The ten-round Nations’ Cup series included both one-day and multi-day events, with Hungary hosting a three-day race, including events such as the legendary junior classic Paris-Roubaix and one of the most popular youth stage race, the Czech Junior Peace Race.

The second half of the series opened with the German LVM Saarland Trofeo, with three full and two half stages between 9 and 12 June. The overall classification was decided by the second half stage, when Mathieu Kockelmann from Luxembourg won the race on his solo home finish, effectively winning the overall.

From 12 to 17 July, the Tour de l’Abitibi in Canada was a battle between teams from North America and France. The seven-stage race ended with a triple French victory, with Lucas Mainguenaud taking the general classification. The Gauls held on to the yellow jersey with three stage victories to claim a confident victory.

A slightly bigger peloton gathered in the Netherlands for the Watersley Junior Challenge from 29-31 July. The event, held in the immediate surroundings of one of Europe’s most famous cycling parks, featured two full and two half stages for the cyclists. The final stage decided the outcome of the race, with home rider Max van der Meulen (Willebrord Wil Vooruit) coming home with a lead of almost two and a half minutes to win both the overall and the mountain classification.

The final stage also decided the Hungarian home event, with Poland’s Hubert Grygowski celebrating at the end of the final stage to take the yellow jersey in the overall. The best Hungarian cyclist was Márk Takács-Valent.

This year’s Junior Nations’ Cup series concluded in South Korea from 26 to 30 August. The characteristics of the five-day event were not exactly easy, with plenty of climbs to keep the peloton on their toes. Each stage was won by a rider from the Dutch team Willebrord Wil Vooruit, with only Onto p/b Hincapie able to challenge their dominance, which meant that they were unable to take all the podium places. In the overall Max van der Meulen (Willebrord Wil Vooruit) finished in first place, ahead of teammate Menno Huising (Willerbrord Wil Vooruit) and American Jack Makonon (Onto p/b Hincapie).