Daily Times

Egan Bernal set a high bar for cycling’s new generation when the 22-year-old Colombian stormed to victory at the Tour de France.

His triumph last month gave Bernal a first Grand Tour general classification title and raised the question of which fellow young riders will be able to rival him.

Here is a look at five competitors, each under 25 years old, who will be aiming to make a big impression over the gruelling course of La Vuelta.

Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates, 20 years old, Slovenia)

A truly exciting prospect who could go on to great things, Pogacar is fancied to make a big impact over the coming weeks. He has patiently waited for a first Grand Tour outing, and victories this year at the Tour of California and Volta ao Algarve showed his credentials. Expect him to be around for many years to come, vying for podiums, with Pogacar saying he is “really excited” by the prospect of taking this next step in his career at La Vuelta.

Tao Geoghegan Hart (Team INEOS, 24 years old, Great Britain)

Geoghegan Hart swam the Channel as part of a relay team as a 13-year-old, and later worked a Saturday job in a London bike shop, where he fuelled his cycling ambitions. Now he is a co-leader of the Team INEOS assault on the Vuelta, alongside Wout Poels, and that illustrates how far he has progressed. Geoghegan Hart made his Grand Tour debut at last year’s Vuelta, picking up priceless experience, and will relish his shot at the general classification this time. He fractured his collarbone just eight weeks ago, but is raring to race.

Sergio Higuita (EF Education First, 22, Colombia)

“I want my name to be known in world cycling as Rene Higuita was in football,” Sergio Higuita told Spanish newspaper AS in May. He is not believed to be related to his Colombian namesake, who became famous for his sweeper-keeper daring and then near-immortal for his scorpion-kick save against England at Wembley. Sergio could go on to achieve more at a global level than Rene ever managed, but he has a long way to go. A successful short spell at Euskadi resulted in Higuita being fast-tracked into the EF Education First ranks and he says the Vuelta opportunity is “a childhood dream come true”.

Dani Martinez (EF Education First, 23, Colombia)

Higuita is not the only star youngster in the EF ranks. Nor the only star Colombian youngster. Because Martinez is rather good too, and has been with the squad since last year, finishing 36th at the 2018 Tour de France. He won a stage in this year’s Paris-Nice – the race won by Bernal – and finished second in the points classification. He took third place in the high-quality Tour Colombia in February too, a place ahead of Bernal on that occasion. But Martinez also broke both hands in a training crash in June and was forced out of Le Tour. He says his debut Vuelta will be “emotional” after recovering from that injury setback.

“I feel a bit nervous because I haven’t raced that much going into it, but I think we’re well prepared,” Martinez said.

James Knox (Deceuninck-Quickstep, 23, Great Britain)

Knox hails from Cumbria in north-west England, and the former Team Wiggins prospect self-deprecatingly declared this month in a Cycling News interview that he has “never been a rider with outstanding talent”. Deceuninck-Quickstep bosses thought enough of him to put him on their Giro d’Italia squad, however, and despite having to withdraw before the finish due to injury he retains his place for La Vuelta. Knox is ready to graft to prove his worth, taking another big step in his developing career.

Knox wrote on Twitter: “Real blokes start two 2 Grand Tours a year. Heading out to @lavuelta for another stab at getting round 3 weeks, a little extra luck this time around would be lovely.”