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Junior racing - The stars of the future

Page 20 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
I could only have been fooled if the right guy's surname hadn't been mentioned. Tadej Valjavec wasn't exactly a no name.

Might have heard of him, but he wasn't exactly a big name.
And I thought it was a question of "Is Erazem Valjavec a cousin, or something, to Tadej?"

Felix Kristoff is, however, in fact the little brother of Alexander!

Was he in this race? The only Norwegian I can seem to find is Casper Rode. However, I saw your earlier post about him; he's Alexander's half-brother, right? Same mother, different father. Which I guess would mean that the "Kristoff" surname comes from their mother.

I'm guessing Tobias Kool is the younger brother of Charlotte.

Is Arne Desimpelaere related to 1944 P-R winner Maurice Desimpelaere? A great-great-grandson, or something.

And then there was a rather shocking comeback!

 
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Jarno Widar is an underrated Junior rider. Noone ever mentioned him when they are talking about the best juniors or even the best Belgian juniors, but his results say enough. I wonder if Lotto can convince him to sign with them (he's in the junior team that has partnered up with Lotto), won't be easy, and he did not go on the Lotto u23 trainingcamp last week (Van den Heede, another good one from that team, did). Maybe the story of De Lie could convince him. Lotto is struggling to get the best Belgian junior riders to their DEVO team the last few years tho and it hasn't gotten easier with Alpecin, QS and Intermarché also having a DEVO team.
 
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He didn't turn 16 until December, but Hector Alvarez is quickly confirming to be the next big thing coming from Spain. Currently dominating where ever he rides, with 4 wins from 4 race days. We could have another Carlos Rodriguez vs. Juan Ayuso situation on our hands here, with the also very talented Adria Pericas being a first year too. The Spanish class of 2006 is looking rather stacked, with Marcos Freire and Marco Martin also in there.
 
Titouan Fontaine won. As said, a very talented kid. Part of the FDJ junior programme, he thrives in the TT and one day races. Made a big impression on me when he challenged Tarling as a first year junior last season.

Steffen De Schuyteneer just won the last stage of the Guido Reybrouck, probably the first of many this season. Oscar Chamberlain 2nd in GC, the big Aussie who will do damage this year.
 
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Just like the pros Gent - Wevelgem is tomorrow. It's your usual suspects from the last few weeks (Sentjens, Fontaine, De Schuyteneer, Erzen, Giaimi, Smithson, Brennan e.g.), but with a few new additions. A storm is approaching and his name is Theodor. Prior to the season I said that I believe Nordhagen and Storm will dominate the season in their respective areas, tomorrow we'll see if I was correct to some extend.

Storm will have help from Anton Louw Larsen, a first year junior who had some big results last year. Now, there is another Dane I am particularly interested in, but he is not riding for the national team, so more on that later. First, however, the Americans are coming too. AJ August isn't here unfortunately, but they are bringing Alejandro Che, who I think is very talented.

The biggest addition to the startlist is Auto Eder, who are riding their first race of the season. They bring Martin Barta, who was Mr. Consistency himself, to the starting line. No big wins as of yet, but it feels only like a matter of time and he could be really high up the rankings this year. They also bring three REALLY good first year juniors. Nicolas Bialon isn't exactly made for cobbles, but he'll fly up a mountain. The harder the race, the faster he goes. Last year, when he was 15, he managed to go toe to toe with WorldTour pros. Theodor Clemmensen is the Dane I mentioned earlier. He won just about any race there was up north, from Randers to Himmelfahrt, and even managed to get some podium spots with the juniors already. Paul Fietzke had many wins in Germany and Switzerland and already had a win this year in a local race. Tamas Hancz is said to be pretty good too, but I know too little about him to really tell anything meaningful.

There are also differentiating reports about the participation of a certain Bisiaux, we'll keep an eye on that.
 
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Fear no more, Bisiaux is indeed here.
 
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Steffen De Schuyteneer masterclass. This was a special ride and already one of the best of the entire year. He was on the attack with Victor Vaneeckhoutte almost the entire day, but dropped him on what I think was the Baneberg. He went over the Kemmel solo, but got caught by Clemmensen and Sentjens with about 10 kilometers to go. Then just casually attacked again and won solo. Clemmensen very good in his debut, even better than expected. Juan David Sierra, an import Colombian, 7th.
 
I could see Karl Kurits having a Romet Pajur revelation kind of season. He's very, very fast. Paul Fietzke and Theodor Clemmensen confirming their status they held with the U17's, Leidert confirming his very promising season he had in the shadow of Herzog last year. Fietzke (which more or less means bike in Dutch) and Leidert (which more or less means leader in Dutch), golden duo.
 
RE: Clemmensen. He might be the big Danish first year junior currently, but there is a dark horse coming from the depths. His name is Albert Philipsen. Road experience: next to 0. However, he is making the leap this year, and I feel like he is one of those special riders who just excel whatever they do. He comes from the mountain bike, where he is the European champ, but had little to no problem making the transition to CX and just casually finished 8th in the World Championships in what was his third ever cross. He could be a big revelation this year.

There's also Carl Emil Just Pedersen, but that's for another time.
 
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RE: Clemmensen. He might be the big Danish first year junior currently, but there is a dark horse coming from the depths. His name is Albert Philipsen. Road experience: next to 0. However, he is making the leap this year, and I feel like he is one of those special riders who just excel whatever they do. He comes from the mountain bike, where he is the European champ, but had little to no problem making the transition to CX and just casually finished 8th in the World Championships in what was his third ever cross. He could be a big revelation this year.

There's also Carl Emil Just Pedersen, but that's for another time.


How much will albert focus on the road compared to mountain bike this year ?
 
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