7 trainees to watch in the final stretch of 2025
Trainees - or stagiaires - are recruited by some pro cycling teams from August each year, with the intention of trying to make their mark in the final part of the season, in order to secure a precious contract to race in the pro peloton from the following year. Bence Czigelmajer casts an eye over some of the key trainees to look out for this year

As the professional teams take on their trainees for the final stretch of the season, a new generation of young talent enters the professional cycling scene every August.
According to UCI regulations, teams are eligible to try out new riders during this time, between 1 August and 31 December, allowing them to demonstrate their skills and compete for a highly lucrative professional contract.
Some riders see it as their first opportunity to compete in the major leagues, while others see it as a stepping stone from the Continental divisions to the World Tour.
The role of trainees has diminished in recent years, as almost every World Tour team and several Pro teams now have a linked development team from which they can test young riders' talents in .1 or even .Pro races throughout the year, developing them to be ready for the World Tour. Nevertheless, this trainee/stagiaire role has a significant tradition within the sport, and many riders who can now be called stars - such as Florian Lipowitz, Kévin Vauquelin, or Magnus Cort Nielsen among the men, and Cat Ferguson, Anna Henderson, and Maëva Squiban among the women - began their careers this way. Let's look at some of those riders who will ride as trainees in the last three months of 2025.
Paula Ostiz (Movistar)
One must begin this line-up with the brightest light - and Paula Ostiz has everything it takes to be a star.
The 18-year-old from Navarra is still competing in the junior category this year, but starting next year, she will join Movistar’s World Tour team with a three-year contract. Looking at her results, it's understandable that they signed her so quickly. Last year, she had intense battles with British rider Cat Ferguson, who now also strengthens Movistar, culminating during the World Championship Road Race, where Cat ultimately defeated Paula in the sprint, becoming world champion.
This year, Paula has levelled up, finishing in the top 3 in all 14 of her registered race days, winning 7 of those, including the Spanish national championship. Ostiz's dominance comes from versatile areas, so much so that it currently extends to almost every area, from sprints to punchy terrain and mountains – the only profile where she hasn't won this year is the mountain top finish, yet she wasn't far from the best of the 2007 class there either.
Ferguson won a pro race at Binche-Chimay-Binche during her stagiaire career last year, and Ostiz could repeat that achievement in 2025.
Mattia Gaffuri (Team Polti VisitMalta)
Mattia Gaffuri is an inspiring person in the world of cycling. At the beginning of his career, he simultaneously competed in athletics and cycling at club level, but a serious injury in athletics permanently turned him towards cycling. However, he did not advance beyond U23 at club level (although competing in the same team as current World Tour riders like Asbjørn Hellemose helped him a lot).
After that, he turned to sports science, graduating in this area from the University of Varese. Subsequently, he participated in GranFondo, gravel, and hill climbing competitions, achieving particularly outstanding results in the latter. Around 2022-2023, he released a lot of high-level data on various watt- and time record-related platforms, which indicated that the Italian had serious potential, leading him to the Zwift Academy 2023 finals.
Although he did not win there and did not receive a professional contract for the following year, this did not deter him from his path. He continuously conquered high mountains in record times, and the work invested in training brought the expected results by 2025 with the team Swatt Club, which provides opportunities for riders like Gaffuri who have great potential. He finished second in the Tour de Beauce, third in the Oberösterreich Tour, and most importantly, he placed fifth in the Italian championship, which was won by his teammate, Filippo Conca.
At the age of 26, Gaffuri is now getting the chance for the first time in his career to ride for a professional team. Polti VisitMalta is quite a good fit for him – the team, which is expected to lose its leader, Davide Piganzoli, needs a very good climber; Polti VisitMalta as a team have suffered a slight deficiency in this regard throughout the season. A refresh is necessary, and Gaffuri could perfectly meet this goal. It's a win-win situation if all goes well.
Jamie Meehan (Cofidis)
The first outstanding trainee performance of 2025 is attributed to Jamie Meehan. The 21-year-old Irish climber is currently in his fourth and final U23 year, having joined smaller French club teams after spending his first two years in Ireland. The breakthrough year for him came in 2025. Initially, he finished 9th on one of the toughest days of the Circuit des Ardennes. Then he became the silver medallist on the final day of the Alpes Isère Tour, one of the most prestigious races on the French Continental calendar, keeping pace with his peers from World Tour development teams throughout.
Following this, his career took off from the end of June – he finished second in the Irish national championship on relatively flat terrain, losing the final sprint. Then he secured 6th place at the Giro Valle d’Aosta, not finishing worse than 9th on the last three mountain stages.
This year's performance has been enough for Cofidis to sign him until the end of the season, and they didn’t hesitate, throwing him immediately into the Tour de l’Ain. Meehan did not disappoint at all, being among the top 10-15 climbers every day in a field that included World Tour veterans and tremendous talents, which is a significant achievement. Jamie's main moment came at the end of the second day, when he attacked in the group fighting for 3rd place at the finish in Lélex Monts-Jura, and succeeded.
It is rare for trainees to stand on the podium in a professional competition; Meehan's performance indicates that he is instantly capable of doing so, with very little training in a new environment. His further programme ties him to France at least until the end of August, and the Tour de l’Avenir could be a revealing test to see where he stands at the end of his U23 career.
Victor Loulergue (Groupama-FDJ)
Groupama – FDJ and its associated network, which includes U23 and junior teams, is one of the most complex, longest-running, and best networks in the current cycling structure. However, when a 20-year-old talent emerges at the club level, they do not hesitate to sign him. Victor Loulergue is a young rider for whom this year has marked a breakthrough from the French club scene – in the first third of the season, he finished in the top 10 in 13 out of 17 local races, winning four of them. Following this, he was considered for the national team and larger competitions in his club, Bourg-en-Bresse.
Victor finished second on the first day of the Ronde de l’Isard at the end of a downhill sprint, won the first day of the Czech Course de la Paix, which also concluded after a 10% gradient hill, and recently finished in the top 6 on all three days of the Kreiz Breizh Elites stage race.
Loulergue is a very good puncheur, clearly following in Romain Grégoire's footsteps in the team (especially since Romain has recently shown signs that he could also perform well in the bigger mountains). Since Rudy Molard and Quentin Pacher, the team's experienced puncheurs, are both in their late stages of their careers, a refresh is needed – Loulergue could be the diamond and the solution for the team's long-term future.
Erin Boothman (Liv AlUla Jayco)
The next representative of the deep and talented British women's junior generation is Erin Boothman, who recently signed a three-year contract with the Liv AlUla Jayco team – this includes a trainee contract lasting until the end of 2025, and 2026, where Erin can gain experience with Jayco’s development team. The 18-year-old Scot can call herself a two-time junior track cycling world champion, as she won the women’s team pursuit last year in Chengdu, setting a world record. She also won the madison event together with Carys Lloyd, who currently races for Movistar.
As for her road career: Boothman had two huge wins this year: she took the Clásica Jaén one-day race, which took place on similar gravel roads as the men's race, and the junior women's Gent-Wevelgem, which is one of the most important women's classics on the calendar. This also shows that Erin's strength may lie in one-day races, particularly the tougher types, and she could be an asset to Jayco if she gains the right experience. Since there will be a vacancy in the development line of the team - as their top three riders, Jansen, Vitillo, and Coupland, graduate to the WorldTour - Boothman could take on a leading role in his very first U23 season.
Zac Marriage (Israel-Premier Tech)
Teams often like to employ trainees from the Australian continental scene, with Jack Haig, Luke Plapp, and Lachlan Morton all starting their European careers this way. Previously, this was predominantly done by the region's WorldTour team, Team Jayco-AlUla. In recent years, however, other teams, including Israel–Premier Tech, have also noticed the potential in Australians.
Zac Marriage fits into this category; the 21-year-old from Adelaide has delivered incredibly stable top-5 finishes at the domestic level, and he truly showcased himself to the public for the first time at the 2025 Tour Down Under, where he finished in the top 20 of the general classification with a very strong performance on Willunga Hill.
Marriage is quite a strong all-round competitor even at a young age, at home in the hills and in smaller group sprints, but time trial could also be a developing strength – Israel-Premier Tech likely saw him as a very good stagiaire because of these skills. On his first European race day in the team's colours, he finished 10th on the opening day of the Volta a Portugal, and we can be sure that his path can certainly lead further up on the old continent.
Dillon Corkery (Team Picnic PostNL)
The 26-year-old Irish rider found his place in France: after spending four years at club level (and a brief Continental stint with EvoPro Racing), he joined the St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93 team for 2024, where he shone in his first year at the Tour de Bretagne, achieving two top-5 finishes and six top 20 placements over the 7 days, and then finished 14th in one of the season's closing events, Binche – Chimay – Binche, ahead of World Tour stars like Tim Merlier and Danny van Poppel.
However, the real breakthrough came this year, particularly during the one-month period from mid-March to mid-April: Corkery finished 6th at GP Denain, which many consider the little brother of Paris-Roubaix due to its difficult pavé sectors, and where he was constantly battling in the eight-man group fighting for the final victory. He followed this up with an 8th place at La Roue Tourangelle, where he also competed for victory in a smaller group, and a top-3 finish on the first day of the Pays de la Loire Tour, marking the first podium result of his professional career.
The period starting from April was not particularly successful, filled with crashes, but nevertheless, it was enough for Picnic PostNL to give him a chance in the World Tour team for the remainder of 2025. Picnic PostNL needs classic power, and a rider who approaches things outside of a sprinter's perspective; as Corkery also has flat strength, and is not bad on punchy terrain, he has everything needed to perform well at the highest level.