ANDREA ADAMO – MOVING UP

The 2026 season might be one of the biggest in recent time, not only because so many riders are changing teams, but also because it might be the start of the new era, an era that will take us into the next decade.

Obviously, the biggest news is team changes for Jeffrey Herlings and Tim Gajser, but the arrival of two-time MX2 champion, Tom Vialle into MXGP and with one-time MX2 champions, Kay de Wolf and Andrea Adamo also joining the class, those three things are huge for the 450 class.

Like Lucas Coenen, Vialle, de Wolf, Langenfelder and Liam Everts, Adamo has a style that will suit the MXGP class and, for riders like Jeffrey Herlings, Tim Gajser, Romain Febvre and Glenn Coldenhoff, these MX2 boys are going to be strong competitors for those legends.

“Of course,” Adamo said of the move. “I wanted to win another world championship in MX2, and it wasn’t sure I would do it, but I am more than confident, if I had stayed in 250, I would have fought for the championship again. On the other side, I would like to jump on a 450 and see. It is going to be the future and in one years’ time, I will have had to do it (he will age out of MX2).”

A lot of the confidence of Adamo also comes from watching MX2 rivals, Coenen, de Wolf and Everts show their speed on the 450 machines. He knows he will have a similar pace and he isn’t affair to head into 2026 with expectations of doing similar things as Coenen did in 2025.

“I think so too, honestly. Watching Lucas, wow, this year, just unbelievable, he was amazing. Kay and Liam (also on the 450), they are also good, and I know I am as good, or on some days better than those guys. If I make the step, it just gives me confidence seeing what they can do. I am not less than these guys and on my good day, I am better. That gives me a lot of confidence.”

So, with a tough season behind him, a winter break, some testing and training on the 450 and the Italian knows that things cannot get much more difficult than the season he has just had.

“Honestly, this season has been tougher than the other ones, it’s been tough and a lot of travelling, especially the last month, where we had Turkey, China, Australia, then a couple of nights home and USA. The first month or my off-season, I am taking full recovery. Not riding, but I have an enduro bike, which I like riding. This week I am going on an enduro week with my friends, riding enduro and some cycling. I try and do the things I cannot do in the season, so have some fun, maybe go to sleep a bit late, without being stressed, that next morning I need to get up early and train. That is how I approach my off season.”

And once his fun riding with his friends and the long days of testing the KTM 450 machine, Andrea Adamo will arrive in the pre-season races and the opening round of the MXGP championship with some goals, and when those goals are met, Grand Prix podiums and GP wins are without question something he feels he can chase.

Photo credit: KTM