The Giro Next Gen 2025 is a gold mine of young talents. It's clear that there's little left to discover, at least for insiders, because all the favorites have already been scouted and signed by major WorldTour teams, but this Italian stage race represents the perfect opportunity to see where these young riders are in their development. Some are already full professionals, while others will have their first real chance to prove themselves this week.

Jarno Widar (Lotto Development), after his brilliant overall victory last year with two stage wins, has not yet made the official jump to professional ranks, which he will do next year, but in the meantime has continued to win and showcase his talent to the world. Last year, after the Pink Jersey, he won the Giro della Valle d'Aosta, and this year he finished 2nd in the Circuit des Ardennas and then won Liège-Bastogne-Liège U23, Flèche Ardennaise and Ronde de l'Isard.

Challenging him will primarily be two athletes who have been talked about for some time. The first is Danish Albert Whiten Philipsen (Lidl-Trek Future Racing), junior world champion in cross country, who is formally already a professional and has already shown something interesting among the elites, winning the best young rider jersey in a WorldTour event like Tour Down Under and finishing 3rd in the Tour of Hungary a few weeks ago, as well as winning Paris-Roubaix Espoirs. His endurance on big climbs is still to be fully verified, but he certainly won't be a background rider. The second is Lorenzo Mark Finn (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe Rookies), last year's junior world champion, and already impressive this year, with a win at Giro del Belvedere and 2nd places at Palio del Recioto and Flèche Ardennaise. Pure talent, he is Italy's best prospect for climbs and stage races.

Among the top favorites is also Jørgen Nordaghen (Visma | Lease a Bike Development), born in 2005, already a professional, who this year will compete in U23 for the first time after standing out among the elites in both Tour de Romandie and Tour of Norway. Last year he was not particularly lucky in the Giro Next Gen, being forced to withdraw due to physical issues after 4 days, but this year everything seems set for a great week. Spanish rider Pau Martí (Israel Premier Tech Academy), 3rd last year and winner of the Nations Cup in the Czech Republic a few weeks ago, will also try again, where Simone Gualdi (Wanty-Nippo-ReUz) finished 3rd, also significantly improved and ready for a great Giro Next Gen.

Another first-year rider to watch is Jakob Omrzel (Bahrain Victorious Development), 4th in the Tour of Slovenia among professionals, as well as the UAE Team Emirates GenZ duo Adrià Pericas and Duarte Marivoet, the latter in his second year in the category. Filippo Turconi, winner of Trofeo Piva, Luca Paletti and Matteo Scalco (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizan), as well as Mattia Negrente (XDS Astana Development), who is probably more inclined to fight for a stage win, will also try to be in the mix.

In terms of the general classification, keep an eye on Czech Pavel Novák (MBH Bank Ballan Csb), 5th last year, Viktor Soenens (Soudal-QuickStep Devo), Irish rider Liam O'Brien (Lidl-Trek Future Racing), Mexican Cesar Macias (Petrolike), French riders Maxime Decomble (Groupama-FDJ) and Aubine Sparfel (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Devo), Belgian Milan Donie (Lotto Development), Widar's shadow man, and possibly Lorenzo Masciarelli, Lorenzo Nespoli (MBH Bank Ballan Csb), last year's best climber, and Alessandro Cattani (Technipes #inEmiliaRomagna).

There are also many stage win contenders, from Noah Hobbs (EF Education-Aevolo) to the sons of famous riders Matteo Milan (Lidl-Trek Future Racing) and Felix-Ørn Kristoff (Wanty-Nippo-ReUz), through Alessandro Borgo (Bahrain Victorious Development), New Zealander Lewis Bower (Groupama-FDJ), Lorenzo Conforti (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizan), Luca Giaimi (UAE Team Emirates GenZ), Alessio Delle Vedove (XDS Astana Development), Pietro Mattio (Visma | Lease a Bike Development), Christian Fantini (Solme-Olmo), Gabriele Bessega (Biesse-Carrera-Premac), Samuele Privitera (Hagens Berman Jayco), Federico Savino and Jonathan Vervenne (Lidl-Trek Future Racing).