With the conclusion of the French Tour de l’Avenir, often called the youth Tour de France, the prestigious UCI Nations Cup series for under-23 riders, which also includes the ORLEN Nations Grand Prix, has come to an end. The overall classification was won by the France.
The cycling season is coming to an end, along with a series of races. One of them that ended at the end of August is the prestigious UCI Nations Cup, consisting of the most important stage races for under-23 cyclists. The riders compete in national team colors and race in the “old style,” without radio communication with sports directors.
This year’s edition of the cycle featured three events — the ORLEN Nations Grand Prix, held in May on the roads of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Poland, as well as the Czech Peace Race and the French Tour de l’Avenir, which has the reputation of a youth Tour de France.
“Great talents are born at the ORLEN Nations Grand Prix. Take, for example, Olav Kooij, who won this race, won stages of the Tour de Pologne, and two days ago triumphed at the Giro d’Italia. I’m very happy about this because I saw these riders here. For many cyclists, it’s an opportunity to showcase themselves, get into professional teams, and become great cyclists,” described Czesław Lang, General Director of the ORLEN Nations Grand Prix.
The sixth edition of the race began in Prostejov, Czech Republic, from where the cyclists went to Bouzov. The first stage already showed the unpredictability of youth racing. A breakaway made it to the finish, and the best was Dane Kristian Egholm. The next stage, with a finish on the difficult climb to Kohutka, was dominated by the French — Mathys Rondel and Brieuc Rolland. They took the first two places and took the lead in the ORLEN general classification.
The next day, the peloton moved to Slovakia, where they fought for victory in challenging conditions on the climb to Štrbské Pleso, which had once hosted the Tour de Pologne. In the finish from a reduced group, Luxembourg’s Mathieu Kockelmann triumphed, best handling the rain and low temperatures. The five-day competition concluded with the Polish stages. On the BUKOVINA Resort, Niedzica — Jasło stage, a breakaway rider, Dane Peter Hansen, won, while Poland’s Radosław Frątczak finished fourth from the peloton.
The race ended at the Arłamów Hotel. The young riders used the tough climbs of the Bieszczady Mountains to attack, and the best was Ilkhan Dostiyev (Kazakhstan). The Frenchmen Rondel and Rolland maintained their lead in the ORLEN general classification, and Italy’s Pietro Mattia won the Lang Team KOM classification.
The next event in the UCI Nations Cup cycle was the Czech Peace Race, where the Tricolors shone again. In the general classification, the winner was the runner-up of the ORLEN Nations Grand Prix, Brieuc Rolland, and the podium was completed by Aaron Dockx (Belgium) and Leo Bisiaux (France).
Thus, the French extended their lead in the overall Nations Cup classification ahead of the final race of the series — the home Tour de l’Avenir. After six mountain stages, Britain’s Joseph Blackmore triumphed in the “general,” defeating Pablo Torres (Spain), Tijmen Graat (Netherlands), and Leo Bisiauxof France.
The overall classification of the UCI Nations Cup was claimed by the French, who beat the British and Danes by a considerable margin. The Poles finished in 13th place.
In such races, young cyclists have the opportunity to showcase themselves to professional teams, closely watching the competition in the Nations Cup. To confirm this, just look at the list of ORLEN Nations Grand Prix winners — each of them currently rides for World Tour teams or development squads. Interestingly, two of them, Marijn van den Berg and Olav Kooij, have already won stages of the Tour de Pologne. Who will be next?
