The 'Tour de France for Juniors' has come to an end: you'd better remember these names

In the men’s Tour de France, we see the stars of today’s cycling in action, but elsewhere in France, the Ain Bugey Valromey Tour has come to an end. This race is often referred to as the 'Tour de France for juniors', so it’s interesting to see how that five-day event unfolded over the past few days.

The race was decided on the very first day, thanks to the top Spanish talent Benjamin Noval. The 17-year-old Spaniard—son and namesake of Alberto Contador’s former lead-out man—rode solo to victory on the way to Artemare and immediately claimed the leader’s jersey. The Belgians Vic De Smet (Soudal Quick-Step Juniors) and Sander Willems (Red Bull) finished second and fourth.

The second stage was won in a sprint by Britain’s Finlay Storrie, who rides for JEGG-Skil-DJR: the junior team that Visma | Lease a Bike partners with. Enzo Hincapie, son of George and also part of the Red Bull program, finished third.

The third stage was one in which the general classification was turned upside down, partly due to a crash by leader Noval: his compatriot Aitor Martinez capitalized on the situation and scored a one-two finish. Seff Van Kerckhove, the younger brother of Visma’s top talent Mattis and riding for Decathlon, finished in second place.

Monday also saw some intense racing, and it was Karl Herzog—the younger brother of Red Bull rider and former junior world champion Emil—who once again relegated Van Kerckhove to second place. The Belgian did, however, take the lead in the overall standings heading into the final time trial on the Grand Colombier.

That mountain time trial was won by the Norwegian Kristian Haugetun, who, like Storrie, rides for JEGG-Skil-DJR and is therefore undoubtedly also on Visma | Lease a Bike’s radar. He finished 12 seconds ahead of Noval, though the Spaniard—who will ride for Netcompany INEOS starting in 2027—did take over the general classification and thus the overall victory from Van Kerckhove.

Michael Hettegger, a member of the Lidl-Trek development program, still finished second in the overall standings. Haugetun finished fourth behind Van Kerckhove, while fifth place went to Swedish rider Elias Wändel, who will ride for the Visma | Lease a Bike development team starting in 2027.

Winand Breuckers, a Dutch rider who will also be making the move to Wändel, was disqualified in Stage 4, in which he finished eighth. The top Dutch rider was now Daan Hogenelst, in 21st place.