Another huge result for Canadians at the Tour de l’Avenir! Isabella Holmgren, racing for Team Canada, took second in the opening stage–a tough 2-km uphill prologue in La Rosière, France.
Holmgren finished just one second behind Belgian Lore De Schepper. Holmgren now sits second overall, and will wear the green points jersey in Stage 2.
Other Canadians include Kiara Lylyk, finishing in 12th, right ahead of Ava Holmgren in 13th, and Mara Roldan finished 22nd.
Bella’s second comes just days after Michael Leonard won the prologue of the men’s Tour de l’Avenir. Although he lost the jersey on Stage 1, he bounced back to third overall, and now sits sixth.
Stage 1 for the women’s Tour de l’Avenir is from Bessans to Les Karellis for a total 72.6–and has a tough summit finish.
The Tour de l’Avenir, often seen as a precursor to the Tour de France, has been a stepping stone for future stars. Notable winners include Miguel Induráin, who won in 1986 before his five Tour de France titles from 1991 to 1995, and Laurent Fignon, who won in 1982 and later claimed the Tour de France in 1983 and 1984. Colombian climbers Nairo Quintana and Egan Bernal, winners in 2010 and 2017 respectively, went on to secure Grand Tour victories—Quintana with the Giro d’Italia in 2014 and the Vuelta a España in 2016, and Bernal as the first South American to win the Tour de France in 2019. Slovenia’s Tadej Pogačar won in 2018.
The Tour de l’Avenir Femmes is a new adition to the under-23 calendar. 2023 was the first edition of the event. The race is four days long: a prologue and three road stages.
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