If Egan Bernal does manage to take听the Tour de France this year (and he鈥檚 a fashionable pick for many pundits), he鈥檒l be the third-youngest winner in the event鈥檚 history. But he鈥檚 far from the only young phenom in the race. Here are five more riders, all in their first Tour de France, plus two La Course racers, who you should keep an eye on for future greatness.
Guilio Ciccone
Age: 24
Team: Trek-Segafredo
A talented climber, 听is in his first season as a WorldTour racer,听but he spent several years on the second-division Bardiani team in Italy, winning听a stage of the Giro d鈥橧talia in his first-ever outing in听that race. He added another听victory this year, plus the secondary-jersey competition for the race鈥檚 best climber. Many times, a rider who does the Giro is a little past peak fitness for the Tour. It鈥檚 impossible to hold top form that long, and for young riders in particular, the strain of two three-week Grand Tours in a season is significant.
But so far, Ciccone鈥檚 showing no signs of fatigue. On Stage 6, the first mountain stage, he jumped into the day鈥檚 main breakaway, narrowly missing a stage win on the summit finish. But the consolation prize鈥攖he yellow jersey of race leader (fastest total time across all stages)鈥攊s a career achievement for any rider. He wore it for two days before Julian Alaphilippe stole it off his back with an aggressive ride on Stage 8, and he held the white jersey of the race鈥檚 best rider under 25 for another two. What鈥檚 more, Ciccone鈥檚 overall-classification trajectory is encouraging: in four Giros, he went DNF, 95th, 40th, and, this year, 16th overall. There鈥檚 likely better yet to come.
Kasper Asgreen
Age: 22
Team: 顿别肠别耻苍颈苍肠办鈥换耻颈肠办-厂迟别辫
Unlike Ciccone, 听doesn鈥檛 have sterling finishes here at the Tour. 国产吃瓜黑料 of a third place in the team time trial, his best placing is 33rd, on Stage 1. But don鈥檛 overlook the tall Danish powerhouse. No, literally, don鈥檛, because you鈥檒l see him at the front of the race for much of each day. His 顿别肠别耻苍颈苍肠办鈥换耻颈肠办-厂迟别辫 team is having a fantastic Tour so far, with stage-winner and current yellow-jersey-holder Alaphilippe听and another stage win by sprinter Elia Viviani. As a result, Asgreen has been at the front of the peloton. He got a day or so off after a wicked crash late in听Stage 3 snapped his bike in half and left him beat up, but since then, he鈥檚 been back at work, dragging the pack around to bring back breakaways and set up his team leaders for wins.
Asgreen is听only in his first full season on the WorldTour, but already his own results are turning heads. He was second overall at last spring鈥檚 Tour of Flanders, one of cycling鈥檚 five Monuments and a race of such length (166 miles)听and difficulty that it鈥檚 impossible to get a fluke result: if you podium there, you鈥檙e good. He followed that up with a stage win at the Tour of California and a win at the Danish national time-trial championships. He鈥檚 not a rider who will win the Tour, but if you like the one-day classics like Flanders, he鈥檚 one to watch.
Laurens de Plus
Age: 23
Team: Jumbo-Visma
A talented climber and all-arounder, is the seventh-youngest rider in the Tour. But the young Belgian talent is also already in his fourth WorldTour season and fourth Grand Tour. His team, Jumbo-Visma, which has stockpiled top talent, thinks so highly of him that it sent him to Giro d鈥橧talia to support Primoz Roglic鈥檚 bid for victory and the Tour in service of Stephen Kruiswijk. The Giro didn鈥檛 end well for him, with a first-week DNF from illness. But in his first attempt there, in 2017, he finished 24th overall.
De Plus doesn鈥檛 have a solo win as a pro (although he鈥檚 been a part of several team-time-trial stage winners, including Stage 2 of this year鈥檚 Tour). But if you look听back at his past听results, you see a clear talent, with wins and top finishes in key stage races for under-23 riders, like the Tour de l鈥橝venir, the so-called Tour de France for young riders. Jumbo-Visma excels at developing riders: besides Roglic, the team has helped produce top field sprinter Dylan Groenewegen, who won Stage 7, and is also home to two young Americans, Neilsen Powless and Sepp Kuss.
Enric Mas
Age: 24
Team: 顿别肠别耻苍颈苍肠办鈥换耻颈肠办-厂迟别辫
Maybe the most intriguing young rider at the Tour besides Bernal is , a Spanish climber on a Belgian team. Mas is in his third year on the WorldTour听and drew notice with a stunning sophomore season that included a stage win at the highly regarded Tour of the Basque Country and second overall at the Vuelta Espa帽a, the third of the Grand Tours.
While he鈥檚 done well in a few time trials, Mas is听not a specialist in the discipline like a Chris Froome or Tom Dumoulin. But his in a late time trial at听last year鈥檚 Vuelta suggests that he does have a gift for recovery, which you absolutely need to be a Grand Tours racer. Better recovery means that, as the race goes on, you become better relative to your competition, which means you do better in those crucial final-week time trials. That鈥檚 what we saw in his Vuelta results last year, where he not only climbed well but turned in that top-ten听finish in the Stage 16 time trial. Mas is under the radar at the Tour so far, partly because his team isn鈥檛 here to contend for the overall, and partly because it鈥檚 so stocked with other talent that he can fade into the background. But that might be to his advantage if he鈥檚 among the elite climbers in week three and gunning for a stage win or a podium placing.
Wout van Aert
Age: 24
Team: Jumbo-Visma
Even though is in his first year on the WorldTour, it鈥檚 hard to call him an undiscovered talent. After all, in cyclocross, he鈥檚 already a three-time world champion. But even in his first full road season at the sport鈥檚 highest听level, he鈥檚 turned in impressive results. Despite racing a full slate of cyclocross events over the winter, Van Aert showed little sign of fatigue in the spring, promptly ripping off a series of top finishes in prestigious races like Milan鈥揝an Remo, a monstrous, 181-mile听ordeal that is one of cycling鈥檚 most prized crowns.
Then听he won back-to-back stages at June鈥檚 Criterium du Dauphine, a key Tour tune-up. More to the point, it鈥檚 what he won there and how: first, the Stage 4 time trial, beating out 2017 world time-trial champion and Giro d鈥橧talia winner Dumoulin. The next day, he dusted a few top sprinters to win a field sprint in Stage 5. So far at the Tour, he narrowly lost one sprint (Stage 5) to the peerless Peter Sagan. Then, in Monday鈥檚 Stage 10, he got revenge by stomping Sagan and three of the world鈥檚 best sprinters for the victory. He also spent four days in the white jersey of the race鈥檚 best-placed young rider. Not bad for a guy who鈥檚 just getting the feel of this Tour de France stuff.
Two Rising Women听Stars You Should Know
Friday also marks the running of La Course, the one-day women鈥檚 race that Tour organizers put on alongside the men鈥檚 event. While it鈥檚 nice that women get a showcase race paired to the biggest men鈥檚 race in the world, the Amaury Sport Organisation听has historically been aloof about developing women鈥檚 stage racing听(compared听to the recently concluded, ten-stage women鈥檚 Giro d鈥橧talia, or Giro Rosa). That said, it鈥檚 worth waking up early to watch the 75-mile听circuit around the city of Pau, .
The favorites will be a mix of all-around riders like Annemiek van Vleuten, who took a dominating win at the Giro Rosa, current world champion Anna van der Breggen, and the legendary Marianne Vos, who won four stages at the Giro, plus fast finishers who can climb, like Elisa Longo Borghini and Lucinda Brand. Here are two other rising young stars you should keep an eye on.
Katarzyna 鈥淜asia鈥 Niewiadoma
Age: 24
Team: Canyon-SRAM
听has been racing pro since she was just 18, so she鈥檚 already got tons of experience despite being only 24. She鈥檚 a versatile racer who thrives on difficult courses, with top finishes in one-day classics (she won the women鈥檚 Amstel Gold Race last spring and was sixth at last year鈥檚 La Course) and stage races alike.
After Canyon-SRAM won the opening team time trial at the 2019 Giro Rosa, she held the leader鈥檚 jersey until Stage 5听and finished fifth overall. Just prior to that, she won a stage and听the best climber competition听and finished second overall at the Ovo Energy Women鈥檚 Tour.
Niewiadoma鈥檚 hallmark in both one-day and stage races is an aggressive, almost improvisational racing style. She鈥檚 not afraid to take risks and come up short in search of the win. She normally favors hilly stages and races, and La Course this year doesn鈥檛 quite fit that; it鈥檚 five circuits totalling 75 kilometers, peppered with short, moderately steep climbs. Still, we鈥檇 be totally unsurprised to see her make one (or several) of her trademark spontaneous attacks, and she鈥檒l likely be one of the race鈥檚 key animators.听
Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig
Age: 23
Team: Bigla Pro Cycling
Cycling fans have been predicting great things for for several years now听(like Niewadoma, she鈥檚 been racing pro since she was 18). The Danish rider鈥檚 big breakthrough came in 2017, when she notched several top finishes in stage races, including听best young rider at the Giro Rosa. Her 2018 campaign was uncharacteristically light on results. (鈥淭he spring campaign did not go great, to put it mildly,鈥 .)听But there was a surprising culprit: an infected wisdom tooth. She had it removed in June, and then promptly won the Danish national time-trial championship and ripped off a string of top-five results to end the season.
While Uttrup Ludwig has solid stage-racing chops, she may be best known as a one-day classics-style racer, which makes her ideally suited for La Course. Last year听she attacked on the second-to-last climb and was caught just shy of the final summit by Van Vleuten and Van der Breggen, the two biggest stars of women鈥檚 racing right now (she ultimately finished fourth overall).
This year鈥檚 La Course route may not be quite as selective as the 2018 edition, but we鈥檇 still expect Uttrup Ludwig to be in the thick of things. Whatever happens, don鈥檛 miss her postrace interviews. At both and after her third-place finish this听spring at the , her honest, emotional, often hilarious answers to questions are one of the best things about racing, men鈥檚 or women鈥檚.