The 2025 Tour de l’Avenir will get underway on Saturday, August 23rd and run until Friday, August 29th. The premiere race for riders under 25 years of age will again this year feature an Irish team, as six riders head to France to race against some of the world’s best.

The race begins with a prologue around Tignes, a collection of villages in the French Alps. The prologue will be followed by two flat stages, two hilly stages and two mountain stages, with a 10km time trial after the stage on the final day. More information on the route is available here.

2025 U23 National Champion Jamie Meehan - Picture courtesy Peter Purfield

Recent U23 National Champion Jamie Meehan will make the trip with the Irish team. This comes off the back of a podium in his first professional race with Team Cofidis, as the Donegal man took third in the second stage of the Tour de l’Ain.

Hagens Berman Jayco rider, and current U23 Time-Trial National Champion Adam Rafferty also makes the squad, and comes into the race having a won a stage of the Baby Giro earlier this summer.

Dean Harvey will make another appearance in green for Ireland. The current Criterium National Champion recently won the final stage and finished 17th overall at the Tour Cycliste International de Martinique in the Carribean.

Lidl-Trek development rider Liam O’Brien takes to the start of another stage race, having had strong showings in several already this year. The 20-year-old has been on the podium in stages at the Giro Ciclisto della Valle d’Aosta – Mont Blanc, Alpes Isére Tour and Ronde de l’Isard.

Seth Dunwoody of Bahrain Victorious Development Team again off the back a strong Baby Giro, where he took the win on Stage 4, also taking a stage win at the Circuit des Ardennes stage race earlier in the year.

Team Skyline rider Ronan O’Connor rounds out the Irish squad. Having won the Shay Elliott Memorial and strong showings at several stage races including the Rás Tailteann and a second place on GC at Rás Mhaigh Eo, O’Connor also took a top 10 at the TT National Championships.

An experienced staff will travel with the team, as Frank Campbell will act as DS, Alan Carroll will be the team mechanic, and Brian Hayden and Luke Smith will take up soigneur roles.


Head Coach Neill Delahaye said: “The performances delivered by Irish U23 riders this year in UCI ranked racing have been impressive. We have raced strongly in Tour de l’Avenir in recent years with a number of riders that were competitive in the race transitioning into the pro ranks with continued success at that level also.

We are delighted to be able to provide this opportunity to this group and believe that the team composition offers great strength in depth with chances for both targeting stages and overall GC ambitions. The motivation within the team is really high, the riders put their best possible case forward for inclusion in the race by demonstrating their competitiveness all season and we are looking forward to seeing them at their best for an exciting and tough week of racing.”