6 unknown Asian prospects to look out for
The Asian race season is well underway, so keep an eye on this lot
The Asian cycling season is well underway now, with the Tour of Taiwan having taken place last week and the Tour of Thailand currently on the road - two of the continent’s biggest stage races. The women’s race in Thailand is to follow next week.
Asian cycling doesn’t hit the headlines like elsewhere, but there is a growing, passionate cycling scene right across the most populous continent on earth, and huge opportunity to grow the sport.
There is also plenty of talent developing. There are several riders most Global Peloton readers will already know about, like Yanina Kuskova and Fariba Hashimi. But let’s dig a little deeper and discover some of the lesser-known Asian talents who are developing into fine bike riders, and hoping to make a mark at the top level.
Yoshiki Terada
Bahrain Victorious replaced one Japanese rider with another over the off-season. Legendary veteran Yukiya Arashiro moved on and young fast-man Yoshiki Terada signed for the team’s continental development squad.
At 23, some might consider Terada to be too old to make it. However, you have to look at riders from non-traditional cycling nations differently as they can progress at a slower pace due to less-developed youth and junior careers.
Terada is getting his first taste of European racing, competing in several events in Greece this month in support of team-mates. Last year, he showed his considerable talent, winning the Japanese under-23 title and placing in the top-10 in five stages at the Tour of Japan, taking the points jersey. He will need to work on his climbing and endurance if he is to make it in Europe, but this is a rider of considerable talent.
Asal Rizaeva
Last year was one of both hope and difficulty for Asal Rizaeva. The young Uzbek was one of several riders of the Tashkent City Women’s team to fail to finish the first stage of the Tour de France Femmes. Only Yanina Kuskova, who signed for ProTeam Laboral Kutxa-Fundacion Euskadi for 2025, managed to finish the race.
Rizaeva was just 19 when she took the start in Rotterdam, one of the youngest riders in the race and possibly the least experienced. She wasn’t ready to take on the biggest race in the world, just like most of the team. However, it’s heartening to see that Rizaeva has not given up, but is instead pressing on with her dream to become a cyclist.
Now 20, Rizaeva has shown some promise on the bike. Before the Tour last year, she won the Apollon Temple Criterium in Türkiye and earlier this year placed third in the under-23 Asian Continental time-trial Championships behind two very promising riders and is competing regularly on the track. Rizaeva has a long way to go to emulate her compatriot Kuskova, but she has shown glimpses of potential.
Abdulla Jasim Al-Ali
One of two exciting Emirati prospects lining up for UAE Team Emirates Gen Z this year. Don’t be surprised if this rider gets a call up to the WorldTour team next season to show the progress being made with cycling in the UAE.
Al-Ali is a strong time-triallist who doesn’t mind a small hill. He has been building up plenty of experience over the past couple of seasons and looks to be improving all the time under the tutelage of the UAE coaching team.
Al-Ali is the former Asian under-23 road race champion having won that title in 2024 and has had a solid start to the year already, with 10th overall at the Tour of Sharjah followed by a decent ride at the Tour du Rwanda.
Dewika Mulya Sova
This 21-year-old Indonesian rider has been given a great opportunity after snagging a contract to race for the UCI World Cycling Centre team this season; becoming, I believe, the first from her country to race for a European UCI team.
Sova was one of the strongest riders on the Asian circuit last season. She went well in the Tour of Thailand at the start of last year, placing top-10 in each stage. After that, she was runner-up in the under-23 Continental Championships time-trial, beating Fariba Hashimi, who was fourth. She was also 7th in the road race before cleaning up three out of four titles at her national championships. Sova closed the year out by racing her first World Championships, placing a pretty respectable 57th in the time-trial.
One she makes it to Europe to race, this season will be one for learning. Some riders adapt well to European life and some don’t, so it’s a crucial season for the Indonesian.
Andrey Remkhe
If XDS-Astana weren’t neck-deep in a WorldTour relegation battle, there’s every chance that Andrey Remkhe would be racing for them this year. Over the off-season, the team purged their Kazakh riders, saying goodbye to seven of them to make way for big UCI points scorers in a battle to stay afloat. It has dampened the development of several young Kazakh racers.
22-year-old Remkhe spent three years with the Astana development team between 2022 and 2024, but is spending this season riding for the national team, after the development squad also released most of its home talent. It’s been a good start to the year, with fourth in the under-23 Asian time-trial (a title he won in 2023) and top-10s and 20s at several Turkish one-day races early on in the year.
Remkhe is a strong breakaway rider who deserves a chance to progress in his career.
Maho Kakita
Japanese track rider and sprinter Maho Kakita is a very exciting prospect. She had a short stint with the EF-Oatly-Cannondale team last year and has landed on her feet for 2025 with a contract with the Italian BePink-Imatra-Bongioanni team, a move that will give the 20-year-old a good opportunity to develop at a steady pace.
Kakita has not done much racing in Europe to this point. The 2023 Tour de l’Avenir and a few one-day events with EF is all the experience she has so far. However she has already had some success this year, with second at the Continental TT and three gold medals in the Asian Continental Track Championships.
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