U23 WORLDS WINNERS

If you’re looking for a list of riders who are tipped for great things in the future, the U23 Worlds results are a good start. Matej Mohoric is among the race’s colourful list of 23 winners who have gone on to varying degrees of success since the event began in 1996. Ivan Basso (1998) was among a crop of Italian talent who won and dominated the U23 Worlds in its "irst years, but while Basso went on to win the Giro twice, his compatriot Leonardo Giordani, who won the rainbow bands the following year, never won a pro race.

Among the biggest success stories are Gerald Ciolek (2006 winner), who was the surprise winner of Milan-San Remo in 2013, and Arnaud Démare (2011), who also counts San Remo and Tour stage wins on his palmarès. Michael Matthews (2010 winner) similarly has continued to show his early promise, winning multiple Tour stages and the race’s green jersey.

But also consider Fabio Duarte, winner in 2008. He was arguably the "irst climbing talent of this generation to emerge from Colombia, but unlike his compatriots Quintana, Urán and Bernal, Duarte never kicked on in the same way. Now aged 32 he’s in his second season at Manzana Postobón. Sergey Lagutin (2003) is rare as the only Uzbek rider – he later changed to a Russian licence – to take a title in the Worlds. Yet Lagutin had to wait late for his biggest success – a stage win in the Vuelta, aged 35. Yaroslav Popovych (2001) was seen as a successor to Lance Armstrong when he joined Discovery Channel in 2005 – Armstrong even tipped him as a future winner of the Tour. But when the Ukranian took the leadership reins of the team he struggled, and spent the remainder of his career as a domestique.