Saturday 9 January 2016 15:19, UK
Cycling is blessed with a wealth of highly promising young riders.
From future Grand Tour winners to rising stars of the Classics and sprinters already picking up big wins, there is enough talent to ensure seasoned veterans need to start looking over their shoulders in 2016.
Here are 10 up-and-coming riders on the UCI World Tour to keep an eye on over the coming year…
Age: 21. Nationality: Belgian. Team: Lotto Soudal. Style: Classics specialist.
Benoot produced arguably the most eye-catching result of 2015 when he finished fifth at the Tour of Flanders, despite having only just turned 21 and still being a university student.
But it wasn't a fluke, because he followed it up with a string of other fine performances, most notably finishing eighth overall at the Eneco Tour, fifth at the Grand Prix de Montreal and fourth at Paris-Tours.
Benoot is one of the most exciting young talents in the sport and there is quite rightly plenty of interest in what he can achieve in the 2016 Classics.
Age: 21. Nationality: Colombian. Team: Etixx - Quick-Step. Style: Sprinter.
We haven't seen a great deal of Gaviria so far, but what we have seen has been mightily impressive.
He earned himself a contract with Etixx - Quick-Step by twice beating Mark Cavendish at last January's Tour de San Luis in Argentina and, after joining the Belgian team at the start of August, he needed less than a fortnight to bag his first win.
His most eye-catching performance so far came at the Tour of Britain, when he out-sprinted Andre Greipel and Edvald Boasson Hagen to win stage four.
Gaviria is also the reigning world omnium champion on the track.
Age: 21. Nationality: Colombian. Team: Astana. Style: Climber / general classification.
Lopez turned professional with Astana last year and delivered some impressive results, most notably winning a stage and finishing fourth overall at the hilly Vuelta a Burgos.
He has signalled his intent to win all three Grand Tours in what promises to be a successful career and is set to make his debut over three weeks at the Vuelta a Espana in August and September.
A former winner of the prestigious amateur race Tour de l'Avenir, don't be surprised to see Lopez picking up some high-profile wins in 2016.
Age: 23. Nationality: Italian. Team: Cannondale-Garmin. Style: Climber / general classification.
Formolo has been tipped as a future Grand Tour winner and showed why with a superb solo stage win at the 2015 Giro d'Italia.
Winning over three weeks still appears a long way off, but more high-profile wins and top 10s in stage races are not unrealistic targets for 2016, particularly given that the departures of Dan Martin and Ryder Hesjedal from Cannondale-Garmin's squad could create general classification opportunities for Formolo.
Age: 21. Nationality: Australian. Team: Australian. Style: Sprinter.
Alongside Gaviria, Ewan appears to be the next big thing in sprinting and handsomely justified that tag by picking an impressive 11 wins in his debut season as a professional in 2015.
Although nine of those came outside of Europe, one came at the Vuelta a Espana, when he proved too fast for John Degenkolb and Peter Sagan in an uphill sprint on stage five.
Orica-GreenEdge look set to send Ewan to more top-tier races, including the Giro d'Italia, so it is going to be interesting to see whether he can beat the best on a regular basis.
Age: 22. Nationality: Swiss. Team: BMC Racing. Style: Time-triallist.
Although Küng's debut season as a professional was severely hampered by a back injury sustained at the Giro, he still gave notice of his outstanding potential by riding to a superb solo stage win at the Tour de Romandie.
His preparations for 2016 have been set back by a bout of Epstein-Barr virus, but should he get over that, Küng will be searching for more big wins, particularly in his specialist discipline of time trials.
Age: 26. Nationality: Russian. Team: Katusha. Style: All-rounder.
Zakarin enjoyed a breakthrough year in 2015, taking overall victory at the Tour de Romandie and winning a stage of the Giro before finishing fourth overall at the Tour de Pologne.
His general classification challenge didn't materialise at the 2015 Giro, but he is set to return to the race in May and is making it his main target for the year. While the podium is probably out of his reach, a top-10 finish is not.
He should also be in contention in build-up races, not least defending his Romandie title.
Age: 23. Nationality: French. Team: Etixx - Quick-Step. Style: Punchy climber.
Alaphilippe will be looking to repeat or improve upon his outstanding Ardennes Classics campaign from 2015, when he finished seventh in the Amstel Gold Race and then second in both La Fleche Wallonne and Liege-Bastogne-Liege.
Etixx - Quick-Step hold Alaphilippe in high esteem and will give him a joint-leadership role in the Ardennes alongside new signing Dan Martin.
Age: 23. Nationality: English. Team: Orica-GreenEdge. Style: Climbers / general classification.
It seems almost ignorant and discourteous to pair the Yates twins together, but the truth is they are very similar riders on the same team with equal amounts of ability and potential. And 2016 should be another big year for them both.
Each of them will target high overall placings in spring and early-summer stage races - Adam is going to Tirreno-Adriatico and Simon to Paris-Nice - before heading to the Tour de France, most likely in search of stage wins, and then the Olympic Games, most likely in support of Chris Froome.
Adam claimed the biggest win of his career so far at the Clasica San Sebastian in 2015 and it would be no surprise if both of the Yates twins are visiting the top step of the podium at more big races in 2016.
Age: 24. Nationality: American. Team: Team Sky. Style: Climber.
After needing his first two years with Team Sky to find his feet in professional cycling, Boswell made significant progress in 2015 and began to fulfill the promise he had shown as an amateur.
Having placed an impressive seventh overall at the Amgen Tour of California in May, he proved an able domestique to Chris Froome at the Criterium du Dauphine in June and then made his Grand Tour debut at the Vuelta a Espana, finishing an eye-catching third on the savagely difficult 11th stage in the mountains of Andorra behind Mikel Landa and eventual race winner Fabio Aru.
Excited by Boswell's development, Brailsford offered him a contract extension and looks set to give him increasingly important roles in the coming year.
