Arensman, Tiberi, Uijtdebroeks and Lipowitz lead the demand for maglia bianca
If the battle for the pink jersey goes as expected at the Giro d’Italia with Tadej Pogacar dominating the overall competition from start to finish, one of the main stories to focus on could be who wins the white jersey for best young rider.
Pogačar’s eligibility to win the Grand Tour white jersey expired when he turned 25 in September after becoming almost synonymous with the ranking, winning it at each of the Grand Tours he started in his career.
He was the best young rider in the Tour de France four years in a row and did so by more than five minutes each time. His dominance of the rankings was so strong that Stage 2 of this year’s Tour de France will actually be the first day of the Tour where a rider not named Pogacar has led the youth classification since Stage 12 of the 2020 edition.
A number of young talents will now look to become the next winner of the maglia bianca, including Cian Uijtdebroeks (Visma-Lease a Bike), Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers) and Luke Plapp (Jayco AlUla).
Uijtdebroeks leads Visma’s GC hopes, finishing eighth overall on his Grand Tour debut at last year’s Vuelta, while Plapp took a leap forward in 2024, taking sixth in Paris-Nice after a stint in the yellow jersey.
Last year’s white jersey winner, João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates), is not present in 2024, but Arensman was runner-up. He worked well to help Geraint Thomas to second overall, while maintaining his own overall position to take sixth in the GC.
Among the last four winners of the youth classification are two Giro winners, Tao Geoghegan Hart and Egan Bernal, showing how GC riders prepare earlier to compete in the biggest races.
The three riders mentioned above will not strictly be chasing blanks, but will all be aiming for a top five, podium or higher finish at the Giro in three weeks’ time, with Arensman once again set to play a key supporting role for overall hopes of Thomas .
Of course, they will not be alone in the challenge as Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain-Victorious) looks set to be the first Italian to win the maglia bianca since Fabio Aru achieved the feat in 2015.
He showed strong legs at the Tour des Alpes to finish third in the general classification behind the Giro’s previous best young rider, Juanpe López (lidl-Trek), winner of the 2022 classification.
Alongside him will be two other young Italians who showed their great form during the five days of alpine racing, Giulio Pellizzari (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè) and Davide Piganzoli (Team Polti Kometa).
The pair both finished in the top 10 in the Tour des Alpes and finished second and third respectively in last year’s Tour de l’Avenir behind Isaac del Torro (UAE Team Emirates), proving to be one of the best young talents.
German talent Florian Lipowitz (Bora-Hansgrohe), who signed up for the WorldTour during the Tour de Romandie last week, also emerges as a new option to possibly claim the jersey.
The 23-year-old finished third overall, just nine seconds behind overall winner Carlos Rodríguez (Ineos Grenadiers) and showed what he can do in the mountains. He will be part of a Bora team riding for Dani Martínez, but could be a real threat overall and for the white jersey if given the freedom.
A symbol of the future to come, the Maglia bianca has now been a constant at the Giro d’Italia since it was reintroduced in 2007 and won by Andy Schleck, who would go on to win the Tour de France three years later. Other top riders to have won the maglia bianca include Richie Porte in 2010 and Rigoberto Uran in 2012.
Half of the last 12 winners of the white jersey are Colombian. Nairo Quintana, Miguel Ángel López and Carlos Betancur also won the award in the 2010s, as did Bernal and Uran.
This is the last of four jerseys offered at the Giro, first introduced in 1969 for new pros only, before being converted to a wristband for two seasons in the early 1970s and then the jersey as we know it today in 1976 In 2024, it will have a sponsor in the form of the food retailer Eataly.
“The jersey of the best young rider is white, just like the sum of all colors,” says the jersey information in the Giro roadbook. “It contains all hopes and dreams. It is both a price and a wish. A blank page for an exciting new chapter to be written.
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