Lidl-Trek's Mathias Vacek had been a constant throughout this year's Giro d'Italia so far, and looks set to be a star of the future after playing a key role for race leader Mads Pedersen throughout the Albanian Grande Partenza and the first day on Italian roads.
Vacek, still just 22, leads the best young rider classification four days into the action, with top-tier positioning and lead-outs for Pedersen, alongside a strong stage 2 time trial, leaving him third overall. He shouldn't be too unknown, given his exploits at last year's Vuelta a España – where he finished second twice on stages 1 and 7 on Grand Tour debut – but his versatility has put him well into the focus of the cycling world.
