In a revamp to the race's long-standing format, the men's Tour de l'Avenir, the leading stage race for riders on the amateur and under-23 circuit, will open up to development squads of professional teams from this year.
The race, which holds a reputation as a 'young rider's Tour de France' with past winners including Greg LeMond, Miguel Indurain, Egan Bernal, and Tadej Pogačar, has been contested by national selections since 2007.
This year, however, race organisers A-VELO have requested that the UCI classify the race as a 2.2U, meaning that, from this season, Continental development teams will be able to take part alongside any national teams that continue to participate.
"This evolution of the rules of participation in the Tour de l'Avenir is fully in line with the reality of today's high-level cycling, which has seen, as a consequence of the reform of professional cycling initiated by the UCI, professional teams gradually investing in the reception and training of (very) young riders by creating development teams, veritable nurseries of the UCI WorldTour ecosystem," the organisers announced in a statement released on Thursday.
"The Tour de l'Avenir thus confirms its vocation as a talent scout, wherever they come from, whether they are part of a national team or a professional team."
This news comes after the UCI announced the end of the under-23 Nations' Cup series, which was raced by national teams, in favour of development team-led UCI races. UCI president David Lappartient initially said in September that the Tour de l'Avenir would remain an exception raced by national teams, but that appears to have changed in the last months.
The Tour de l'Avenir Femmes, launched in 2023, is expected to continue with national teams for the time being, given the very small number of women's U23 development outfits.
The 2026 edition of the men's Tour de l'Avenir will run from August 19-27, although the route has yet to be announced. Recent winners Isaac Del Toro, Joseph Blackmore, and Paul Seixas will not be taking part, with the trio currently racing on WorldTour squads.
The race has been held since 1961 and has been through several iterations. At times, it has been open to professionals, and, after 1992, it was open to all riders under the age of 25. Since 2007, the race has been run as part of the UCI Nations Cup, with only riders between the ages of 18 and 22 racing in national teams invited.
A-VELO confirmed that 10 WorldTour development squads will be taking part in 2026, including those of Ineos Grenadiers, Soudal-QuickStep, and Visma-Lease a Bike. A list of national teams taking part will be released at a later date.
