Best u23 riders in 2013

[FF'Wilco]

So who's gonna dominate the u23 scene this year ?
Who has already showed some potential to win Giro Bio, Tour de l'Avenir or some other prestigious u23 races this year ?
Who may surprise us ?
Which juniors will already shine in u23 in their first year ? Or maybe none of them can ?

Let's discuss

Last year's top5:

1. JUNGELS Bob 40.91%
2. GOOS Marc 27.27%
3. SKUJINS Toms 18.18%
4. MCCARTHY Jay 18.18%
5. BONGIORNO Francesco Manuel 18.18%

 

[Ruudz0r]

Davide Villella although he might be mainly riding in Italy, but I think he will have an amazing year.

 

[janraaskalt]

Davide Villella although he might be mainly riding in Italy, but I think he will have an amazing year.

Villella should be a safe bet, also considering he'll go pro at Cannondale soon.

 

[the asian]

Olivier le Gac will have a good season. This will be his 2nd U23 season, so should be more experienced.

Villella too definitely have a good season. Last year at U 23 level for him.

Colombia have fired their coach, so interesting too see how they will perform in Avenir.

 

[Ruudz0r]

Villella should be a safe bet, also considering he'll go pro at Cannondale soon.

Was really hoping he would go pro at the start of this season already. I heared some rumours though that he would go pro at august (like Wellens and Lammertink did this year), anybody know more about this?

He really impressed me at the worlds was riding very aggresive and very strong.

 

[Jason_Mercier]

Fausto Masnada for dominate the Giro Bio.

 

[Jakob747]

Not really answering your question I guess.

However, these are some of the newer U-23 names I look forward to follow in 2013!

Loic Vliegen

Silvio Herklotz

Matej Mohoric

Federico Zurlo

Sebastian Henao

Fausto Masnada

T.J Eisenhart

Umberto Orsini

Jose Tito Hernandez

Rodrigo Contreras

Florian Senechal

Mads Wurtz Schmidt

Guillaume Martin

Magnus Cort Nielsen

Aleksey Ribalkin

Tom Bohli

Quintin Jauregui

Dylan Groenewegen

Sonder Holst Enger

Marlen Zmorka

 

[the asian]

It's very rarely that 19 year olds dominate the u 23 racing scene.

 

[Jakob747]

If I had to vote from the names in the poll.

Davide Villella would get my vote. He will dominate Italian sub-23 in 2013.

 

[Jakob747]

It's very rarely that 19 year olds dominate the u 23 racing scene.

I dont expect them to dominate, just names I look foward to follow...

As I said above. Davide Villella.

 

[the asian]

I dont expect them to dominate, just names I look foward to follow...

As I said above. Davide Villella.

What type of rider do you think Mohoric will end up as?

 

[janraaskalt]

Not really answering your question I guess.

However, these are some of the newer U-23 names I look forward to follow in 2013!

Loic Vliegen

Silvio Herklotz

Matej Mohoric

Federico Zurlo

Sebastian Henao

Fausto Masnada

T.J Eisenhart

Umberto Orsini

Jose Tito Hernandez

Rodrigo Contreras

Florian Senechal

Mads Wurtz Schmidt

Guillaume Martin

Magnus Cort Nielsen

Aleksey Ribalkin

Tom Bohli

Quintin Jauregui

Dylan Groenewegen

Sonder Holst Enger

Marlen Zmorka

Those are a lot of names. Could you also give a short description of them?

 

[Ruudz0r]

Hopefully Andrea Zordan can have a good year, he was top at the juniors but had some troubles with the transition. Last year was already much better then the first year at U23, and hopefully he can really step it up this year.

 

[Jakob747]

I remember reading his coach Matjaž Zevnik state he has excellent recovery, so I think they might try develope him into a stage-racer. He is 1.86cm and 66kg so why not! He has show he can climb and TT really, really well.

Lets see how he goes this season. As you said dominating juniors is one thing, now he has to step up his game even further.

 

[the asian]

Mohoric (Slovenia) is the current Junior RR champion and he was 2nd in the ITT.

He also won 2 Italian stage races, Giro della Lunigiana &Giro di Basilicata winning 4 out of 5 stages in the latter one.
Very exciting prospect.
Good finisher & Good time trialist. Good stage racer at Junior level.
Wondering what type of rider he'll end up.

Zurlo (Italy)

4th In the Junior Worlds last year. Italian junior Cyclocross champion and also a member of the team pursuit.
7th in PR Juniors last year.
Classics rider.

 

[the asian]

I remember reading his coach Matjaž Zevnik state he has excellent recovery, so I think they might try develope him into a stage-racer. He is 1.86cm and 66kg so why not! He has show he can climb and TT really, really well.

Lets see how he goes this season. As you said dominating juniors is one thing, now he has to step up his game even further.

Good to hear. Could be something special, if not a GT contender at least should do well in the hilly classics.

 

[Jason_Mercier]

Masnada, Martin and Henao are good climbers. Vliegen and Zurlo will develop as classics riders.

 

[the asian]

Senechal (France) - stagiare at OPQS, so you should know what he's good at.

Winner of PR junior in 2011. 9th in the U 23 race last year. Also 4th at 2011 Junior Worlds.


Bohli (Swiss)
Individual pursuiter on the Track.
European and World Junior champion in the Individual pursuit.

Has done well in Prologues,

Schmitdt (Den) World Junior ITT champion last year, but only got 6th or 7th this year. Junior PR Winner.
The Danes usually dominate the Junior and u 23 ranks but often end up duds when they turn Pro.

 

[Ruudz0r]

Those are a lot of names. Could you also give a short description of them?

Im not the guy who posted it, but I do know most of the names so here you go. If Jakob has something to add or can correct me in some ways i would be very glad to read it!

Loic Vliegen
Hill guy I believe

Silvio Herklotz
Climber / GC rider was very strong last year with the juniors. Also does some cyclocross if im not mistaking

Matej Mohoric
Very allround can do everything, (cobbles im not sure off) dominated the juniors in the 2nd half of last year.

Federico Zurlo
Sprinter type a la freire who can do very well at cobbles as well. Was the best Italian at the juniors

Sebastian Henao
Good climber

Fausto Masnada
Climber (not a top talent in my opinion) but maybe jakob knows things that I don’t about him.

T.J Eisenhart
GC guy, decent time trial + can also do hills/climbs. Think he was the best junior in America last year.

Umberto Orsini
2nd best Italian junior last year in my opinion (after Zurlo). Likes hard courses.

Jose Tito Hernandez
Don’t really know him either.

Rodrigo Contreras
I don’t know this guy

Florian Senechal
Big talent already was stagier at OPQS last year. Flandrien type

Mads Wurtz Schmidt
Cobble guy + time trial. One of the best in the junior rankings.

Guillaume Martin
Dont really know him but if im correct he is a hill guy/climber

Magnus Cort Nielsen
Was pretty good as a junior, but I don’t think he has what it takes (mainly a guy for the hills).

Aleksey Ribalkin
Dont know him

Tom Bohli
Has a decent kick in him + good in the hills.

Quintin Jauregui
Allround guy (also does cyclocross)

Dylan Groenewegen
Was impressive last year as a first year U23, already did some races with the pro’s and got some good results (even close to podium if im not mistaking). Mainly a sprinter.

Sonder Holst Enger
Don’t know this guy

Marlen Zmorka
Promising time trialist

 

[Jason_Mercier]

Rybalkin dominated the last Vuelta a Bidasoa.

 

[Ruudz0r]

Rybalkin dominated the last Vuelta a Bidasoa.

Nice, didnt know that. Just looked at his results saw he was very strong as a junior aswell, strange that he slipped my attention. But now I have a new guy to follow!

 

[Maaaaaaaarten]

Dylan van Groenewegen has caught my interest too, I think this is his most impressive result, considering he is from 1993, this race had WT riders in it and was almost 200km:

http://cqranking.com/men/asp/gen/race.asp?raceid=23452

 

[Jakob747]

Those are a lot of names. Could you also give a short description of them?

I can give it a try! Not a lot of time to elaborate though!

Loic Vliegen – Belgian talent who oozes of charisma. Excellent acceleration on the hills. Could be a future contender in all the Ardennes classics.

Silvio Herklotz – German powerhouse. Very strong climber for his seize. Good cycle-crosser as well.

Matej Mohoric – Tried to describe above.

Federico Zurlo – Italian wonder-boy. Right now he masters almost everything, but I know he aims to compete in the spring classics. Trained by Marcel Tinazzi (French ex prof) and Cristian Citton (World championship on track)

Sebastian Henao – Cousin to Sergio Luis Henao from Sky. Great climber and solid against the clock. Possesses the same mental strength as his cousin.

Fausto Masnada – Italian grimpeur. Goes uphill really, really fast!

T.J Eisenhart – Stage-race material. Explosive climber, very different style from all the other diesel Americans ala TJVG – Talansky, Dombrowski ect ect. Also a good TTer.

Umberto Orsini – Nephew of Andrea Tafi. Great climber. 1.90cm tall. Prefers constant rhythm.

Jose Tito Hernandez – Did MTB here in Colombia. Top-talent. Strong, strong climber. Ok against the clock as well.

Rodrigo Contreras – The beast from Boyaca. Strong climber and TTer. Really good prospect.

Florian Senechal – Strong as an ox. Northern classics. Maybe races like Amstel as well. Impressed at the Quick-Step training camp in 2011.

Mads Wurtz Schmidt – TT machine. Really powerful could excel on the cobbles as well.

Guillaume Martin – French grimpeur. 1.71cm and 53kg. Loves the long hard cols.

Magnus Cort Nielsen – Former MTBer. Strong all-rounder. Can climb and TT reasonable.

Aleksey Ribalkin – Yet another pocket sieze climber. Good acceralartion. Looks a bit fragile though!

Tom Bohli – Junior world pursuit champion. Stong all-rounder.

Quintin Jauregui – Cycle-crosser. Exeles on harder parcoures.

Dylan Groenewegen – Talented Sprinter. Dont know heeps about him, but he seems rather interesting.

Sonder Holst Enger – Classics material. Caught a virus after the Norwigian nationals last year and had the second part of the season ruined.

Marlen Zmorka - TT specialist. Can climb a bit, but needs to drop weight if he really wants to contender on the longer climbs.

 

[the asian]

Dylan van Groenewegen has caught my interest too, I think this is his most impressive result, considering he is from 1993, this race had WT riders in it and was almost 200km:

http://cqranking.com/men/asp/gen/race.asp?raceid=23452

Looks to be a very promising sprinter.

 

[the asian]

What happened to Davide Martinelli?

Is he still at Sky or was he released?