Neo-professionals, newcomers, Next Gen, nuggets, young talents: call them what you want, they are the riders preparing to write the future of cycling. World Tour teams today have scouting structures that rarely miss and begin following young riders from the earliest categories, guiding them all the way to the World Tour.

Who are the most anticipated World Tour neo-professionals in 2025? We've discussed Italian talents in our previous investigation, covering all categories (World Tour, ProTeam, DevoTeam, and Italian and foreign Continental teams): we only need to add Giulio Pellizzari, a 21-year-old from Marche who performed excellently last year with VF Group Bardiani CSF Faiané and has now made the category jump, debuting at Challenge Mallorca with Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe.

France is betting big on Paul Seixas, world time trial champion last September and best time trialist at the national championships. His palmares includes victory in the Liège-Bastogne-Liège juniors and third place in the European Championships road race. With a slender physique of 60 kilograms and 180 centimeters, he's certainly suited to climbing but also very skilled in time trials, as his successes demonstrate. The Lyon native has been signed by Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, with his calendar split between high-level events like UAE Tour, Tour of the Alps, Tour de l'Ain, and Under-23 events like Giro Next Gen and Tour de l'Avenir.

Pablo Torres, a 19-year-old Spaniard, holds the record for the longest contract at his World Tour debut: he will wear the UAE Emirates XRG jersey until 2030, perhaps a truly unique case. But his records don't end there: he broke the record on Colle delle Finestre (18.6 km, 9.11%) with a time of 60 minutes and 45 seconds during the final stage of Tour de l'Avenir last August. On this climb, he beat Chris Froome's 2018 Giro time by three minutes and thirty seconds. In the final Avenir classification, he finished second, just 12 seconds behind British veteran Joe Blackmore, but displayed qualities that suggest a rare gem - so much so that after just one year in the development team, UAE has promoted him, and many see him as the Pogačar of the future.

Among the most anticipated riders is someone coming from winter sports like Primož Roglič, who will wear the Visma Lease a Bike jersey just as the Slovenian did upon entering the top category: we're talking about Norwegian Jorgen Nordhagen, who recently abandoned cross-country skiing - just a year ago, he was crowned Junior World Champion in the 20 km mass start - to dedicate himself to cycling. Nordhagen is often compared to Jonas Vingegaard, his new teammate at Visma – Lease a Bike, but technicians say he's much further ahead at the same age, especially in time trials.

Considered one of the world's best juniors until 2023, Nordhagen had a more complicated 2024 season, with health issues preventing him from continuing the Giro Next Gen and preventing him from racing in the Tour de l'Avenir. However, the 20-year-old Norwegian still won the Giro del Friuli Venezia Giulia ahead of Giulio Pellizzari and Pablo Torres, also climbing to the third step of the podium in the Liège-Bastogne-Liège U23 and perhaps his greatest victory was at the top of La Planche des Belles Filles at the Tour d'Alsace.

A German, born in 2003, there's also great anticipation for Niklas Behrens, a 195 cm, 80 kg rider who will race with Visma - Lease a Bike this season. Last September, he was crowned Under-23 road race world champion and national champion in Germany. Behrens is a former swimmer and excellent triathlete who has been cycling for only four years. He grew up in the Lidl-Trek Future Racing ranks but, seeing the impossibility of moving to the main team, decided to accept the proposal from the Dutch formation. Fast in sprints and skilled in time trials, Behrens will be deployed in the Flemish classics, not so much to aim for victory, but to discover his real racing abilities.

At Visma Lease a Bike, Irish rider Matthew Brennan, 19, deserves close attention. Having ridden as a junior with Fensham Howes-MAS Design (directed by Giles Pidcock, father of Tom and Joe), he arrived in the team's development squad last year and quickly earned a contract with the main team until 2027. His first World Tour results are already emerging, notably a second place in the first stage of the Santos Tour Down Under behind Sam Welsford.

The surprise name could be Diego Pescador, the youngest Colombian ever to enter the WorldTour. From Quimbaya, he had an impressive season with GW Erco Shimano: second at Palio del Recioto, third at Trofeo Piva, and standing out at Tour de L'Avenir with a seventh place overall and 15th at the Giro d'Italia Next Gen. An excellent climber, he will continue his growth path with Movistar Team.

In the Netherlands, two profiles are highly anticipated. First is the Under 23 Continental Champion Huub Artz, who this year rides with Intermarché Wanty alongside Girmay. Last year, he won the Gand-Wevelgem Under 23 with an truly impressive solo action. In love with Flemish classics, he's already studying their routes and in 2025 is targeting races like Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne, Samyn, GP Criquielion, and GP Denain. His seventh place in the Liège-Bastogne-Liège U23 hints at even more interesting potential.

The second athlete of interest is Tibor Del Grosso, a genuine talent following in the footsteps of his compatriot Mathieu van der Poel. This 21-year-old riding for Alpecin-Deceuninck already boasts an impressive palmares, winning 8 cyclocross races this year including the Under 23 World Championship and national title. He wore the rainbow jersey last year and is becoming the new idol of cyclocross fans, though like van der Poel, he's destined for the classics - it's no coincidence that Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix are his dream races.

Returning to France, another cyclocross champion, Leo Bisiaux, rides with Decathlon - AG2R La Mondiale. At 19, standing 181 cm and weighing just 58 kg, he undoubtedly has the physique of a pure climber. In 2024, he didn't secure victories, but his results indicate him as one of the young riders to watch.

In this list of future champions, Italy is also nurturing its talents, but compared to other nations, we certainly have more significant challenges still awaiting solutions, starting with safety issues. Probably, our new cycling talents, as happens in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, will emerge from cyclocross, where races and training are conducted more safely. We also have young gems, as we appreciated at the last World Championship, such as Mattia Agostinacchio who won the junior world title and Filippo Grigolini who finished third in Lievin. Not forgetting Stefano Viezzi, fourth in the Under 23 world championship, who joins the Alpecin Deceuninck development squad to grow in road races while continuing to enjoy cyclocross.