Young supertalent Jarno Widar blames team for Tour de l'Avenir 'snap': "I've done too many races but my team didn't listen to me and now we're seeing where that leads"
Cycling
Although Jarno Widar kicked off the Tour de l'Avenir quite well. There were early signs that he's not in his best when he lost the first mountain stage sprint to Joe Blackmore. On the next day Widar managed to consolidate the damage, however the large offensive of his opponents left him helpless, losing a lot of time on the penultimate stage and finally, the 18-year-old talent snapped on Colle delle Finestre and completely backed off the GC.
"I was exhausted, you can see that in my results," Widar opened up to DirectVelo on Saturday after his collapse. "I've ridden too many races. I told the team two months ago that I'm riding too many races, but they didn't listen to me and now we're seeing where that leads. This week really showed that I should have trained more and ridden fewer races," is the harsh conclusion that the Belgian talent draws.
National coach of the Belgian team, Sven Vanthourenhout, looks at the disappointing tour of Widar's future with a different eye. "It may not be so bad for him, since the expectations around him were getting higher and higher," the national coach opens the debates.
"Just because he didn't win the Tour de l'Avenir, doesn't mean he doesn't have a brilliant future ahead of him. He has to learn from a race like this and these kinds of disappointments. We are all very proud of Jarno, but he just wasn't ready for this race."
Widar does not want to know anything about giving up. "I will come back here next year and then I will try again," the Belgian promises combatively. Widar also already knows what the plans are for the rest of the calendar year 2024. "I will only ride the World Championship and the U23 Lombardia. So I only focus on the big goals and not on the smaller races anymore."
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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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
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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
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