Pablo Torres, after his sensational ride on Colle delle Finestre at Tour de l'Avenir: "Very proud despite not taking the overall victory"
Cycling
The Tour de l'Avenir 2024 is over, and it was an edition that gives so much hope for the future of Spanish cycling. Pablo Torres, only 18 years old, has absolutely obliterated everyone and everything in the final stage with finish on Colle delle Finestre and even though he doesn't take home the GC win, his future seems more than certain.
The UAE Team Emirates Gen Z rider scored two stage victories, including the last one of the race, which also brought him within a whisker of an overall victory that would have been a sensational achievement. However, Torres fell 12 seconds short of Joe Blackmore, despite crossing the finish line with a lead of 3 minutes and 43 seconds over the Briton.
Even so, there is no 'but' to the performance of Pablo Torres in the Tour de l'Avenir. He himself has confirmed it in statements made to the Real Federación Española de Ciclismo: "We couldn't take the overall but we are very proud anyway."
Regarding his spectacular stage win, Torres pointed out how it unfolded with initial doubts: "Today's stage at the beginning I didn't look so good. Yesterday was very hard, but as the kilometers went by I felt better and better. At the beginning of the last (mountain) pass the team did an exceptional job, they were already supporting me from the beginning of the stage, they set a very, very hard pace."
"When I attacked, Blackmore at first managed to keep up the pace for a few kilometers, but in the end I ended up going solo, and the truth is that we are very happy," concluded a Pablo Torres who is already, by far, one of the great jewels that Spanish cycling will have to promote in the future.
If it wasn't enough by itself, Torres wiped the floor with previous fastest time on the climb set by Jose Rujano at the 2011 Giro d'Italia by more than a minute in a performance that would put him among the best riders even in a WorldTour peloton. After this performance there's not a shadow of doubt Torres has a bright future ahead in World Tour, but at which team is to be confirmed (although most likely is he'll stay within UAE Team Emirates).
Read also
Final overall classification of the Tour du Porvenir 2024
| Position | Last Name and First Name | Country | Time | |
| 1 | Blackmore Joe | Great Britain | 20:37:36 | |
| 2 | Torres Pablo | Spain | + 12 | |
| 3 | Graat Tijmen | Netherlands | + 50 | |
| 4 | Bisiaux Léo | France | + 02:43 | |
| 5 | Kajamini Florian | Italy | + 03:40 | |
| 6 | Dalby Simon | Denmark | + 04:29 | |
| 7 | Pescador Diego | Colombia | + 08:56 | |
| 8 | Rolland Brieuc | France | + 09:29 | |
| 9 | Wenzel Mats | Luxembourg | + 10:04 | |
| 10 | Scalco Matteo | Italy | + 11:49 | |
| 11 | Zerai Nahom | Centre Mondial du Cyclisme | + 13:15 | |
| 12 | Lopes Lucas | Portugal | + 14:56 | |
| 13 | Greenwood Matthew | Australia | + 15:39 | |
| 14 | Gualdi Simone | Italy | + 15:44 | |
| 15 | Donze Robin | Switzerland | + 16:33 | |
| 16 | Vysocan Daniel | Czechia | + 18:39 | |
| 17 | Arsac Rémi | Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes | + 19:00 | |
| 18 | Svarre Tobias | Denmark | + 21:42 | |
| 19 | Hofbauer Philipp | Austria | + 24:31 | |
| 20 | Crescioli Ludovico | Italy | + 24:48 |
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
- Thibau Nys does exactly what Iserbyt is calling for
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
- So?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- The UCI do have their favorites.
Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Because for you deviated implies the other rider MUST have been made to fall and fail to finish ??? I don’t know if you ride a bike but next time someone carves you up or drives dangerously close, just hold back from those feelings of changing something, reporting or filming or even complaining. Everyone will just say, hey you’re still here undamaged, doesn’t seem like anyone did anything.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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#TourDelAvenir | Esto nos ha contado Pablo Torres tras su sensacional día en @tourdelavenir ✨ 🎙️"Estamos muy orgullosos" #TeamESPciclismo🇪🇦
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