The likes of Remco Evenepoel, Jonas Vingegaard, Primož Roglič and Tadej Pogačar have been some of the biggest names making the headlines in the 2022 season, but there are a huge number of riders who had their first tastes of stardom this year. Whether they’ve been fighting for GC positions in Grand Tours, shaking up the Classics, going shoulder to shoulder with established fast men in bunch kicks, or getting in the right breakaways to duke it out for stage wins, these are our picks of some of the standout riders who have had a stellar 2022 season.
Fred Wright – Bahrain-Victorious
He may not have secured that big result just yet, but British rider Fred Wright has come so close on so many occasions, that he needs to be included in this list. Wright’s season started well with a strong showing in Paris-Nice, where he secured two top-10 finishes. A highlight of the Bahrain-Victorious rider’s strong classics campaign was an impressive seventh place in the Tour of Flanders, where he found himself able to follow the likes of Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogačar on some of Belgium’s toughest bergs.
Fred Wright at the Tour de France (Image: Zac Williams/SWpix)
Later in the season at the 2022 Tour de France, Wright continued to make a name for himself as a rider who is consistently able to get himself into winning breakaways. Day after day, the 22-year-old found himself in the right move and this ended with five top-10 stage finishes in this year’s Tour, including a second place behind Mads Pedersen on stage 13 to Saint-Etienne. Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Wright’s Tour de France was the versatility of his performance, the Brit placed highly in time trials, punchy stages and flat bunch finishes.
Meet Fred Wright at Rouleur Live 2022
The imperious form he showed at the Tour continued as Wright secured second in the Commonwealth Games ITT and then a further eight top-10 finishes in Vuelta a España stages (including two third places, two fourth places and a second place finish.) Wright has become a fan favourite following his positive, plucky and honest interviews at the finish of races and he’s proven this year that he is one to watch in both the Classics and Grand Tours in 2023.
Arnaud de Lie – Lotto Soudal
In his first year as a professional, 20-year-old Arnaud de Lie has exceeded even his own expectations. Despite only being a neo-pro, De Lie has accrued the sixth highest number of UCI points of all the riders in the…