Future stars of the WorldTour – The neo-pros to watch in 2025
World champions, multi-disciplinarians and future stars of Grand Tours and Classics fill out list of young talent to watch
- Niklas Behrens (Visma-Lease A Bike)
- Pablo Torres (UAE Team Emirates)
- Cat Ferguson (Movistar)
- Léo Bisiaux (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale)
- Albert Withen Philipsen (Lidl-Trek)
- Jørgen Nordhagen (Visma-Lease A Bike)
- Imogen Wolff (Visma-Lease A Bike)
- Alan Hatherly (Jayco-AlUla)
- Viktória Chladoňová (Visma-Lease A Bike)
The end of the year rings in the changes for teams across the men's and women's pelotons as riders switch teams, hang up their wheels, and move up from the junior and under-23 ranks to turn professional.
We've already tracked all the major off-season transfers and looked at the major names retiring from the sport, so now it's time to take our pick of the top talents stepping up to the pro ranks in 2025.
There are plenty of names to choose from among the new crop of young riders and we've selected 10 to keep an eye on in the new season.
In the past, we've picked out the likes of Tom Pidcock, Juan Ayuso, Blanka Vas and Cian Uijtdebroeks. No doubt several of those riders on our 'Class of 2025' list will hit the same heights in the seasons to come.
Read on for our top 10 neo-pros to watch in 2025.
Niklas Behrens (Visma-Lease A Bike)
21-year-old Niklas Behrens might be one of the more immediately familiar names on our list, with the German racer having recently triumphed in the under-23 road race at the World Championships in Zürich.
He stormed to the front of the race in the latter stages as part of a select chase group catching solo leader Jan Christen before powering off up the road, bringing Martin Svrček – racing his second season at WorldTour level – with him and easily winning the sprint.
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For Behrens, it was the biggest win of a very short career to date. He was little known before 2023, where he raced for local clubs before he was spotted by Lidl-Trek and added to their development team.
A 2024 season which saw him crowned German under-23 road champion, pick up European road race silver, and take on the Tour de l'Avenir and Giro d'Italia Next Gen, brought the attention of Visma-Lease A Bike. And so Behrens has jumped the Lidl ship to turn pro. Watch out for the tall, powerful and punchy rider in the hills.
Pablo Torres (UAE Team Emirates)
Madrid-born Pablo Torres is the latest GC talent to join a UAE Team Emirates packed with them, signing a five-year deal to take him through the 2030 season after coming up through their 'Gen Z' development team.
The 19-year-old is rated as the next big thing in Spanish cycling and possibly the next in the long list of the country's prodigious Grand Tour racers.
This season, he showed his prowess at the biggest stage races the under-23 circuit had to offer – the Giro Next Gen, the Giro della Valle d'Aosta, the Tour de l'Avenir, and the Giro della Regione Friuli Venezia Giulia.
Second, fifth, second, third was his string of general classification results across the four races, while he also picked up stage wins at Valle d'Aosta and Avenir, too. The most eye-catching result Torres has achieved so far is a dominant 10km solo victory at the Colle delle Finestre at the latter. He won the stage by almost four minutes and took the mountain's climbing record in the process.
Cat Ferguson (Movistar)
In Cat Ferguson, Movistar have signed up one of the brightest lights of the junior circuit, with the 18-year-old Yorkshirewoman grabbing 13 wins during a dazzling 2024 season.
Her successes this year include: the East Cleveland Classic on home soil, the Omloop van Borsele, the Tour de Gévaudan, Basque two-day race Bizkaikoloreak, and both time trial and road race titles at the Worlds in Zurich.
In addition to all that, she also grabbed her debut professional victory, which came during her late-season stagiaire period with Movistar. At the Binche Chimay Binche, she beat a host of far more experienced pros in a small group sprint, including Christina Schweinberger and sprint star Charlotte Kool.
All eyes will be on Ferguson when the Women's WorldTour kicks off early next year – she has already demonstrated that she could well hit the ground running after making the step up.
Léo Bisiaux (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale)
Bisiaux is one of the two most notable neo-pro signings for Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, along with Paul Seixas. The Frenchman turns pro from the AG2R development squad with a reputation as a promising GC prospect, having finished sixth and fourth at the Giro Next Gen and Tour de l'Avenir this year.
Still only 19, he's not just talented in the stage races, either. Back in early 2023 he won the first rainbow jersey of his career in the junior race at the Cyclo-cross World Championships and continues to race in the sport during the winter months.
18-year-old Seixas, meanwhile, turns pro straight from the AG2R junior squad. He racked up 10 victories during his 2024 season, with junior world and national time trial titles joining the junior Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the Classiques des Alpes Juniors and Giro della Lunigiana among his triumphs. He could one day be a force to be reckoned with in the hills and TTs.
Albert Withen Philipsen (Lidl-Trek)
Danish racer Albert Withen Philipsen should settle into life quickly at Lidl-Trek, joining countrymen Mattias Skjelmose, Mads Pedersen and Søren Kragh Andersen at the team next season.
The 18-year-old moves up straight from the junior ranks, having tasted success almost everywhere he's raced at that level. He can count world (2023 on the road), European (2023 time trial) and Danish (both in 2023) among his major victories to date while this year he won the Course de la Paix and the Ain Bugey Valromey Tour, too.
Philipsen is also a junior world and European champion on the mountain bike and he also races cyclocross. He signs up until 2028 and given he only turns 19 next September, there's plenty of time to progress.
Joining him at Lidl-Trek next season will be German Paris-Roubaix Espoirs champion Tim Torn Teutenberg, The 22-year-old is the latest member of his family to turn pro, with his aunt, Lidl-Trek DS Ina-Yoko Teutenberg, the most notable name among them. As well as winning Roubaix, the road and track racer also won the Olympia's Tour and the German under-23 time trial title this season.
Jørgen Nordhagen (Visma-Lease A Bike)
Visma-Lease A Bike have brought in several riders with bright futures this off-season in addition to Behrens and the Dutch squad can boast – on paper, at least – seemingly the strongest set of neo-pros for 2025.
Danish 19-year-old Jørgen Nordhagen won the Giro della Regione Friuli Venezia Giulis this season, confirming his stage racing prospects. What's more, he also finished seventh and won the mountains classification at the Deutschland Tour, racing with the WorldTour team among seasoned pros.
21-year-old homegrown talent Graat moves up to the WorldTour squad after a 2024 which saw him capture a series of eye-catching results, with podium spots at the Circuit des Ardennes and Tour de l'Avenir to go with a top-10 finish at the under-23 Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
Imogen Wolff (Visma-Lease A Bike)
Yes, there's another Visma-Lease A Bike rider on our list, and now we look to the women's team and their new racer, 18-year-old Briton Imogen Wolff.
Wolff moves up from the junior circuit having impressed on varied terrain during a standout 2024 season. She scored victories at the Piccolo Trofeo Binda and hilly British race The Peaks 2 Day, and also finished on the podium at the British Nationals road race, the Lincoln Grand Prix, and at the Worlds time trial.
The cobbles also brought a series of good results too, with fourth places at Gent-Wevelgem and the Tour of Flanders hinting at a future in the Flandrian spring. Wolff also got her first taste of senior racing action under her belt in 2024, finishing 13th among the pros at La Choralis Fourmies Féminine.
Alan Hatherly (Jayco-AlUla)
At 28 years of age, it's no surprise that South African racer Alan Hatherly is the oldest neo-pro on our list.
Mountain bike cross-country world champion Hatherly signs with Jayco-AlUla after a spell with Cannondale and is starting a "new chapter" in his career as he aims to combine the mountain bike with racing in the WorldTour.
2024 was the best season of his career to date, with MTB bronze at the Paris Olympic Games joining his world champion's jersey among his achievements.
Previous outings on the road include the South African National Championships and a series of .2-ranked Croatian races back in 2023 when he competed for EF's Continental team. It'll be intriguing to watch his progress on the road as he races at a far higher level in 2025.
Viktória Chladoňová (Visma-Lease A Bike)
Rounding out our list for 2025 is yet another Visma-Lease A Bike rider in the form of Viktória Chladoňová. The Slovakian 18-year-old is a multi-disciplinarian, racing mountain bike, cyclocross and road.
She's already a junior world champion on the mountain bike, having triumphed earlier this year, while last season she took third at the junior Cyclocross Worlds. On the road in Zurich, she was also close to the rainbow jersey, picking up silver in the time trial and bronze in the road race.
In addition to her multi-discipline prowess, Chladoňová is the junior national champion in the road race, time trial and hill climb. Already, she can seemingly do it all, though the Women's WorldTour will be a major step up. Who could ask for a better mentor than Marianne Vos, however?
Dani Ostanek is Senior News Writer at Cyclingnews, having joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor and later being hired full-time. Before joining the team, she had written for numerous major publications in the cycling world, including CyclingWeekly and Rouleur. She writes and edits at Cyclingnews as well as running newsletter, social media, and how to watch campaigns.