodigy is very high. While we shouldn't expect too much during his first season with the Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale WorldTour, Seixas is undoubtedly the greatest French talent in decades. Lenny Martinez, David Gaudu, Romain Bardet, Thibaut Pinot… none of them had results as promising as Seixas in the Juniors. While he is obviously an excellent climber, the Lyonnais is also a very solid roller, as shown by his title of Junior World Champion in the exercise. A very interesting combo, which could why not make Seixas in a few years the first Frenchman to win a Grand Tour since Laurent Jalabert on La Vuelta 1997.
Mentions
They didn't make the top 10, but these ten riders have high hopes placed in them:
– Huub Artz (Netherlands, 22 years old) / Wanty-ReUz-TechNord > Intermarché-Wanty
– Steffen De Schuyteneer (Belgium, 19 years old) / Lotto Dstny Development > Lotto
– Tibor Del Grosso (Pays-Bas, 21 ans) / Alpecin-Deceuninck Development > Alpecin-Deceuninck
– Gal Glivar (Slovenia, 22 years old) / UAE Team Emirates GenZ > Alpecin-Deceuninck
– Tijmen Graat (Pays-Bas, 21 ans) / Visma | Lease a Bike Development > Visma | Lease a Bike
– Menno Housing (Pays-Bas, 20 ans) / Visma | Lease a Bike Development > Visma | Lease a Bike
– Jelte Krijnsen (Pays-Bas, 23 ans) / Parkhotel Valkenburg > Jayco AlUla
– Sam Maisonobe (France, 21 years old) / Vendée U > You trust
– Henrik Pedersen (Danemark, 20 ans) / Uno-X Mobility Development > Uno-X Mobility
– Vlad Van Mechelen (Belgique, 20 ans) / Development Team dsm-firmenich PostNL > Bahrain Victorious
