(Photo: ASO/Thomas Maheux)
The Tour de l’Avenir has just finished. We thought we’d take a look at how some of the recent race winners have faired since turning professional. The race is known as the Tour of Future where talent is discovered or confirmed.
This year’s event was won by 20-year-old Egan Bernal who will ride for Team Sky next year. Highly regarded as one of the biggest talents in the sport, Bernal attracted the attention of several teams. He was under contract with Androni Giocattoli, the team who discovered him and the news of the transfer suggest Sky paid a transfer fee to get him out of his contract. Bernal has been very impressive this season and many fans will be following his progression in the World Tour.
Here’s a look at what some of the recent l’Avenir winners have achieved since turning professional.
Miguel Ángel López (Credit: ASO/Unipublic/PhotoGomezSport/Luis Angel Gómez)
Miguel Ángel López (2014)
Like Bernal, Lopez is a Colombian. The South American country has been churning out an impressive list of riders as you’ll find out in this story. Lopez opted to turn professional with the Astana Pro Team and continued where he left off. Though he had a light race schedule in his first pro year, he won two stages in the Vuelta a Burgos. one as part of the team time trial followed by an individual victory days later. If 2015 was an indication that Astana bagged one of the biggest talents in the sport, 2016 confirmed it when Lopez won four races, the biggest one being the overall classification in the Tour of Switzerland. 2017 has been another successful one with another win in Burgos, the Tour of Austria but no doubt the biggest win of his career coming in August, a stage win in the Vuelta a Espana.
Warren Barguil waited 4 years before winning again (Photo: ASO/Alex Broadway)
Warren Barguil (2012)
The French were hoping they had a future Tour de France star in the making when Warren Barguil not only won the overall in l’Avenir in 2012 but also won a stage and the points and mountain jerseys. He carried that impressive form into the pro ranks achieving something most young professionals can only dream of – winning two stages in his debut Grand Tour. Barguil mentions the first – stage 13 of the 2013 Vuelta a Espana – as one of his most beautiful memories. Three days later, he followed it up with another win, something remarkable for the then 21-year-old. Although he came close a number of times, Barguil had to wait until 2017 before winning a bike race again. Rather Team Sunweb to the patient approach to his development in teaching to ride for the general classification instead of single day race wins. In a repeat of 2013, the Frenchman won two stages in a Grand Tour, this time in the Tour de France. His efforts earned him a visit from French President Emmanuel Macron. Despite having one year left on his contract with Team Sunweb, Barguil asked team management this year to let him out of his contract. He’s opted to take one step down to the Pro Continental level with the Fortuneo-Oscaro squad. Cyclingnews has an extensive feature on how the transfer took place.
Chaves has recovered from a near career-ending crash to get to the top (Photo: ASO/Bruno Bade)
Esteban Chaves (2011)
Esteban Chaves is one of an impressive list of Columbian riders who’ve won Tour de l’Avenir since 2010. Just like Lopez, he also followed up his early l’Avenir promise with a stage win in Vuelta a Burgos in the pro ranks. The following week he won GP Camaiore in Italy, solidifying him as one of the sports biggest climbing talents. However, six months later, Chaves would not have the same fortune on Italian roads. Crashing severely in Trofeo Laigueglia not only meant he’d miss his Grand Tour debut in the Giro d’Italia but Chaves was not sure if he’d ever race professionally again. According to his team’s release at the time, he suffered a compound fracture to his right collarbone, fractures in his left petrous bone, right cheekbone, maxillary sinuses and sphenoid bone, while also receiving pulmonary compressions, abrasions and suspected rib fractures. Among the injuries was nerve damage to his right arm to the extent he had difficulty using his arm to feed himself. Much to his surprise, WorldTour team Orica Scott were still very interested in being part of his recovery. Rouleur has a touching piece on how the team’s belief in him got him through the toughest moment in his life. The Australian team signed him up for 2014 and he returned to racing following a heavy period of rehabilitation. On the 16th May 2014, Chaves proved to himself and the world that he has overcome incredible odds when he won stage 6 of the Tour of California. That was followed by a World Tour victory in the Tour de Suisse. Chaves has gone on to win an impressive list of races including stages in the Giro, Vuelta and Il Lombardia but it’s the incredible recovery he’s undergone that makes him a fan favourite.
Nairo Quintana suffered at the Tour following the Giro-Tour double attempt (Photo: ASO/Pauline BALLET)
Nairo Quintana (2010)
At this point, we were wondering if we should make this story about the rise of Columbian cycling. Nairo Quintana has gone on to have an incredible career since winning the race in 2010. The 27-year-old is the only l’Avenir winner to have won a Grand Tour since Denis Menchov (2001 l’Avenir winner). He boasts the 2014 Giro d’Italia and the 2016 Vuelta a Espana as part of an impressive list of victories. He has finished on the Tour de France podium three times. 2016 has been Quintana’s most successful season with several high profile wins in the Vuelta, Tour de Romandie, Catalunya and Route du Sud. In 2017 he attempted the Giro-Tour double and although he had a solid run up to the Italian Grand Tour by winning races in Valenciana and Tirreno, the Columbian lost out on the overall victory by 31 seconds to Tom Dumoulin. He paid for his efforts in the Tour and only managed 12th in the General Classification but had this to say after the race.
Last modified: Jan 25, 2018
