Joe Blackmore: history maker. The 21-year-old’s glittering 2024 season became even more spectacular on Saturday when he was crowned the first British winner of the Tour de l’Avenir.
Blackmore finished second on the Colle delle Finestre across the border in Italy to seal his victory in the prestigious French under-23 stage race.
In a dramatic finale, he held on to win the GC by just 12 seconds. His name now sits alongside Tadej Pogačar, Miguel Indurain, and Greg LeMond on the race’s illustrious roll of honour.
“It was super close, but I’m so happy,” says Blackmore. “At the moment I’m really happy – it was a great team effort.”
Blackmore has previously attributed his 12th place at last year’s Avenir as a main reason for him focusing on the road in 2024. It’s a decision he won’t ever regret, given his rapid ascension from the IPT Academy to the Pro Team, a progression that was aided by three GC victories at the start of the season.
This success in Avenir, like those at the Tours of Rwanda and Taiwan, and Circuit des Ardennes, showed Blackmore’s versatility and ability to remain unflustered at all times. In Rwanda, leading the race on the final stage, he turned defense into attack to solo to the stage win.
He needed nearly every single bonus second on offer at intermediate sprints on the final day in Taiwan to take yellow, and duly collected them. In Ardennes, he had to do even better – win the final stage – to be crowned the race winner. You know what happened next.
After losing the yellow jersey at Avenir in Thursday’s stage to Les Karellis, Blackmore sat 1:03 behind race leader Pablo Torres (Spain) and over 30 seconds behind Jarno Widar of Belgium, both of whom had shown excellent climbing form in the race. Blackmore and an audacious breakaway group basically rode Torres and Widar out of contention in Friday’s transitional stage.
However, Torres did not go down without a fight: he soloed to the stage victory on the Finestre, having attacked from a select GC group with 13 kilometers to go. Blackmore produced a remarkable performance on the steep, partially-gravelled climb, finishing 3:43 behind to preserve the yellow jersey.
“I just had to give everything in the final,” he adds. “I tried to follow Pablo at the start but quickly realized it’s a long climb. Torres was riding really quickly and I knew it went high – 2,100 meters [above sea level]. I gave 100% in the final two kilometers but I didn’t want to go too hard, too soon. It was about suffering all the way up. I was completely empty by the finish. I gave it everything.”
Blackmore’s next race will give him a chance to bask in the glory of this victory: he’ll line up for his debut Tour of Britain, which begins in Scotland next Tuesday (September 3).
