Who is the biggest talent from your country?

[Jakob747]

OK here goes. We have a lot of nationalities in here, so I thought it would be fun to hear from everybody who are into the next generation of riders, as to whom they consider the brightest talent from their respective country.

I have constructed my own little country list, where I name the rider I regard as the single-handed biggest talents in x-country. I have left out any rider who is already riding at pro-tour or pro-continental level. This is just my own subjective opinion - nothing else, feel free to disagree, but don't bash me for forgetting someone or have mentioned someone you personally don't agree with at all or you find utterly useless. As I said this is just my subjective opinion and if you don't agree, in light me on whom I should have considered instead. That way I hope we can get a polite debate about up and coming youngsters, up and running!

Thanks!

 

[Jakob747]

Algeria

Youcef Reguigui 09/01/1990 = Son of one of Algeria's most accomplished cyclists ever (Abdelkadar Reguigui) who among other won the Tour of Algeria back in the late eighties. Y. Reguigui is monitored on a daily basis under guidance of his trainer and mentor Michel Thèze at the UCI Center in Aigle. A resilient competitor Y. Reguigui biggest weapon as a cyclist is his abilities as a strong finisheur. Especially his kick on slight uphill stretches is devastating. So far, this year the young Algerian has collected two victories to his palmares.

Argentina

Daniel Ricardo Diaz 07/07/1989 = In early 2010 the young Argentinian was headhunted by team-manager Ruben Gorospe as an important reinforcement to the well-established Cafés Baque squad. D. Diaz did not waste his time and started delivering immediately. 8 victories were collected over a four month short time span. Results which led to a stagiare contract with Footon -Servetto. When Footon - Servetto then later morphed into Geox shortly before the start of the 2011 season, D. Diaz found himself without a contract for the year. As a consequence, a trip across the border to the well-respected yet more humble La Pomme Marseille outfit had to be made. His breakthrough however, came this January in his home race Tour de San Luis, where he on the queen-stage up the cat-1 climb to Mirador del Sol matched none other than Alberto Contador in a feisty battle for the stage-win. A battle he only narrowly lost! Daniel Diaz is an explosive little climber who also packs a good turn of speed in smaller reduced group sprints. The very high mountains might prove to be a little to much for him, but as long as the "Cols" are named Jaizkibel or Erlaitz, etc. etc. he is in his element. One can vividly imagine him having a leading role in races such as Pais Vasco and San Sebastian in the years to come.

Australia

Lachlan Morton 02/10/1992 = When Lachlan Morton finished 7th in Tour de Utah 2010, while riding on restricted gears at the tender age of 17, team-manager Jonathan Vaughters where quick to twitter that (No other junior rider has been able to do what Lachlan just did since Greg LeMond). The hype could begin! L. Morton originally started out as a triathlete, but at age 12 he decided to turn all his attention towards cycling. In 2010 he took two stages as well as the overall GC in the Canadian junior event Coupe des Nations Abitibi. It was however, during the 2011 edition of Tour de Langkawi on the queen-stage up to Genting Highlands his exceptional climbing pedigree came to their right. He finished 7th on the grueling Malaysian ascent and a solid 6th on final GC. The road seems destined to stardom for the young Aussie and the mixture of phenomenal abilities as a climber pared with good time-trailing skills make him a logic bet for GC glory in the future

Austria

Daniel Paulus 10/03/1993 = The 18 year old prodigy from Vienna has quickly established himself as one of Austria's most emerging young talents. 2011 was quite a success for the tiny Austria. At the short Kinderbergen hill-climb race (6kilometeres at an average gradient of 8%) D. Paulus battered the competition and won the event with a 55sec advantage. A few months later yet another highlight came; in one of the most prestigious junior races around the Giro della Lunigiana where D. Paulus took 10th on the traditional hill-climb finish to Fosdinovo which also earned him a 10th place on final GC. D. Paulus is an excellent little climber who naturally has his force uphill and in hard selective one-day races. His 1-year younger little-brother Dennis is also a talented cyclist in his own right and is currently in his last year as a junior-competitor

Belarus

Stanislau Bazhkou 04/11/1991 = 20 year old Belarusian hard-man who has turned quite a few heads since arriving in Italy 18 months ago. After a fine debut season, at the relative small Aurora Sport team, S. Bazhkou where recruited by the legendary Palazzago team director and wizard Olivio Locatelli, who has made a habit out of finding young talented East-Europeans and turning them into monsters in the U/23 category only to have them slowly burn out as soon as they reach the professional ranks. Time will tell if S. Bazhkou will be yet another victim of the East-European Palazaggo disease. Originally from the track, S. Bazhkou has won numerous medals at National events in everything from Individual Pursuit - Points-Race all the way over to Team Sprint. A strong all-rounder with a very handy turn of pace towards the finish-line, S. Bazhkou is a regular feature in the Top-10 in some of Italy's most challenging one-day events. 3rd in Giro del Belvedere, 7th in GP Palio del Recioto and 8th in Piccola Sanremo are just a few highlights so far in his young career. A major breakthrough performance seems to be just around the corner for the crafty Belarusian.

 

[Bike Boy]

Mads Würtz Schmidt is doing well in the junior ranks

 

[Jakob747]

Belgium

Jasper Stuyven 17/04/1992 = In 2009 Jasper Stuyven won the junior road-race World Championships in Moscow in his first attempt in the junior category. The manner of which he achieved this amazing result was equally impressive as the result itself. A group of 10 had managed to sneak away and with J. Stuyven as one of the main catalyst in the break they managed to stay clear until the finishing line. In the decisive sprint J. Stuyven kept his cool and sprinted his way to the gold medal by beating none other than Arnoud Demare and Austrian fast man Marco Haller respectively. The following year J. Stuyven again caught the headlines this time as he triumphed on the Velodrome in Roubaix as winner of the Junior version of Paris-Roubaix. He managed to win bronze at the junior road-race World Championships in Offida as well, unable to match an impressively strong Oliver le Gac on the day! His powerful physique mixed with his strong abilities in the bunch gallops makes him an ideal man for the Northern classics in the years to come. But make no mistake! Jasper Stuyven is much more versatile than your regular flanderian flat-lander.

Chile

Edison Bravo 19/12/1992 = At the junior Pan-American track championships 2010 in Mexico, one name ran away with all the headlines. Edison Bravo! Gold in the flying 250m. Gold in the point's race. Gold in the Elimination. Gold in the 3km pursuit. Gold in Scratch. Silver in the Kilo. All in all the humble harvest for the 17 year old Chilean talent. Oh did I forget to mention he won the Pan-American junior road-race championship as well. On the road E. Bravo represent Extremadura Spiuk racing on the Spanish armature calendar. In 2011 during the most prestigious stage-race on the Spanish U/23 scene Vuelta Palencia, E. Bravo showed his worth once again. Not only did he animate the race with several attacks, he also managed to win 2-stages along the way. The first came on the penultimate day where he won the 29.2km time trail beating household names like Jesus Ezquerra, Mario Gonzalez Salas, etc. etc. in the process. On the final day he triumphed yet again, this time with a well-timed solo attack on the final climb 12km from the finish. E. Bravo has obvious qualities as a finisheur, but is in general reasonable in all kinds of terrain and it's these excellent all-round qualities that hopefully will take him far in his career.

Colombia

Kevin Rios 24/01/1993 = He won three out of five stages and was crowed champion at last year's Vuelta del Porvenir. He battered the Colombian 3000meter pursuit record when he clocked 3:26:40 at the Alcides Nieto Patiño velodrome in Cali. Several Colombian medias have already drawn comparison between K. Rios and legendary Martin "Cochise" Rodriguez, predicting the young Colombian possesses all the tools to become an international class act! His phenomenal all-round abilities make him a threat on any terrain. However, according to Héctor Iván Palacio he still needs to shed six or seven kilograms to really challenge in the high mountains. With only 19 years of age he has all the time in the world to mold himself into the athlete he wants to become.

Czech Republic

Jakub Novak 30/12/1990 = If Jakub Novak was not such a talented cyclist; he could probably earn a lot of money as a Gianni Bugno look alike. He started mountain-biking at age 14 and the following two years he was fully dedicated to racing on the off-roads. At age 16 he turned to the road and it quickly became clear he had an evident talent for riding against the clock. In 2008 he won the Czech junior TT championship and followed it up with a 9th place on GC at the junior edition of the Peace-Race. In 2009 he moved to the Italian town of Longiano, near Cesenatico and in 2010 he got picked up by one of the real powerhouses on the Italian amateur scene, the Trevigiani Dynamon Bottoli outfit! J. Novak is a real, time-trail specialist; he is however, also a more than handy climber who defends himself really well when the roads turn skywards. At the beginning of this season he went on altitude camp in Livigno, where Passo Gavia and Passo Tonale where conquered several times. He dreams of riding the Tour de France and with his skill-set in mind it not unrealistic to imagine that he at one point in time will try to make an assault on the GC.

Denmark

Magnus Cort Nielsen 16/01/1993 = Originally the young Dane started out as a mountain-biker and at the Youth Olympics in Singapore in 2010 he finished 8th. Not bad considering he was only a first year junior. In 2011 he was selected to the Danish junior road national team, but that was only one of many joys in an extremely successful season. He won the Danish Junior road race championships as well as the Danish junior cycle-cross championships. He took two stages as well as the overall of the junior edition of the Peace-Race. Magnus Cort Nielsen excels as a climber, especially on the longer harder cols. The harder it gets, the better he does. He oozes class and if he can continue his development, there is little doubt he will turn into a real stage-race threat over the years to come.

 

[Jakob747]

Eritrea

Natnael Berhane 05/01/1991 = Last year Natnael Berhane was invited by Quick-Step to attend a 3-day talent training-camp in Kortrijk where the Belgian giants had the chance to monitor some of the hottest young up and comers in the sport. N. Berhane also won stage-6 of Tropicale Amissa Bongo last season by beating Jerome Pineau in a decimated group sprint, which by all means in no mean feat. Afterwards, J. Pineau was also full of praise towards his young rival. There is no reason to be ashamed of losing to a cyclist like Natnael, he rode well, he was the strongest in the peloton, J. Pineau stated. Opportunistic and strong as an ox are the characteristics that best describes the promising Eritrean. Time will tell how far he will actually go, but the raw potential is undoubtedly there!

France

Emilien Viennet 06/02/1992 = The French Peter Sagan? Just like the well know Slovakian prodigy, E. Viennet master almost every aspect of cycling down to perfection. His path has been somewhat similar to the famous Liquigas star as well. E. Viennet has done Road - Mountain-Bike and Cycle-Cross and be among the very best in every discipline. In 2009 he celebrated his biggest win to date when he won the junior European Cycle-Cross Championships in convincing fashion. E. Vinnet goes well uphill, but climbs around six to seven kilometers in length are his limit at the moment, anything beyond and he starts to struggle. He is an excellent time-trailist (2nd in the junior European TT championships), and has a good turn of speed in smaller groups as well. He is daily trained by Julian Pinot (Older-brother of the new French super climber Thibaut Pinot) at the well respect French amateur club CC Etupes. And his coach is not in doubt about the qualities young E. Viennet possesses. Emilien will go very far in his career, about that I have no concern he stated!

Germany

Jasha Sutterlin 04/11/1992 = In 2008 J. Sutterlin won no less than 20 races. He raced from spring to autumn and he just kept winning and winning. A new German "Wunderkind" was born. Talent runs in the family. Jasha's father (Harald Sutterlin) among other won the German hill championships and represented Germany at the Olympics in 1968. Jasha's biggest weapon as a cyclist is his phenomenal abilities as a time-trailist, abilities that has landed him a silver medal at the junior World TT championship in Offida 2010 where only Luxemburg's super-talent Bob Jungles managed to have a better ride on the day. J. Sutterlin is however, also a very good climber who manages to ride well within himself and always limit his losses against the more pure "grimpeurs". In other, words tailor made for stage-racing and there is little doubt Germany has a new contender for some of the biggest races around in this young powerhouse.

Great Britain

Joshua Edmondson 06/07/1992 = 25 kilometers of climbing up the grueling Monte-Grappa pas and finishing only 30 seconds shy of super-talented Fabio Aru is not too shabby, is it? Of course it isn't, especially when you take into consideration that it was done by a 19 year old. A 19 year old that goes by the name of Joshua Thomas Edmondson who undoubtedly is one of the finest pure grimpeur's to come out of the UK for a very, very long time. After an excellent 2011 campaign which contained several highlights, the young brit had an unfortunate start to the New Year. The 19 year old suffered a bad crash in early January and is only now slowly getting back to racing. The last two years has seen young J. Edmondson mature a lot while under the wing of former Team Colpack head honcho Stefano Locatelli (Now professional at Colnago) and he has managed to climb the ranks from valuable domestique to a trusty lieutenant in record time. It will be interesting to see what the future holds for the talented Brit.

Ireland

Sam Bennett 16/10/1990 = In 2009 S. Bennett became the youngest stage winner ever at the Rás when he won stage-7 into Clara at the tender age of 18. In 2010 he secured a trainee contract with FDJ unfortunately a knee injury demolished any chance he had to race with the French setup. In 2011 S. Bennett recorded his biggest win to date, when he crossed the line first in GP Stad Geel, showing his qualities as a fast-man beating several semi-rated sprint names such as Jonas Vangenechten and Wouter Wippert ect. ect. In the process. S. Bennett's future undoubtedly lies in the hard flatlands classics where he mixed with his strong ability as a finisheur always will be a threat, although he might see himself fall short potential-wise against some of the real heavy hitters among the pros

 

[Jakob747]

Italy

Andrea Manfredi 10/02/1992 = In February 2012 A. Manfredi was invited by Team Sky to attend a five day training camp on Mallorca. It was A. Manfredi's agent Giuseppe Acquadro (Agent for Sergio Luis Henao among many others as well) who recommended the young Italian to Dave Brailsford. A. Manfredi debuted in the U/23 ranks last year with plenty of success. He was 7th in GP Palio del Recioto and 13 on GC in Giro delle Valli Cuneesi where he also ran away with the youth jersey. Unfortunately he had to close the season prematurely because of wisdom teeth problems. A. Manfredi is an outstanding climber who with his 55kilos thrives on the steepest of gradients. Look out for the tiny Italian in the high mountains in the years to come, where his explosive riding style is sure to bring joy and fond moments for the many tifosi's.

Kazakhstan

Alexey Lutsenko 07/09/1992 = The talent pool in Kazakhstan has skyrocketed over the past couple of seasons and 19 year old Alexey Lutsenko is the latest superman to hit the European roads with great success in the U/23 department. Unsurprisingly his big idol is Alexander Vinokurov and after his win at the junior Asian road-race championships back in 2010, A. Lutsenko went on the record saying he wished to follow in his famous countryman's footsteps. A. Lutsenko is a powerful all-round athlete. He is a strong rouleur, can climb and has a good kick towards the finish line as well. So far, this season he has sixth Top-10 placing's to his name, but this past month he has gotten closer and closer to raising his arms triumphing in the air. It will only be a matter of time before a big-win comes knocking on the door for the promising Kazak.

Latvia

Toms Skujins 15/06/1991 = Ice-Hockey and Floor-ball paved the road to his Cycling career? Well in a way! Between all his activities the promising Latvian had to ride 40kms back and forth every day and it was during one these transportation rides he completely fell in love with the sport! At age 15 he enrolled in the local bike-club. His talent was obvious and through former pro-rider Avis Piziks connections he ended up in France, representing the traditional La Pomme Marseille club. T. Skujins is an exceptional all-rounder. When on form he climbs reasonable well, he loves the cobbles, has a fast finish to boot, and is one of the best decenders of his generation. His only real Achilles-heal is his TT which isn't his favorite discipline to put it mild. T. Skujins aims to become a classic contender, who can play a role in every single race on the calendar from San-Remo to Liege-Bastogne-Liege. So far, sickness and bad luck has ruined his 2012 campaign, but it's only a matter of time before the "Latvian Michele Bartoli" reels in something big!

Luxembourg

Bob Jungles 22/09/1992 = Touted as the next golden boy in cycling, there is already a lot of pressure on young Bob Jungles shoulders. Being the son of Henri Jungels president of the l'UC Dippach squad, has played an important role in B. Jungels career so far, having a constant knowledgeably mentor and sparing-partner has helped him in what at times can be a very rough environment. August 6th 2010 is a day Bob Jungles won't soon forget, the day he celebrated his biggest win to date, the junior World TT championships in Offida. His fantastic abilities against the clock is not his only quality though; he possesses excellent climbing pedigree as well, as proven when he won the biggest and most demanding junior stage-race on the Spanish calendar - Vuelta al Besaya 2010. A race where he beat some of the sport's other biggest super-talents such as Evgeny Shalunov and Carlos Verona Quintanilla ect. ect.. Strong climbing legs mixed with powerful TT abilities is an excellent combination if you want to become a Grand-Tour contender, and that is exactly what B. Jungles is aiming for, and according too many, the sky is the limit!

Netherlands

Daan Olivier 24/11/1992 = The 19 year old from Oegstgeest only picked up cycling in 2008 up until that point his preferred sport where ice-skating. 1 year after his introduction to cycling he was included to the Dutch National team before the start of Kroz Istrie (Croatia) where his finished 22nd overall. In 2010 he finished 2nd on GC in Liège - La Gleize and Grand Prix Rüebliland. He also took one stage win and 3rd on GC in Vuelta Valladolid, results which earned him a contract with the mighty Rabobank development squad. With his 1.85cm and 64kilos D. Olivier is one lanky climber perfectly suited for hard selective terrain. His TT abilities are however, not too shabby either meaning stage-race ambitions defiantly is plausible for the talented Rabobank CT rider!

 

[Jakob747]

New Zeeland

Josh Atkins 26/06/1992 = 19 year old Josh Atkins has already written history. In 2011 he became the youngest winner ever of the Tour of Southland. Currently, living and training in Boulder - Colorado, J. Atkins is part of the Bontrager-Livestrong development squad. His palmares also include Two gold medals from the New Zeeland junior road and TT championships in 2010 and a 2nd place on GC in Tour of Tasmania in 2011. A small pocket rocket climber J. Atkins possesses an enormous power to weight ratio, if nurtured correctly our Kiwi friends might have a mighty promising stage-racing talent at their hands.

Norway

Sonder Holst Enger 17/12/1993 = Atle Kvålsvoll is full of praise when the talk turns toward the 18 year old talent from Horten. Kvålsvoll is especially impressed with the young Norwegian's determination and approach to the sport. He is a very opportunistic rider with an interesting rider-repertoire Kvålsvoll stated. Sonders's father (Fred Arne) was also a talented cyclist back in the day, who among other took 9th at the junior World road race Championships in Leipzig 1981. Sonder Holst Enger is a very all-round athlete he handles the hills reasonably well, has a strong TT, and a very; very fast finishing kick towards the line. Has already impressed with three Top-10 placing's in this year's edition of Tour Du Loir Et Cher.

Panama

Ramon Carretero 26/11/1990 = 21 years of age and the youngest winner ever of Vuelta Chiriquí is quite an accomplishment in itself. But Ramon Carretero's merits doesn't stop here, far from actually! In 2010 the dark-haired wonder-boy won the Pan-American U/23 TT championships in convincing fashion in front of Ben King (USA) and Ramiro Cabrera (Uruguay). Prior to the junior World road-race championships in South Africa 2008, R. Carretero where connected to the UCI-Center in Aigle to optimize his conditioning. He had to travel back home from Cape Town with a disappointment in the back though, as he DNF the road-race. R. Carretero is a full blow time-trail specialist, who looks as if he was born to sit on a TT-bike. Right now he is undergoing a tough schooling at the Movistar Continental squad. Soon he will be facing his hardest challenge to date, as he will be on the start-line at this year's Vuelta a Colombia from the 12th to the 26th of June.

Poland

Szymon Rekita 05/01/1994 = In 2010 S. Retika established himself as the absolutely dominating figure on the Polish junior scene. In 2011 he took his success one step further and showed off his skills on the international calendar. Three Top-10 placing's and a final 7th place on GC in the junior version of the Peace Race and respectable showings at the junior European Championships (Both in the TT and the road-race) where the highlight of his season. Unfortunately a broken collarbone in July meant him sitting out of the junior World Championships which fell just six weeks later, a bitter pill to swallow as it was meant to be the main objective of his season. Szymon Rekita is strong uphill and thrives in difficult terrain. Although he was 5th at the TT at the Peace Race he still points out that he needs significant improvement in that department if he ever wants to have any GC ambitions what-so ever.

Portugal

Rafael Reis 19/09/1992 = 2010 Youth Olympian TT champion in front of Jay McCarthy (Australian) and Michael Valgren Andersen (Denmark). R. Reis also showed his qualities as a finisheur when he took silver in the road-race winning the sprint for second beating one of Italy's biggest sprint hopes for the future Nicolas Marini. Versatile is one of the keywords when trying to label the talented Portuguese, who frankly masters almost anything on a road bike! He is strong on undulating terrain- he can TT - he is a fast finisher and if his 9th place in the junior Paris-Roubaix (2010) is anything to go by he handles cobblestones excellent as well. One of the most well-rounded athletes in the class of 92.

 

[Jakob747]

Russia

Evegeny Shalunov 08/01/1992 = Winner of Vuelta a la Rioja 2012. The 20 year old Russian from Saint Petersburg originally started out on the track where he is a multiple Russian champion in Team- Pursuit (2009 - 2010) and bronze medalist in Points-Race (2010). In 2011 he was offered a stagiare contract with Team RadioShack after several dominating performance's on the Spanish U/23 calendar. 8 victories within two months is not only outstanding it's also rather hard to ignore and Johan Bruyneel and co where quick to react! The sudden merger with Leopard Teak before the 2012 campaign, meant the young Russian where left in the cold however! Evegeny Shalunov's potential really seem unlimited. A strong climber and time-trailist - grand-tour ambitions would seem logical. However, his reckless riding style often cost needless energy though and he needs to somewhat tone down his gong-ho approach if he wants to really succeed GC-wise.

Slovenia

Jan Polanc 06/05/1992 = In 2013 J. Polanc will join Lampre-ISD on the World-Tour having signed a 2-year contract with the Italian giants back in early January. Jab Polanc is an up and coming hilly Classics specialist with solid all-rounder qualities capable of winning races on almost any kind of terrain. This season's spring campaign saw him place 11th in Zlm Tour - 13th in La Côte Picarde and 17th in the U/23 version of Tour of Flanders. In 2010 he finished 5th at the junior World road race Championships in Offida (Italy).

South Africa

Louis Meintjes 21/02/1992 = Ever since John-Lee Augustyn crashed and broke his femur at the TT in Tour of Portugal (2007) he has struggled to get back to his old level. A huge blow for South African cycling, but now there seems to be light ahead of the tunnel yet again, this time in shape of young Louis Meintjes. With his 1.68cm and 60kg - L. Meintjes has the build of a pure-climber. His force is also riding uphill, but he is by any means no slouch at against the clock either. His 11th place at Vuelta Al Besaya (2010) shows there is something to build upon and if South Africa are to have another GC threat for the stage-races, chances are they have to look towards Louis Meintjes!

Spain

Omar Fraile 17/07/1990 = Regarded as the next super-climber from the Iberian Peninsula, Omar Fraile is currently representing the colors of Orbea - also known as the satellite squad of Euskaltel Euskadi. A contract with the orange armada has actually already been signed for the 2013 season. Originally a mountain-biker O. Fraile turned all his attention to the road back in 2009 after also fiddling with a bit of cycle-cross in the off-season. His debut year with the tiny Ibaigane-Opel outfit was relatively so-so although he did manage to get in a few breakaways in Bizkaiko-Bira. In 2010 he snatched two wins and 11 other Top-10 placing's and finished 4th on the Trofeo Euskaldun U/23 ranking as well as 5th on the Trofeo Lehendakari ranking. In 2011 he won the prestigious Spanish climbing-classic - Subida a Gorla as well as the mountain-top finish in Vuelta Palencia finishing on top of Alto del Golobar. An explosive climber Omar Fraile masters the ability of changing rhythm while going uphill. His time trail abilities are top-notch as well and he is hard to look past when future GC contenders are mentioned.


Sweden

Markus Faglum-Karlsson 20/07/1994 = 17 year old Swedish talent who attends the cycling-college in Skara, where he studies to become an electrician. That's however, a BIG if because first and foremost his dream is to make it as a professional cyclist. He is well on his way! Double Swedish junior road and TT champion from 2011 as well as 4th in the junior World TT's in Copenhagen. His role-models are Philippe Gilbert and Johnny Hoogerland because of their aggressive riding styles, something the young Swede has incorporated in his own way of racing as well. 1.80cm and 70kg - Markus Faglum-Karlsson is an excellent time trailist; he does however, also have good pedigree for racing in the bunch. Opportunistic and determined there is no denying Faglum-Karlsson is a name to watch for the future.

 

[Jakob747]

Switzerland

Stefan Kung 16/11/1993 = Originally from Wilen (Switzerland) junior cyclist Stefan Kung is a man of many talents - both on the road as well as on the track. However, during the junior European Championships in 2010, there was a bit of polemic about his heritage. President of the Liechtenstein cycling foundation, Yvonne Ritter-Elkuch picked up the information that S. Kung also possessed a Liechtensteiner pass-port due to his grandmother who was born and raised in Liechtenstein. S. Kung has however, since stated that he intends to continue represent Switzerland in the future. With his 1.92cm and 78kg - he is an extremely powerful athlete, who has proved himself to be a versatile and consistent rider across the board. Especially TT's and hard 1-day events are his force, while long hard cols never will be his kind of terrain.


Ukraine

Marien Zmorka 01/07/1993 = Growing up in the old East European republic, Marien Zmorka has been spoon-feed with riding heavy gears and training kilometre after kilometre on deserted Ukrainian highway. It's that old-fashioned schooling which has brought him success against the clock, both nationally and internationally. His biggest results to date came at the 2010 European junior TT championships in Ankara (Turkey) where he took the bronze medal only defeated by Kirill Yatsevich (Gold) and Emilien Viennet (Silver) who both where in a league of their own that day! With his huge engine the talented Ukrainian could be a factor in long-distance 1-day events somewhere down the road!

United States

Lawson Craddock 20/02/1992 = "Remember the name Lawson Craddock". That famous tweet came from none other than the 7-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong on July 1th 2010. A gifted all-round athlete there has been plenty of speculation on what path L. Craddock should move towards in his career. Right now the arrow points toward Time-Trail and Northern classic specialist. A silver and bronze medalist from the junior World TT championships in 2009 and 2010 show his pedigree against the clock. He has also been on the podium at the 2010 junior edition of Paris-Roubaix. In 2011 he finished 11th at the U/23 Tour of Flanders. Currently, one of the front figures at the Bontrager - Livestrong squad.

Venezuela

Jonathan Salinas 31/05/1990 = Is the promising Venezuelan a future Team Saxobank rider? Right now it's too early to tell, but in early Marts 21 year old J. Salinas started a 3-months long trail with Team Saxobank's Italian based U/23 squad. He started the 2012 season excellent when he finished 11th on GC in Vuelta al Tachira where he also won the best young rider classification. On the legendary finishing-climb up to La Grita on Stage-7, he demonstrated his climbing abilities when he finished 9th outperforming the former so highly regarded Movistar CT duo Carlos Galviz 11th and Jose Alarcon 15th on the day!

 

[DominicDecoco]

Hats off, Jakob. Exellent work.

As mentioned, Mads Würtz Schmidt would be considered as the next big thing i Denmark with results at the Junior WC in Copenhagen and recently the Paris-Roubaix.

 

[Jakob747]

Mads Würtz Schmidt is doing well in the junior ranks

You are absolutely right! He is a very promising rider indeed -.).

 

[Parrulo]

Great job Jakob747, Rafael Reis is indeed an awesome talent with a very charismatic hair

 

[stefrees]

That is one of the most enjoyable pieces I've read in a long time, bravo sir

 

[Bike Boy]

You are absolutely right! He is a very promising rider indeed -.).

Bravo great job. I just named one very obvious talent, but you sure did a very thorough ressearch.

 

[Escarabajo]

Cyclingnews should do an article on this thread. Good research.

I am excited about the Colombian promise because usually is the other way around where we get the climber first and not the track talent who can develop into a Time-Trialist.

 

[hatcher]

Great stuff. I haven't read through them yet, but I'm looking forward to it.

 

[will10]

Immense thread. Chapeau.

 

[FF'Wilco]

Great work! Some interesting choices like Viennet (since there are a lot of interesting prospects in France like Le Gac, Lecuisinier, Senechal, Daniel or Barguil) and Manfredi (actually never heard of him ). Agreed with many names like Edmondson, Skujins, Jungels or Sutterlin

 

[ferryman]

Wow Jakob, just wow Great work my friend.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

As the archived proceedings of the Plenary Sessions of the Congress of People's Soviets would put it:

(Stormy applause)

 

[Jakob747]

Thanks a lot for all the nice words! You are absolutely kind all of you.

 

[Jakob747]

Great work! Some interesting choices like Viennet (since there are a lot of interesting prospects in France like Le Gac, Lecuisinier, Senechal, Daniel or Barguil) and Manfredi (actually never heard of him ). Agreed with many names like Edmondson, Skujins, Jungels or Sutterlin

I did consider Warren Barguil a lot, but with him practically being an Argos-Shimano rider already, I found him to be a somewhat conservative choice.

Oliver le Gac was also on the short-list. According to his trainer (Samuel Monnerais) he is a real phenomenon.

Florian Senechal and Alexis Gougeard where both at the Quick-Step talent camp last year and according to what I have been told, they left a very good impression!

I just have a really soft-spot for Emilien Viennet

 

[macnir]

absolutely magnificant,very interesting!

I remember Jasha Sutterlin himself wanted to be a Degenkolb-like rider,but he will be great whatever.

Interested about Lutsenko,how will you compare him with Arman Kamyshev?

 

[maltiv]

Really great job on the thread and all the research! Will definitely be interesting to dig this thread up in a few years and see who of those end up succeeding.

As for your pick from Norway, Sondre Holst Enger, I absolutely agree. He's a really determined guy with a massive potential. Weirdly enough, he seems to be exactly the same type of rider as Hushovd and EBH - i.e strong finish, but still decent in hills and TT's.

 

[Jakob747]

Interested about Lutsenko,how will you compare him with Arman Kamyshev?

Potential wise I give a slight edge to A. Lutsenko. Obviously Arman Kamyshev is really talented as well!

I guess it comes down to personal taste in the end. For me A. Lutsenk has a more interesting rider-repertoire. I see a wider path for him down the line.

Arman Kamyshev reminds me a little bit of a young Assan Bazayev. I wish him success as well.