2023 UCI Nations’ Cups: Italy and Norway back on top

Italy claimed a third UCI Nations’ Cup Men Under 23 title

Already winners in 2015 and 2021, Italy claimed a third UCI Nations’ Cup Men Under 23 title. Norway won the UCI Nations’ Cup Men Junior competition, also for the 3rd time.

Two years after their last triumph, Italy and Norway put their young talents back on top of the world in the two men’s UCI Nations’ Cups (Under 23 and Junior). With consistent performances throughout the season, Italy’s Under 23 riders finished atop the overall standings (133 points) ahead of France (121) and Portugal (70). Led by young stars Jørgen Nordhagen and Felix Ørn-Kristoff, Norway (205 pts) got the better of France (170 pts) and Italy (153 pts) in the UCI Nations’ Cup for Juniors.

Italian strength and depth

Italy's reservoir of talent laid the foundations for success right from the start of this 17th UCI Under 23 Nations’ Cup. The Squadra Azzurra took advantage of the Orlen Nations Grand Prix (in Poland, 24-28 May) to score its first 29 points, thanks to a stage win and 3rd place for Francesco Busatto and a 2nd place overall for Davide Piganzoli (25 points), 16 seconds behind Slovenia’s Gal Glivar.

Another Italian youngster rose to the forefront on the roads of the Czech Republic in the Course de la Paix Grand Prix Jeseníky (8-11 May), won by Frenchman Antoine Huby. Third overall, Davide De Cassan added another 20 points to the Italian tally. This set up a great battle with France, who also won the prologue thanks to Pierre Gautherat.

But it was in Scotland that the Italians stepped into a new dimension, thanks to Lorenzo Milesi, who also discovered the UCI WorldTour this year with Team DSM-Firmenich. The rouleur had a great UCI World Championships campaign, claiming the rainbow jersey in the Under 23 individual time trial and taking 5th place in the road race. With a total of 50 points won by Milesi in Scotland, Italy made the difference before looking ahead to the Tour de l'Avenir.

The iconic French stage race (20-27 August) enabled the Squadra Azzurra to secure their third UCI Under 23 Nations’ Cup title, with strong performances from their climbers Giulio Pellizzari (29 points), who won a stage, and Davide Piganzoli. The two leaders took 2nd and 3rd respectively in the final overall classification behind Isaac Del Toro, the first Mexican to win the Tour de l'Avenir.

Giacomo Villa (2 points) and Francesco Busatto (1 point) also contributed to the Italian success, enabling their nation to move ahead of France to secure overall victory.

Jørgen Nordhagen and Felix Ørn-Kristoff lead Norway

Norway claimed a third victory in the UCI Junior Nations’ Cup, which included 10 events around the world (in addition to the UCI Cycling World Championships).

Winner in 2022, France saw Matys Grisel win the opening event, Paris-Roubaix Juniors in France, (9 April), ahead of his Australian team-mate from the AG2R Citroën U19 Team, Oscar Chamberlain. But Norwegian talents quickly found the right pace to success. Spearheading this generation, Jørgen Nordhagen put in a series of classy displays throughout the season, collecting 100 of his nation's 203 points. He set the tone in the Eroica Juniores - Nations’ Cup (21-22 April) with a stage win and the overall classification (36 points).

Signed by Jumbo-Visma until 2027, Nordhagen went on to claim two stage wins in the Course de la Paix Juniors (Czechia, 4-7 May), as well as the overall victory, to earn 42 points. At 18 years old, the young Norwegian star also showed off his talents as a rouleur by winning the time trial at the LVM Saarland Trofeo in Germany (8-11 May) - where German rider Louis Leidert took the overall victory -, then finishing 4th in the Junior individual time trial at the UCI Cycling World Championships in Stirling, Scotland.

Alongside Nordhagen, Felix Ørn-Kristoff, younger brother of the Norwegian star Alexander Kristoff, also made a strong impression to amass a total of 67 points, including 48 in the Nation's Cup Hungary (16-17 August) alone: he won all 3 stages and the overall. The Norwegian also made a name for himself at the LVM Saarland Trofeo before putting in an impressive performance in the road race at the UCI Cycling World Championships, where he crossed the line third in Glasgow.

With 35 points, fellow Norwegian Kasper Haugland also had an impressive UCI Juniors 2023 Nations’ Cup, notably in July, when he took 3rd place in the Watersley Junior Challenge in the Netherlands, won by Australia’s Oscar Chamberlain.

The final stage of the series, the Tour of DMZ in South Korea, was won on Tuesday by Henry Neff (USA). It did not reshuffle the cards between Norway, France and Italy.

Other names also made their mark on the 2023 UCI Nations’ Cup, including Great Britain's Ben Wiggins, winner of the Trophée Centre Morbihan in France in May, and silver medallist in the Junior individual time trial at the UCI Cycling World Championships. Alejandro Che (USA) won the Tour de l’Abitibi (11-16 July) in Canada and Matthias Schwarzbacher (SVK) shone in the Medzinárodné dni cyklistiky Dubnica nad Váhom.

Another name to look out for in the future is Denmark’s first-year Junior Albert Philipsen, who turned 17 just three days ago. The multi-disciplinary talent is Junior National Champion for cyclo-cross, mountain bike cross-country Olympic (XCO) and in the road race. He was still only 16 when he won two rainbow jerseys at last month’s UCI Cycling World Championships held in Glasgow and across Scotland: in both the Junior road race and mountain bike cross-country Olympic.

He only raced a few UCI Nations’ Cups events in 2023 - taking 4th place in the Course de la Paix Juniors – but has definitely not had his last word.

Photo credit: Tour de l'Avenir