Less than a week until the start of the 87th Giro del Belvedere: Monday, April 6, the Easter Monday Classic returns to showcase the best talents in Italian and international cycling in the U23 category. Once again, the roads of Treviso are preparing to test the ambitions of young riders seeking a future in professional cycling: among them is Jan Michal Jackowiak, rider for the Bahrain Victorious Development Team.

Coming off an excellent 2025 that saw him claim the Junior World podium in Rwanda, Jackowiak has started the 2026 season in the best possible way, already earning his professional debut at the Giro di Sardegna.

The Polish rider, born in 2007, secured the best young rider jersey in Sardinia and finished sixth in the general classification. A surprising result for insiders, the fruit of hard work and a new approach to racing: "In every race I start with very high ambitions and expectations. This year I made the category jump and we're trying different things in training, monitoring progress. Certainly the sixth place at the Giro di Sardegna was an excellent start."

Jackowiak's approach is common to all the young riders of the Bahrain Victorious "Devo Team", which exactly twelve months ago managed to secure second place at the Giro del Belvedere with Slovenian Jakob Omrzel, who has since been promoted to the "first team". "We arrive at the Giro del Belvedere with great confidence and with a very strong team. We're not hiding anything: we're aiming high and we want to achieve a great result," said the young Polish rider.

From a physical and characteristics standpoint, Jackowiak reminds many of Omrzel. An advantage for Bahrain's management in planning race strategy. "Advice from Omrzel? It can certainly help us to know what worked best last year and what we can improve."

Last year, Bahrain had to bow to the superiority of Lorenzo Finn. It's not ruled out that the U23 World Champion could return to the roads of Treviso to attempt a historic consecutive victory. What is certain is that Jackowiak is also traveling on the path of precocity (he will turn 20 in December), like Finn, Widar, and the NextGen leader, Paul Seixas. "We are all different and each of us must follow our own development pace. It would be nice to continue this positive trend with a great Giro del Belvedere."

At the 2026 Giro del Belvedere, competition will certainly not be lacking: of the 35 teams at the start line in Villa di Cordignano, 7 are World Tour Development Teams, which are added to 24 Continental teams. The route covers 168 km with over 2,000 m of positive elevation gain.

For the public, the Easter Monday schedule includes team presentations in the morning at Villa Mocenigo-Bernardi in Villa di Villa. Following this, along the passage on Piai della Vigna, the Giro del Buongustare returns, with its wine and food tastings. In the afternoon, awards and final celebration at Villa Mocenigo-Bernardi. An extensive summary of the Giro del Belvedere is scheduled on Rai Sport on the evening of Monday, April 6.