'It's the reality of today's high-level cycling' – top under-23 race changes the rules to welcome WorldTour development teams

The Tour de l'Avenir will welcome development teams this year, organiser A-Velo has announced.

The French stage race – one of the most prestigious under-23 events on the calendar – has only been contested by national teams since 2007. But it has now asked the UCI to replace its Nations Cup ranking with a 2.2, paving the way for under-23 trade teams.

The national team system no longer works for the race, said A-Velo, because so many of today's youngest riders are already signed up to development squads.

"This evolution of the rules of participation in the Tour de l'Avenir is fully in line with the reality of today's high-level cycling," said the organisers on the race website. Professional cycling, it said, had undergone a "reform", with teams "gradually investing in the reception and training of (very) young riders by creating development teams, veritable nurseries of the UCI WorldTour ecosystem."

It added: "The Tour de l'Avenir thus confirms its vocation as a talent scout, wherever they come from, whether they are part of a national team or a professional team."

Translating to English as 'Tour of the Future', the race is a mini Tour de France with no set route – though it tends to challenge participants with numerous Alpine stages, and sometimes makes forays abroad – last year's race, for example, finish at the top of the Colle delle Finestre in Italy.

The race is viewed as a useful barometer for future success, with a result at 'l'Avenir' often being enough to earn a rider a contract. Former winners of the week-long event include Tadej Pogačar, Egan Bernal, Davide Gaudu and Isaac Del Toro. Last year's event was won by French rider Paul Seixas.

There is also a women's race – the Tour de l'Avenir Femmes, which was inaugurated in 2023 and runs alongside the men's event. That has been won by Shirin van Anrooij, Marion Bunel and Isabella Holmgren so far.

Organisers have already revealed 10 of the development teams that will take part in this year's men's event, which runs from 19-27 August.

They are: Bahrain Victorious Development, Development Picnic PostNL, EF Education-Aevolo, Ineos Grenadiers Racing Academy, Lidl-Trek Future Racing, Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe Rookies, Soudal Quick-Step Devo, Tudor Pro Cycling U23, Visma-Lease a Bike Development and UAE Team Emirates Gen-Z.

Assuming the race adheres to previous convention, that leaves a further 17 teams to be announced. A-Velo says these will include national squads. The routes for this year also has yet to be revealed.