In the past, riders younger than 23 were considered to be future prospects and the term 'espoir', which means hope, defined the age bracket of developing riders. In the recent years, however, young riders have become a dominant force in professional cycling and a growing contingent is graduating from the junior ranks into the WorldTour.
The class of 2023 is following the trend, especially in the Women's WorldTour where at least six 18-year-olds have signed with teams. Two juniors have moved into the WorldTour, with American AJ August the youngest, signing to Ineos Grenadiers on a three-year contract. Briton Izzy Sharp will showcase her talents for three years with the women's Lidl-Trek team.
Other riders have bided their time and spent a few seasons in under-23/development teams but are now ready to break through at the highest level.
A neo-pro is a rider in the first year of a professional contract above the Continental level, and we've selected some of the most exciting WorldTour debutants to keep an eye on in the coming season.
AJ August (Ineos Grenadiers through 2026)
Andrew "AJ" August just turned 18 on October 12, 2023, but he already had a three-year contract to race with the Ineos Grenadiers in hand. Hailing from Pittsford, New York, a small town outside Rochester, August raced with the prominent junior team Hot Tubes and first caught the attention of European fans when he won the Koppenbergcross junior cyclocross race last year.
That result had followed a summer where August dipped his toe into European racing and came away with top 10s in the Internationale Juniordriedaagse in the Netherlands, the Junioren Rundfahrt in Austria, a stage win in the Watersley Junior Challenge and second overall at the Ronde des Vallées in 2022.
With a base of success already building, he went on this year to win a stage of the Redlands Bicycle Classic and take second overall in the elites, second overall in the Course de la Paix Juniors Nations Cup, the US junior time trial title, and then two stages of the Ain Bugey Valromey Tour - both on mountaintop finishes - and the overall classification.
Ineos have such confidence in this young American they've given him a contract through 2026, one year longer than the usual neo-pro deal.
Izzy Sharp (Lidl-Trek through 2026)
Another rider who just turned 18 and signed a three-year WorldTour contract is British multi-discipline powerhouse Izzy Sharp.
Sharp has demonstrated her talents both on the track and in the Classics, with European titles in the Madison and Points Race, the Junior World Championship in the Team Pursuit and on the road with a win in the Gent-Wevelgem junior race, the Omloop Borsele where she won the time trial, and a silver medal at the World Championships in Glasgow in the junior time trial.
She named Ellen van Dijk as one of her idols in the team's signing announcement.
"I'm really excited but also nervous at the same time," Sharp said. "It's a big step but I'm really happy to have the support of my dream team as I head into the world of elite cycling. Lidl-Trek has always been my dream team and I think it speaks volumes when you see that a lot of riders have remained with the team long-term with a lot of the best, invested sponsors."
The team plan to keep Sharp on a more gradual path but Sharp has shown great potential and could shine in 2024.
Luke Lamperti (Soudal-Quick-Step through 2025)
The three-time US criterium champion could probably have gone pro sooner but opted to complete a third under-23 year with Trinity Racing before making the leap, signing with Patrick Lefevere's outfit for two years.
Lefevere called him "one of the most talented riders coming from the U23 ranks", and said, "he has a lot of potential and a big love for the Classics."
Lamperti showed his talents as a junior, winning two stages of the Tour of Ireland and a stage of the GP Rüebliland but his name first landed on the radar when he beat all the elites to win the US criterium title in 2021, becoming the youngest rider to do so. He had a solid result at the 2021 Worlds in the under-23 race but was disqualified for an incident early in the race.
Stage wins in the Volta ao Alentejo, Circuit des Ardennes, Tour de Bretagne, Tour of Japan (and the points classification) and Giro Next Gen this year showed Lamperti is ready for the big leagues - he'll just have to choose a less obvious nickname because Lampy's already taken by Yves Lampaert.
Fleur Moors (Lidl-Trek through 2025)
Belgian Fleur Moors landed a two-year contract with Lidl-Trek and is part of a group of four junior riders stepping up with the American team next season.
Moors won the European road race title for juniors, was third in the World Championships and won a stage of the Watersley Challenge Juniors.
She acknowledged the lack of a cohesive under-23 path for women and said, "It's a big step" joining the WorldTour. But like Sharp, sports director Ina-Yoko Teutenberg has a plan to give all of the juniors a chance to find their way.
"She is just turning 18 in a sport which doesn't have an easy step between the junior ranks and the pros. Her bronze at Worlds and gold at Euros show that she is an exciting talent," Teutenberg said.
Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates through 2026)
Isaac Del Toro is on track to become a major cycling hero for Mexico, having won the Tour de l'Avenir and earned a three-year contract with UAE Team Emirates.
Like many North Americans, Del Toro started his cycling pursuits off-road, racing at the world level last year in mountain bike and cyclocross, but his level flew under the radar in his first European season. Despite fracturing his femur in training in August 2022, Del Toro returned for a strong showing in Europe, steadily rising through the ranks and finishing on the podium of the Valle d'Aosta before starting the Tour de l'Avenir.
Del Toro made the winning move on stage 6 to the Col de la Loze and beat Israel-Premier Tech's Matthew Riccitello to the stage win to move from 22nd to third overall. He lost time to race leader Riccitello in the time trial but gained back 25 seconds on the next stage's summit finish. The next day, Del Toro went on the attack, gaining enough time on the last climb to snatch the yellow jersey from the shoulders of Riccitello.
Julie Bego (Cofidis)
The junior world champion will graduate to Cofidis in 2024 after doing a stint with the team as a trainee this year. Bego got her start in cyclocross as a precocious 16-year-old, racing as a junior early due to her January birthday. She landed on the podium in her first attempt at the national championships and won her first national series race the next year at 17.
Her cyclocross pursuits take a backseat to the road and have been limited to the French national series. Bego's first major result came in the Tour du Gévaudan Occitanie femmes nation's cup in 2022 and 2023 where she finished second overall after stellar rides to the aérodrome in Mende on the 'Montée Jalabert'.
This season an overall victory in the Bizkaikoloreak two-day stage race preceded her Worlds victory in Glasgow. Bego plans to continue studying while racing with Cofidis.
"I really want to see how it goes, see the level, understand where I stand," Bego said. "Next year will be a year of discovery with the idea of doing as many races as possible to learn. Living in Chambéry, I appreciate long climbs, I have a climber-puncher side. I very I want to put my qualities at the service of the Cofidis collective!"
Jan Christen (UAE Team Emirates through 2028)
The Swiss rider inked one of the longest WorldTour contracts, committing to UAE Team Emirates through 2028. Only two other riders have mapped out their futures that far: Kasper Borremans, who is in Bahrain Victorious' development club and has promised to join the WorldTour in 2027-2028, and Derek Gee (Israel-Premier Tech).
Mauro Gianetti said the team has been following Christen and are ready to give him a chance to step up. "He is a very young rider who we hope can continue to grow and develop both as a cyclist and as a person in our team."
Christen has also put his foot in the mud in cyclocross, winning the junior world title in Fayetteville in 2022, and has been equally successful on the road, winning the Swiss time trial title twice, the European road race in 2022, the Tour du Pays de Vaud, a stage of the Giro Next Gen this year and top tens in the GC at the Giro and Tour de l'Avenir.
"I'm very happy to make this step in my career and I'm thankful for the trust that Mauro, Matxin and UAE Team Emirates have shown in me. I'm joining one of the biggest and best teams and I'm very excited for the years ahead but also so thankful to Hagens Berman Axeon for the valuable experience these months and for the opportunities they gave me.
"The first aim now is to learn and grow as much as possible and find my feet in the pro peloton and score soon my first pro win. It's a dream become reality and I can't wait to get started."
Isabella Holmgren (Lidl-Trek through 2025)
Twin sisters Isabella and Ava Holmgren made history for Canada as the first riders to win medals at the UCI Cyclocross World Championships in Hoogerheide this year, with Isabella claiming the rainbow jersey and Ava the silver medal. Both have signed with Lidl-Trek through 2025 and it's tough to pick which one to watch in 2024 as they are equally talented.
Isabella Holmgren made our list because of her double rainbow year: she won the MTB World Championships junior cross country race along with a top 10 in the road race in Glasgow this year and the Pan-American Cyclocross title in the elites.
"Being a part of a WorldTour Team was a long-term goal of mine, so to have been approached with this amazing opportunity coming out of the junior category was slightly shocking, but very exciting," Isabella Holmgren said in the team's signing announcement.
Josu Larrazabal, Lidl-Trek's head of performance, explained why the team picked up so many riders from the junior ranks. "We believe it makes more sense to fit a development structure within our WorldTour program, which will allow the younger riders the chance to ride smaller races whilst surrounded by experienced professionals to help guide them. If the time is right and the characteristics suit them, these developing riders will also get a chance to ride WorldTour races on occasion."
Antonio Morgado (UAE Team Emirates through 2027)
The Portuguese rider is another who has come through Axel Merckx's Hagens Berman Axeon team, but even before that, he showed himself as a prolific winner. He claimed 48 victories including a dozen stage race overall classifications, the double junior Portuguese road titles in 2022, the under-23 TT title this year along with the UCI 2.2-ranked Tour of Rhodes and the silver medal in the under-23 race at Worlds in Glasgow.
Morgado is looking forward to a four-year stint with UAE Team Emirates.
"I'm arriving to the team with a lot of desire and ambition. I'm very happy to have this opportunity, I've always dreamed of this," he said in the team announcement. "The people I know in the team have spoken very highly about it and I'm thrilled to be a part of it. I'm ready to work hard to achieve great things together here at UAE."
