"I learned to race intelligently": Quick-Step prospect looks to utilize experience from WorldTour in final U23 season

Soudal - Quick-Step's development team has been set up in 2023 on the basis of Belgian continental Team Elevate p/b Home Solution Soenens. Since then, many talented riders have found their way to the higher divisions of cycling. And Federico Savino hopes to become another success story of this under-23 formation.

Having joined the team already in 2023, Savino is now by far the most experienced (in terms of service years) man on the preliminary 2026 roster. The next season will also be Savino's last in the under-23 category, and hopefully the one where his level finally becomes interesting enough for a big team to have Savino promoted to professional level.

"Last season (2025) was my third with the team, and even though I hoped to achieve more on a personal level, I'm happy with how it went," Savino analyzed in an interview for team website. "One of the reasons is that I continued to improve and learn; I learned to read a race and ride intelligently, but I also improved my positioning, especially in the final part of a race."

"Another important thing for me was being able to race with the WorldTour team in several races, such as O Gran Camiño, Coppi e Bartali, and Tour of Slovakia. It was fantastic to do it and experience so many great moments with the more experienced guys. It was a dream to be on the same team with them, and I loved every single moment."

While racing with WorldTour team was mainly about gathering experience, the Italian had a couple results of his own while racing with the development team. This included overall victory at the West Bohemia Tour (2.2U) or 4th overall at the Tour de Bretagne (2.2).

"I had great results at the Circuit des Ardennes and the Tour de Bretagne, but the one that stands out above all others is undoubtedly my overall victory at the West Bohemia Tour," the 21-year-old continued.

"We triumphed there in 2024, and it was fantastic to repeat that success. I built on my victory earlier in the week, breaking away on the first stage, and combined with my strong performance in the prologue, that propelled me to the yellow jersey. With the help of my incredible teammates, I defended the yellow jersey and took the win, which was fantastic."

The young Tuscan rider already has clear ideas for 2026: "I'll approach next season with great ambition, because I want to do well in several races, from Liège-Bastogne-Liège to the Giro Next Gen and the Tour de l'Avenir. I also hope to have other opportunities to race with the WorldTour team, because I know that will help me improve."

With the removal of NationsCup category in 2026, the selection for Tour de l'Avenir will become easier for Savino. Now he doesn't need to make the cut for extremely stacked Italian national team while not an outright climber. Instead, he only needs to hope for his team to be among the invited (which should be the case). Then the selection should be possible.