Alumni of illuminaries makes for an exciting future
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Romain Sicard (France) crosses the finish line as winner of the Under-23 World title.(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Felice Gimondi has retained his close association with Bianchi since his days as a professional(Image credit: Bianchi)
Van Springel congratulates Janssen after being defeated on the final stage of the 1968 Tour.(Image credit: AFP Photo)
It may have been overshadowed in the last decade by bigger French races such as the Tour de France, Paris-Nice and the Criterium du Dauphiné Libéré, but the Tour de l'Avenir - as its name suggests - is where tomorrow's stars are unveiled.
This is reflected in the race's palmares, graced by names such as Felice Gimondi, Joop Zoetemelk, Greg LeMond, Miguel Indurain and Laurent Fignon - the race has hosted a wealth of talent since its inception in 1961. It's had several guises - the Tour de l'Avenir, the Grand Prix de l'Avenir and the Tour of the European Community - but now it has returned to the name with which it was born.
During the first two decades of its existence the race was only for amateurs, although between 1980 and 2007 it became an event for professionals. Whilst those 27 years saw some of the sport's leading figures take out the event - the likes of LeMond, Indurain, Fignon, Marc Madiot and Johan Bruyneel - it was the race's days as an amateur-only event that forged its reputation as one of the best breeding grounds for young talent.
The young guns prevail
The first edition of the Tour de l'Avenir in 1961 was held over 14 stages, double that of this year's event, and ran over 2,200km, which was in line with René de Latour's reason for its being, which was to create a 'mini Tour de France' for those riders who weren't professionals.
Won by Guido De Rosso, into whose country the race travelled (Turin), that first Tour de l'Avenir also hosted Jan Janssen, who would set a trend by winning the Tour de France in the years subsequent to his Avenir ride.
He finished third overall in the following year's edition of the Tour de l'Avenir before winning seven Tour de France stages throughout his career en route to three Tour de France points classification titles (1964, '65 and '67) plus the Tour's general classification crown in 1968 and the points title at the 1967 Vuelta a España.
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In addition to these career highlights the Dutch sensation won the 1964 world championship road race before taking out Paris-Nice, La Flèche Wallonne and Brabantse Pijl and finishing on the podium of Paris-Roubaix during his 12 years in the sport's top echelon. He might not have won the Tour de l'Avenir but Janssen was the first superstar to use the race as his springboard to an extremely successful professional career.
Jan Janssen (left) with Willy Van Springel before the final stage of the 1968 Tour de France.
