Men's U23 races and talents

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Decomble I thought was just like a hilly guy who could climb reasonably well for Seixas when needed, a bit like Blackmore last year. Giving him that time seems foolish in hindsight but he's punching above his weight, wouldn't expect him still to be here.
 
You can't beat Widar if you go with him into the last km. Like 80% of his wins are like this.

The French still in position to win this. Even if Decomble cracks in the MTT, Seixas really should win that TT.

EDIT: Decomble lost 27seconds, I don't think he holds on his advantage in the TT.
 
It's a bizarre mindset to see six young cyclists riding at a superb, equal level and producing exciting racing, only to complain that there isn't one guy who is dominating the rest. Really odd.
I'm not complaining. I just think there is no rider here who will come close to Vingegaard/Pogacar level. Just a feeling, I can be wrong.
But I think it would be good for cycling to see young riders giving a headache to these 2. Otherwise, Pogacar and Vingegaard will collect GTs after their 30s.
 
Widar is giving me Purito Giro 2012 vibes. Pretty conservative rides. I think he has the legs to attack from far out (more than 5 km) but he is waiting for his "safe and reliable" final punch to win.

He attacked like 6 times...

Don't ge me wrong, yes Purito is exactly the kind of rider I would compare him too, but it's not like he doesn't want to drop the others earlier. He has the accelaration but he can't keep it up afterwards. It isn't new. Also why I think (obv an opinion, it's too early to tell) he will never really be the top GC rider, but he will win a lot thanks to his punch in the last km.
 
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He attacked like 6 times...

Don't ge me wrong, yes Purito is exactly the kind of rider I would compare him too, but it's not like he doesn't want to drop the others earlier. He has the accelaration but he can't keep it up afterwards. It isn't new. Also why I think (obv an opinion, it's too early to tell) he will never really be the top GC rider, but he will win a lot thanks to his punch in the last km.
Not gonna argue with you. For me,he is looking like vintage Purito. In this way, he can win a lot of stages but not GCs.
 
I'm not complaining. I just think there is no rider here who will come close to Vingegaard/Pogacar level. Just a feeling, I can be wrong.
But I think it would be good for cycling to see young riders giving a headache to these 2. Otherwise, Pogacar and Vingegaard will collect GTs after their 30s.
These guys are eight years younger than Pogacar and other than Seixas, nobody is a WT rider. They've had the benefit of professional set-ups from a younger age, but they're also performing at a much higher level than basically any u23 riders before. I honestly don't think Pogacar and Vingegaard will be factors by the time this lot reach their mid 20s, and it's unreasonable to expect 21yos to be at the level that Pogacar has been since 2024.
 
the MTT this afternoon:
tour-de-l-avenir-2025-stage-7-profile-n2-1303a657528fea83e124.jpg


We will see the strongest climber emerging with the GC still in play.
 
This must be one of the most bizarre racing days of a race I've ever seen. A 41 km mountain stage preceded by a 35 km neutral start in the morning and then an MTT in the afternoon.

Brilliant decision to not broadcast the first of the stages, very well thought through.
To be fair, this was originally meant to be the last stage and 120+ km long.

I assume it was changed because of issues with the roads needed in Italy? But even then, it'd have been better with the neutral start down to Montvalezan and then the MTT route up to the fictive start today.

But that could probably not be done because of the women's race ...
 

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