The loss of the premier stage race for U23 women is indicative of a category in flux. What happens now?
The medalists in the first-ever U23 women’s road race at Worlds in Kigali last year. From left to right: Viktória Chladoňová, Célia Gery, and Paula Blasi.
In early March, organisers of the women’s Tour de l’Avenir revealed that the race’s 2026 edition had been cancelled. It was a hammer blow for emerging female road riders – the only standalone stage race for U23 women on the international calendar, gone, just three years after it began.
It had seemed like the U23 women’s road scene was moving in an encouraging direction. In addition to the Tour de l’Avenir’s growth, a standalone U23 women’s road race and time trial had been added to the Road World Championships, starting with Kigali 2025. No one would have argued that the U23 women’s scene was thriving, but there were more races at that level than there had been.
So what now? What does the future hold for the U23 scene now that its flagship race is gone? What does this mean for young riders who are trying to take that daunting step from U19s to the highest levels of the sport?
Collapse of a category
When the Tour de l’Avenir Femmes’ cancellation was announced, organisers claimed several reasons for the decision: a lack of women’s U23 teams; the fact many Tour de l’Avenir Femmes riders had already been racing at WorldTour level; and the “resources required” to run the race.
Donna Rae-Szalinski is the director of pathways at AusCycling, the governing body for Australian cycling. She says she was “deeply disappointed” by the cancellation of this year’s Tour de l’Avenir Femmes.
“It was just a great opportunity for them [young Australian riders] to gauge where they are against others in their age group on an international scale,” Szalinski told Escape. “And it was just that lovely bridge. It’s a very big gap from U19 to WorldTour, and it was just a lovely, lovely bridge for anybody, but specifically the U23 Australians, because we have a strong emphasis in our female cohort on trying to acquire a university degree concurrently with their actual cycling career.
“The Australian scenario is more complex than European U23s because for our U23s, you can’t concurrently be a bike rider and pursue an education, because you can’t go back and forth from home to races, etc. So it is always a challenge.”
Loren Rowney is an Australian former road professional, co-host of Escape’s Wheel Talk Podcast, and a rider agent with The Team Cycling agency (formerly Wasserman Cycling). She echoed Rae-Szalinski’s assessment, saying the loss of L’Avenir is particularly significant for non-European riders.
“[L’Avenir] was the one big opportunity,” she told Escape. “That could be a launch pad for so many riders, and they’re up against these already well-established U23s that are racing on pro level or in a WorldTour team. So it’s really disappointing.
“It’s like, why do you have this standalone U23 Worlds race – which is great; it’s a great platform for the riders – but there’s nothing else around it. Nothing. And you just removed the one tour where these riders had the opportunity to just have a real experience within their own category? It’s mindblowing.”
With the Tour de l’Avenir Femmes cancelled, only a couple races remain on the U23 women’s calendar this year: the time trial and road race at Worlds in Canada, and the same at the European Championships. By contrast, the 2026 men’s U23 calendar features 26 separate events, not including the European and World Championships.
Broken pathways
The cancellation of the Tour de l’Avenir Femmes is only part of the problem. The race’s demise also highlights that there aren’t as many pathways to the pro ranks as there once were, especially when it comes to some national programs.
“If you think of the programs that Spratty [Amanda Spratt] came through, Tiff Cromwell, Carlee Taylor, Gracie Elvin, myself – none of that exists,” Rowney said of the Australian context. “So that AIS [Australian Institute of Sport] program that we had for so long was such a good pathway for Australians to get to Europe, and actually, the USA used to also have a pretty good program that did two trips, just like the Aussies. Lots of talented US riders over the past generations came through that system. It just no longer exists. They [the national bodies] put the responsibility now on the cycling teams.
“AusCycling wants Olympians, right? Because Olympians are what gets funding. So they’re supporting the U19s to a degree, but they need to support the U23s as well. I think that’s lacking a bit. And that was actually the opinion of one of the managers I was talking to as well. He said, ‘It’s just a shame we don’t have these national programs anymore. There’s really a gap there.’”
Rowney believes that the American criterium scene, which she and many other riders once used as stepping stone to Europe, also isn’t what it used to be.
“I think Lauretta Hanson’s generation was the last generation that could still do a really good program over there; do some racing in Europe with the American Conti team, and get seen that way,” she said. “That pathway no longer exists.”
So what pathways are still open to emerging female road racers? Performing well in one of a handful of events is one avenue.
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