While we now sit in a pretty good era when it comes to the history of the sport, there is always a revolving door, where this current crop of leading MXGP riders retire and that time is coming soon, probably within the next two or three years.

Gone will be six-time world champion, Jeffrey Herlings, five-time world champion, Tim Gajser and two-time world champion, Romain Febvre. The men who have given us so many magic moments and legendary performances.

When that time comes, let’s hope the new breed is ready to take over. In my opinion, the group of talented riders, who will end up being the lead pack in MXGP, are pretty damn impressive.

Let’s start with the guys who have already won an MX2 championship, those being Tom Vialle, Kay De Wolf, Andrea Adamo, Simon Langenfelder and Guillem Farres. All, super talented and all capable of becoming the face of Grand Prix Motocross.

Of course, for me, Adamo and Langenfelder, while both very talented, the fact they are slightly quiet types of characters, they might win championships, but like Febvre, they might not attract the focus of the motocross world, as a Herlings or Jorge Prado have done. Herlings and Prado are two men who know what to say to get global attention and their results back that up.

I think both De Wolf and Farres have that talent, to talk a good talk, but also walk the walk. Confident men, oozing talent and both will help The Netherlands and Spain continue to be the forefront of the sport.

If I had to pick one of these five MX2 champions I would have to go with de Wolf as the guy most likely to lead the pack, but not having seen Farres on a 450 yet, it’s hard to know how good he will be. He showed this year, he is a real-world champion, with his victory clear and his desire more than his competition.

Still though, de Wolf has shown glimpse of what we have seen from Herlings over the years, and his sand skills probably match or even exceed that of “The Bullet”. His battle of Arnhem with Herlings was maybe the highlight point of the season and let’s not forget, he beat Lucas Coenen for that MX2 championship three years ago.

It seems De Wolf isn’t keen on moving to America any time soon and that is a bonus for us European fans, because he has all the potential to become OUR man, when it’s time to go up against the best in USA at the MXoN each year.

Farres, for me, is a bit of a dark horse and we won’t know what his potential is until we race the first few rounds of the 2027 MXGP season. Some riders of his size never make it on the 450, but 450 bikes are now easier to ride, compared to the Alessio Chiodi, Harry Everts or Gaston Rahier era. Antonio Cairoli showed us that smaller men can ride the powerful monsters and I get the feeling, Farres will be okay.

Of course, the quiet Frenchman, Tom Vialle also looks the good to be the next man in line, as he was the guy who often put it to Herlings this year and his starts will continue to make him hard to beat. Already two titles and 25 GP wins, he leads the way of the youngsters, when it comes to results, but will he stay in Europe, or head back to USA when the time is right? That’s the problem with Vialle, he probably has things he still wants to achieve there, and his supercross skills are on point to do that.

When you talk about the guys who haven’t yet won a world title, then the first name in line is Liam Everts, who has shown time and time again, he is ready for the big boy class. Also, a great speaker, and also a rider who has battled the likes of Herlings, the Coenen brothers and de Wolf on enough occasions to show us he will be okay on the 450. There are also the Latvian brothers of Karlis and Janis Reisulis, 100%, these guys will kill it on the 450, as will South African, Camden McLellan, who will want to join his countrymen, Greg Albertyn, Grant Langston, and Tyla Rattray as world champions.

Whatever happens in 2027 and 2028, by the time we get to 2029, maybe some of these youngsters have gained the advantage over Herlings, Gajser and Febvre and then, we are into our new era and as we all know, a new era always brings new story-lines, as these group of riders start to build their own legacy, or even better legend status.