France claimed victory in the 16th edition of the UCI Nations’ Cup Men Under 23, which concluded on Saturday with the final stage of the Tour de l’Avenir. Dominating the rankings from the first races of the season, the French riders showed their strength throughout to take victory in a competition they ruled in the early 2010s but hadn’t won since 2016.
Rolland and Rondel set the tone
Brieuc Rolland and Mathys Rondel (33 points each) led the French team to dominate the rankings with 88 points. With their wins at the Orlen Nations Grand Prix in Poland and Course de la Paix Grand Prix Jeseníky in Czechia, as well as a solid Tour de l’Avenir in France built them a solid margin over Great Britain (60 points), who benefitted from Joseph Blackmore’s victory at the Tour de l’Avenir. Denmark followed with 54 points, ahead of Luxembourg (51 points) and Belgium (49 points).
France already started the season in style at the Orlen Nations Grand Prix (15-19 May), where they claimed the 1st and 2nd places of the general classification with Mathys Rondel and Brieuc Rolland. Rondel took the lead with a dominant performance on the second day of action, and maintained his lead until the end of the five-stage Polish race to take 33 points. Luxembourg’s Arno Wallenborn rounded out the podium behind the French duo while Denmark, with two stage wins – thanks to Kristian Egholm and Peter Hansen – started to show their strength.
Rolland’s turn to win a general classification came just a few weeks later in Czechia, at the Course de la Paix Grand Prix Jeseníky (30 May-2 June), a race that has previously been won by the likes of Tadej Pogačar, David Gaudu and Lennert Van Eetvelt, who all went on to become established figures at the very highest levels of professional cycling.
The then-20-old built his overall success with a victory in the 3rd stage and eventually triumphed ahead of Belgium’s Aaron Dockx. Another Frenchman, Léo Bisiaux, came third. On top of Rolland’s 33 points, Paul Magnier (already making waves in the UCI WorldTour with Soudal Quick-Step) added a stage win for the French team, in a race where Denmark shone with the fourth-placed Simon Dalby and another stage win by Morten Nørtoft.
A thrilling finale
Belgium, Luxembourg and Denmark were the main threats for France ahead of the prestigious Tour de l’Avenir (18-24 August), featuring a prologue and several mountain finishes along the way. However, it was Great Britain who conquered the race with Joseph Blackmore. The British rising star, already a winner of professional races such as the Tour du Rwanda (2.1), Tour de Taiwan (2.1) and Circuit des Ardennes (2.2) with UCI ProTeam Israel-Premier Tech, took the lead for the first time with a stage win at La Rosière on day three.
Spain’s Pablo Torres managed to take two victories - at Les Karellis (stage 4) and atop the Colle delle Finestre (6th and final stage) - but it wasn’t enough to overcome his losses from the previous day’s penultimate stage towards Condoue. After a thrilling finale, only 12 seconds separated Blackmore from Torres. Dutchman Tijmen Graat completed the overall podium.
👑 Joseph Blackmore au sommet du suspense !
— Tour de l'Avenir (@tourdelavenir) August 25, 2024
Une 6️⃣0️⃣ème édition de toute beauté 💛#TDAV #TourdelAvenir ✨ pic.twitter.com/CEVfXWRGyR
Blackmore’s 37 points put Great Britain in second position in the UCI Nations’ Cup 2024 final classification, after Matthew Brennan scored 17 points with his fourth place in the general classification of the Orlen Nations Grand Prix.
However, a solid fourth place in the overall standings of the Tour de l’Avenir by Léo Bisiaux gave France 17 extra points to seal the deal for the “Bleus”, confirming Bisiaux as the third most successful French rider after Mathys Rondel and Brieuc Rolland.
This season marks the sixth win for France at the UCI Nations’ Cup Under 23, making them the nation with more wins in the history of a competition they premiered with the first position back in 2009. Their following wins came in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2016. Almost a decade later, France is back on top of the U23 rankings, succeeding 2023 winners, Italy.
UCI Nations’ Cup winners
2024 France
2023 Italy
2022 Belgium
2021 Italy
2020 Netherlands
2019 Norway
2018 Slovenia
2017 Denmark
2016 France
2015 Italy
2014 Belgium
2013 France
2012 France
2011 France
2010 Slovenia
2009 France