The first record had already been broken when Andrew August had not yet completed a single race for his new team Ineos Grenadiers. At 18 years and 81 days, he became the youngest professional on the World Tour since the series was founded on 1 January 2024. Even in the years before that, there were rarely riders who made cycling their main profession at such a young age. This brings with it a certain amount of expectation, especially as August racked up victory after victory as a junior, stood out with an outstanding VO2max value of 92 and was compared to Remco Evenepoel - "only with even more power" - by his previous manager.
The reality is different. In his first year as a professional, Evenepoel won the Clasica San Sebastian, among others. August's best result of the season was seventh place in the overall standings of the Czech Tour. Also worthy of honour, but a completely different level. And, in his defence: In his first year, Evenepoel was already about a year and a half older than the teenager from America, who is now being compared to him here and there.
Alone in Andorra: August's biggest challenge
However, August's new coach at Ineos, Dario Cioni, doesn't want to hear about it. His talent has other things to worry about right now. "For AJ," is the US boy's nickname, "coming here at 18 and settling in Andorra was one of the biggest challenges this year. I think that was the biggest challenge - finding your feet away from cycling," Cioni told the Outside Magazine. That was in April, shortly after Paris-Roubaix. August had just entered the race as the youngest starter in the history of the Hell of the North. He didn't make the time limit, but at least he finished his first Monument.
"I don't think it can get much harder than Roubaix," said the young athlete himself after his ride over the cobblestones of northern France. As a budding climber, at least not in terms of his own preferences. It was all about gaining experience. As is generally the case in his first year as a professional. He seems to have ticked the box behind cobblestones. For the rest of the season, he focussed on one-week tours, which suit him much better.
High in the Czech Republic, low at l'Avenir
He also demonstrated this on the Czech Tour, where he was allowed to ride on his own account. And with success. Accompanied by senior cyclists Cameron Wurf (41), Ben Swift (36) and Salvatore Puccio (35), August delivered his first exclamation mark. With two seventh places on the last two stages, the boy from the state of New York also secured that place in the final standings. In the end, he was exactly one minute behind the winner Marc Hirschi and 16 seconds behind the white jersey, which was won by Marco Brenner, four years his senior.
For August, it was the sign he needed: he can hold his own in the professional peloton. Until then, he had not had a chance to prove this in helper roles. The 18-year-old went into the Tour de l'Avenir with a tailwind. Pablo Torres, Leo Biseaux (19), Jarno Widar (18) - many of the rivals for overall victory in the most important U23 tour were his age and the opportunity to further establish himself was favourable. But things didn't go well for August right from the start. 18th place in the prologue was by far the best result of the tour, which he ultimately did not finish.
Also falling short of expectations at the World Championships
After that, things went quiet around Andrew August. He used the two Canadian World Tour races in Montreal and Quebec for a rare trip back home. He finished Montreal in the last two places together with his young compatriot Artem Shmidt, who Ineos took along as a stagiaire in anticipation of the next season in the professional team. But here, too, he deserves credit for finishing the race with a DNF rate of almost 50 per cent.
And so there was one last highlight of the season, which in the end was not to be one. The world championships. August finished 17th in the U23 time trial. On the not entirely flat course, he, who also harbours ambitions to become a tour rider, could have finished a little further up the field. However, only two U20 riders finished ahead of him. He did not finish the road race in the rain in Zurich.
The world championships in particular indicate that the leap from the juniors to the U23s can sometimes be quite large, let alone to the pros. This becomes particularly clear at the high points of the season, when everyone is in top form. It probably wouldn't have done August any harm if he'd gone ahead with his original plan to ride a year with the American U23 team Hagens Berman, which trains a number of top riders and passes them on to the World Tour. Ineos forced itself on him, August weakened and signed. Now the team must prove that it has enough patience to give the talent, which August undoubtedly is, the time it needs without the intermediate step. And he himself must ensure that he does not bury his head in the sand and keeps his motivation high if results continue to fail to materialise. Both parties are contractually bound until the end of 2026.
