The 2025 UEC Road European Championships from 1-5 October saw Belgian riders shine in the Men Under 23 category. Jonathan Vervenne secured the individual time trial title while Jarno Widar won the road race. But this success came too late for Belgium to retain its UCI Under 23 Nations’ Cup title won in 2024. Italy is back on top in 2025, thanks to Lorenzo Finn, UCI Under 23 Road Race World Champion, together with his squad of talented teammates.
This is the Squadra Azzurra’s fourth victory in the UCI Nations’ Cup U23, and the third time in the last five years (2021, 2023 and 2025), alternating successes with the Belgians, after Italy’s first title in 2015. In the all-time ranking, Italy is ahead of Belgium and Slovenia (three wins each), with France being the only country to have won more titles (five).
The young French team finished second this year, as they did in 2023 and 2024. Paul Seixas, Maxime Decomble and teammates secured 112 points. Spain’s tally of 93 points put them on the podium for the first time since the series was launched by the UCI in 2007.
Clear blue sky for Italy
While riders participating in the UCI Nations’ Cup U23 must be no older than 22, it was two much younger riders who delivered victory to Italy. Ludovico Mellano, born in August 2006, was only 18 when he gave his country the lead after the first event of the series, the Orlen Nations Grand Prix (14-17 May). Austria’s Marco Schrettl won the general classification with his consistent finishing over the four stages, but Mellano scored 25 points for second overall and three more points for victory on the second stage. His compatriot Edoardo Zamperini then won the final stage.
The Italians led from the front from this event on, with a string of fine performances giving them 147 points, the second-highest total in the history of the UCI Under 23 Nations’ Cup (only bettered by Italy’s 153 points in 2021).
Just two weeks after the Orlen Nations Grand Prix, Simone Gualdi (20) finished third in the Course de la Paix Grand Prix Jeseníky, adding 21 points to the Italian total.
The Squadra Azzurra held the lead in the series, but the best was yet to come at the UCI Road World Championships in Kigali (Rwanda), where Finn, 18, performed an extraordinary feat, winning the Under 23 world title at his first attempt just a year after becoming the Junior UCI World Champion. Winner of the road race and fourth in the individual time trial, he scored no fewer than 65 points in Rwanda. And this was after a fine fourth in the Tour de l'Avenir, with two podium finishes on stages, for a total of 20 points.
French and Spanish talents to watch
Faced by the global talents from Italian cycling, the French rallied around Paul Seixas, who scored 40 points at the Tour de l'Avenir, winning the prologue, final stage and general classification. The young Frenchman, who turned 19 at the 2025 UCI Road World Championships, is producing some of the best performances ever witnessed for an athlete of his age, as he proved once again on Sunday by securing bronze in the Elite category at the UEC European Road Championships, taking to the podium alongside Tadej Pogačar (SLO) and Remco Evenepoel (BEL).
As a complement to Seixas' feats, Maxime Decomble finished on the podium of the Men Under 23individual time trial at the UCI Road World Championships and impressed at the UEC Road European Championships, where he finished fourth in the individual time trial and second in the Under 23 road race. Ugo Fabries, Victor Loulergue, Pierre Henry Basset and Emmanuel Houcou also contributed to the French team’s performance, emphasising the country's rich pool of talent.
Some exceptionally talented riders helped Spain to finish in the top three of the UCI Under 23 Nations’ Cup for the first time, after fourth place in 2024. Pau Marti won the Course de la Paix Grand Prix Jeseníky; Hector Alvarez placed in the top 10 in the individual time trials and road races of the UCI World Championships and UEC European Championships at the age of just 18; Pablo Torres finished in the top 10 of the Tour de l'Avenir while already competing in UCI WorldTour events with UAE Team Emirates-XRG; and Hugo Aznar scored 10 points with 11th place in the Orlen Nations Grand Prix.
The future looks bright for all these young champions.
Finally, as announced on 25 September, the 2025 edition of the UCI Under 23 Nations’ Cup was the last that will be held. The UCI has taken the decision to discontinue the series as part of measures to strengthen the development of Junior riders.