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Junior racing - The stars of the future

Page 22 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
Is there hype for Donie? The only really noticeable achievement i heard of is his KOM on Ballon d'Alsace. Marivoet seems like he's stagnated a bit at Auto Eder. Widar, doesn't seem like a pure climber, so maybe Mont du Chat is a bit too much for him. That said, i don't know if Bisiaux is gonna be the runaway winner here either.
None, re. Donie. There's the odd result here and there in Gipuzkoa (Basque Country), but nothing that can match Mont du Chat. Which is why I am particularly interested in seeing how those training numbers translate to an actual race against the big boys. Though, ultimately, it doesn't mean the world when Nordhagen is not in the race. Widar is indeed a puncheur, but you can get away with that for large portions. Winning will be a utopia, but I wouldn't be surprised if he goes a long way and finishes podium. Bisiaux on the other hand was really, really strong here in last years race, and given he just put up a show in Velzeke and went toe to toe with Herzog and Christen in Valromey too, I can't look at anyone but him.
 
Widar takes it in the sprint (as expected) ahead of Seixas. Donie was dropped on Mont du Chat, but finished 3rd about a minute down.

Bisiaux taken to the hospital after his crash.


1
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Widar Jarno Team Wallonie Juniors
03:29:18​
2
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Seixas Paul Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
+ 01​
3
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Donie Milan Cycling Vlaanderen
+ 46​
4
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Fayolle Jean-Loup Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
+ 59​
5
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Grégoire Baptiste Bourgogne Franche Comte
+ 02:22​
6
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Graff William Team Wallonie Juniors
+ 02:35​
7
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Marivoet Duarte Team Auto Eder
+ 03:04​
8
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Bush Jacob Zappi Junior Race Team
+ 04:13​
9
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Boussemaere Louic Cycling Vlaanderen
+ 05:00​
10
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Bodet Vincent Occitanie
+ 05:33​
11
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Giuliano Dario Occitanie
+ 06:02​
12
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Decomble Maxime Sud Provence Alpes Cote D'Azur
+ 06:02​
13
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Sanchez Clément Pays De La Loire
+ 06:02​
14
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Pericas Adrià Catalunya
+ 06:02​
15
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De Bock Aless Cycling Vlaanderen
+ 06:06​
16
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Driesen Niels Cycling Vlaanderen
+ 06:09​
17
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Daumas Remi Occitanie
+ 07:22​
18
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Darmigny Tom Bourgogne Franche Comte
+ 07:30​
19
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Ginter Nicolas Talent Romandie
+ 08:03​
20
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Casey Patrick Zappi Junior Race Team
+ 08:03​
 
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1m62, 52kg.
So obviously no surprise that he can climb a bit (was more surprised that he was struggling earlier this year but I guess he must've been sick or something).

Also let's not forget that basically only the French and Belgian were here. And Biseaux crashed.

Seixas is really good too, only a first year junior and his results this year have been amazing.
 
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1m62, 52kg.
So obviously no surprise that he can climb a bit (was more surprised that he was struggling earlier this year but I guess he must've been sick or something).

Also let's not forget that basically only the French and Belgian were here. And Biseaux crashed.

Seixas is really good too, only a first year junior and his results this year have been amazing.
There is quite a gap between "being able to climb a bit" (which i completely expected), to being the best climber by far on Mont du Chat. Considering his results in (flat'ish) classics style races, where he was the best due to his explosivity and punch, i didn't expect him to be a top tier climber as well.
 
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There is quite a gap between "being able to climb a bit" (which i completely expected), to being the best climber by far on Mont du Chat. Considering his results in (flat'ish) classics style races, where he was the best due to his explosivity and punch, i didn't expect him to be a top tier climber as well.

Its junior racing. If youre one of the best overall you're often getting good results on every terrain. My point is that this wasn't a top tier field. Way too early to call him a top climber based on this imo. I don't expect him top be able to follow Nordhagen for example.
 
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Its junior racing. If youre one of the best overall you're often getting good results on every terrain. My point is that this wasn't a top tier field. Way too early to call him a top climber based on this imo. I don't expect him top be able to follow Nordhagen for example.
Sure, but there was decent competition regardless. He's also nearly a year younger than Nordhagen (jan-nov)
 
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Jean-Loup Fayolle must have done a crazy final descent of Mont du Chat. He was in the chase group of 15 that never got closer than 1:20 prior to Mont du Chat, and went over the summit down at least 2:30 with Baptise Gregoire and William Graff. Finished only 59 seconds down and nearly reached the podium.
 
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Apparently there were some 2007-kids participating in the Junior ITT nationals in Denmark today. The youngest - August Halle - not turning 16 until September.
Another one; Sylvester Vittinghus Stokbro caught my attention because of his name: Surely, he's not somehow related to both Andreas Stokbro, and the Danish badminton player Hans-Kristian Vittinghus?!
 
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Apparently there were some 2007-kids participating in the Junior ITT nationals in Denmark today. The youngest - August Halle - not turning 16 until September.
Another one; Sylvester Vittinghus Stokbro caught my attention because of his name: Surely, he's not somehow related to both Andreas Stokbro, and the Danish badminton player Hans-Kristian Vittinghus?!
No idea why, but it's quite a regular thing in Denmark and Norway for cadets to participate. I recall Gustav Wang becoming Danish national champion in the juniors when he was still a cadet. Theodor Storm won the Randers Bike Week whilst still a cadet, same goes for Nordhagen winning one hell of a race in Sanderstølen.

And then there's the case of Ashlin Barry pummelling pro's at the age of 14 in Canada and the US.
 
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No idea why, but it's quite a regular thing in Denmark and Norway for cadets to participate. I recall Gustav Wang becoming Danish national champion in the juniors when he was still a cadet. Theodor Storm won the Randers Bike Week whilst still a cadet, same goes for Nordhagen winning one hell of a race in Sanderstølen.

That brings me to (another) question:
Cadets can ride Junior races.
U23 riders can ride Pro races.
Can Junior riders ride U23 races? Could a rider who'd just dominated everything in his first year as a junior decide to step up a year early? Or would the gearing restrictions for Juniors prevent that?
 
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That brings me to (another) question:
Cadets can ride Junior races.
U23 riders can ride Pro races.
Can Junior riders ride U23 races? Could a rider who'd just dominated everything in his first year as a junior decide to step up a year early? Or would the gearing restrictions for Juniors prevent that?
Gearing restrictions have been abolished by the UCI as of this year, it is now in the national association's hands whether to uphold the restrictions or not. That has led to some strange results. Sente Sentjens won every time trial he started this year, except for one: the Belgian national championships. Guess which one upheld the limitations on the gears.

Whether that means a hypothetical junior could step up after one year I do not know. Don't think there has ever been such a situation. Back in the day there were whispers of Evenepoel stepping up from juniors to U23, but that was in the middle of his second year and the UCI said no.
 
It is not road racing, but I feel obliged to post this here as well. Albert Philipsen is currently in the midst of destroying everything on the mountain bike again in the European Championships in Anadia. He started very far from the front, somewhere around place 40 and it took him no less than 3 laps to gain a 30 second advantage. During the Team Relay earlier in the week, he did the fastest lap out of everyone sans two, including 10 seconds faster than Adrien Boichis, who currently leads the U23 World Cup with a comfortable margin.

This kid is off the charts.
 
Big day tomorrow, it is the start of Valromey. The hardest stage race on the entire calendar on European soil. This year we'll see the Rochette for instance, and also the grand finale on the Grand Colombier. We'll also do a team time trial of 40 freaking kilometers, bogus. I'll advocate for more time trialing in any category, but this will hurt those not blessed by being in a big program or those having to ride with their local team (Seixas, Decomble e.g.). Nonetheless a great startlist, but unfortunately without Nordhagen. As always, I am fully behind Adria Pericas and AJ.
 
Well, as expected very big gaps. The organisers tried to make it more fair by not just counting time, but also placing. 2nd place couldn't lose more than 20 seconds, 3rd more than 30, 4th more than 40 and so on if their actual time wasn't more favourable.

Nonetheless, I just do not see the plus side of a team time trial of this length. The margins are just far, far too big in the junior category, and of course Auto Eder, AG2R, Tormans, Bahrain with their structure sweep the whole thing up. Widar is already more than 90 seconds down, Pericas is looking at almost a 3 minute deficit. Hard to justify.
 
Not road cycling, but the track forum is dead so who cares. Crazy stuff has been happening in Anadia during the European Championships. The track where miracles come to life. Yesterday morning Italy broke German the world record on the Team Pursuit that had been standing for 4 years. A few hundreds, nothing spectacular, they're meant to be broken. Well, turns out they were holding back, because in the evening session they broke their own world record again. BY 5 SECONDS!!! 3:53:09, ridiculous.

Then, on to the individual pursuit which was today. Matthew Brennan broke the world record set by Finn Fisher-Black in 2019. Huge performance, right? Well, Brennan wasn't done celebrating or Luca Giaimi (who was part of that very Italian team and also is the world champion) broke his world record by more than a second. As if that wasn't enough, he then broke his own world record in the evening. Insane. Almost identical to what happened a few years ago, when Ethan Vernon set the world record, only to be beaten by Lev Gonov one heat later. It's also good to note that the actual world record holder is Magnus Sheffield, but his wasn't done in an official race and therefore is not recognised.

Also, Josh Tarling was here for the pursuits. Here's hoping he'll join the elite track team in Glasgow and more importantly Paris.
 
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Emma Norsgaard did the same in 2016. And since she's from July, she was only 16 at the time.
How does the name of Albert Philipsen work? The official databases have me confused.

We refer to Magnus Cort Nielsen as Magnus Cort and Mathias Skjelmose Jensen as Mathias Skjelmose, whereas Mikkel Frolich Honore is Mikkel Honore. How would that work for Albert Withen Philipsen? You also have Tobias Lund Andresen = Tobias Lund, but Rasmus Lund Pedersen = Rasmus Pedersen?
 
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How does the name of Albert Philipsen work? The official databases have me confused.

We refer to Magnus Cort Nielsen as Magnus Cort and Mathias Skjelmose Jensen as Mathias Skjelmose, whereas Mikkel Frolich Honore and Tobias Lund Andresen are Mikkel Honore and Tobias Andresen respectively. How would that work for Albert Withen Philipsen?
The rule of thumb is that -sen names are boring and Danes therefore usually refer to riders by their other family names instead. That's why TAL is also normally referred to as Tobias Lund in Danish media.

Philipsen is not one of the most common -sen names, but unless he insists on being called that, he's probably going to be known as Albert Withen in the future.