"No team wanted me" - The 2017 junior world champion opens up on his unlikely journey to the team of Tadej Pogacar

Times change quickly. When Julius Johansen won the 2017 junior World Championships in Bergen, it went nearly unnoticed. Nowadays, he would have secured a long-time WorldTour contract with his dominant junior season, but for Johansen the path to being professional cyclist for UAE Team Emirates - XRG was anything but straightforward.

"After dominating the junior season, I won the junior world championships in Bergen, Norway, and if it wasn’t for a puncture I probably would have won the time trial as well," Julius Johansen remembers in a Rouleur feature. "If you’re going to be a junior world champion today, for sure all the WorldTour teams would want to sign you, but that wasn’t the case back then – no teams wanted me."

It’s not to belittle the achievements of U19 riders, but in the case of Johansen it was a case of simply maturing sooner than everyone else. "As a junior I was just stronger than the others and I could win almost every race," he reflects. "I wasn’t a sprinter, but I was so strong that I could ride most people off my wheel." Twelve wins in 19 days of road racing in 2017 back up his claims.

But instead of joining a prestigious academy, he joined the Danish Coloquick for next two years before stepping up to ProTour with Uno-X in 2020. Even though he didn't have a winning streak such as in 2017, Johansen's performances over the two seasons in Norwegian team grabbed the attention of Intermarché - Wanty with whom he would go on to ride the Vuelta twice.

But at the end of 2023, there was no longer a spot for then 24-year-old Dane. "Maybe from the beginning they had bigger expectations from me, I don’t know, but they didn’t want me," he tries to put a finger on the reason for that. Suddenly, it seemed as though his WorldTour dream was already over.

There are a multitude of reasons why Tadej Pogacar had the Triple Crown 2024 season that he did, but among the most important was the arrival of Javier Sola as his coach. Coincidentally, the same man also happened to have Johansen under his wing. "Sabgal had a deal with Javier Sola, Pogi’s trainer, and midway through the season he started coaching me – I was super lucky," Johansen says.

"He had my data and I wanted to do everything to show him that I definitely still had enough power to be in the WorldTour, and it was a mistake that I was no longer there."

Then in September, Sola suddenly invited Johansen for try-outs in UAE: "I did some really good tests and that started to really interest UAE," he says. "I’ve known Matxin [UAE Team Emirates - XRG sports manager] for a long time and we live quite close together, and he said they could do with a rider like me, someone to pull on the front."

From there on, it was a long wait until one November morning, the phone finally rang. "Luckily – so lucky for me – UAE had space for one more rider, and they said they wanted me." How did he feel? "It was a surprise for everyone, including myself. They said I have one year to show myself, to prove that I still belong in the WorldTour."

And Johansen already showed his worth with a second place in a stage of the Vuelta a Asturias, the one day when he was given freedom of his teammate duties. Will that be enough to secure a longer stay at WorldTour? Who knows, but so far it seems like the former junior world champion grabbed this golden opportunity with both hands.