Modern Adventure Pro Cycling

Depending on who you ask, the state of cycling in the United States is either pretty good or pretty bad. If we’re talking participation numbers and interest in gravel riding and racing, things are going pretty well. If we mean road racing and major international events, the situation has been much stronger in previous decades. That doesn’t mean there aren’t quite a few US pros making waves in the WorldTour peloton. It just means that there really isn’t a focal point team that US fans can support and young American riders can aspire to join. That is, until now. 

With the establishment of Modern Adventure Pro Cycling, American riders will have a new pipeline to the top. “The mandate for the team moving forward, even if we do hopefully end up sending a squad to the Tour de France, is to have at least 50% of the roster American,” explained George Hincapie, Modern Adventure’s founder and team lead.

“My partner on the team, Dustin Harder, came to me and said he wanted to build America’s dream Tour de France team again. And he tasked me to get that done. We have the financial commitment, we have an incredible staff, we have a leadership team; and it’s just been really appealing, exciting, motivating for me to jump back into it. It is also very stressful, very nerve-wracking. I know that not everything is going to go right. I know that we are probably going to get our heads kicked-in in several races throughout the year, but for me, that is part of the story.”

An unconventional path 

George Hincapie is a familiar name for most cycling fans. His storied 19-year career saw him race in 17 Tours de France and win classics such as Gent-Wevelgem and Three Days of De Panne (Driedaagse De Panne-Koksijde). Nevertheless, his was anything but an obvious route to the pros, though jockeying for position on the mean streets of New York perhaps was better training than expected. “In many ways, it actually ended up being ideal for me having to ride my bike in New York City traffic. The chaos and the amount of traffic, and the stress that goes on when trying to ride a bike in New York City, it really helped fine-tune my senses on the bike, which is half the battle in many races,” Hincapie explained. “Just being efficient in the peloton and being able to foresee little holes that most people can’t see. I truly believe riding and learning how to race a bike in Central Park and Prospect Park really helped me with that as a young rider.”

In the wake of Greg Lemond’s success on the world stage, professional cycling was not totally unheard of in the US when Hincapie was starting out, but it was far from a mainstream sport. Racing in Europe was always going to have to be the goal for any ambitious cyclist. When he ended up on the Motorola team as a stagiaire in 1993, Hincapie found himself in the company of his idols.

“Obviously, Greg Lemond was a huge idol of mine. And Bernard Hinault. And then as I started getting older, guys like Steve Bauer, Phil Anderson, Sean Yates were my idols,” Hincapie said. “And then all of a sudden, I was on the same team with them. That was in 1993 when I was a stagiaire with Motorola. I did some races in Italy and was sitting at the dinner table with them. That just blew my mind.”

Aside from the fact his new teammates were successful racers, they were also, like him, not from mainstream European cycling nations. Yet each had carved a new path and earned the respect of the European racers. “I started racing with them full time in 1994, and it was just an awesome learning experience for me, watching those guys ride through the peloton,” Hincapie said. “And even though they were not from Europe, they had still gained a lot of respect in the peloton, and I just tried to follow in their footsteps.”

The need for America’s team

Cycling teams based in a certain country or region intending to promote their own athletes have always formed a foundation for the sport. They frequently prove an essential conduit for that country’s cyclists, and those regions that aren’t lucky enough to have a dedicated cycling team frequently struggle to get their young riders into the top echelons of the sport. Such has been the case for the United States in recent seasons.

“America has 10 or 15 of the best cyclists in the world, but they are scattered all over the WorldTour and it’s harder for the American fanbase to follow them than if they were all centralised on the same American team,” Hincapie explained.

“Over the years, we have watched road racing dwindling in the United States while the recreational side of the sport has been growing. The equation doesn’t make sense. We feel like with Modern Adventure Pro Cycling Team, we can hopefully reinvigorate the sport in the US, and get more young kids into the sport, and really become the team that the best Americans want to ride for. That’s our goal and our hope that we can make that happen.” 

Certainly, that prospect makes this an exciting project for Factor to join, not only because the US has a lot of exceptional athletes but because Factor’s founder, Rob Gitelis, is American, born in Miami, and a former professional racer himself. He also started cycling in an era when it was an extremely peripheral sport in the United States.

To be a part of a team that would help the sport grow in his home country would be a huge accomplishment. “Though there weren’t a lot of paths available to going pro when I first started cycling, there was a community I was lucky enough to find in Miami. That feeling of community that can then translate into opportunity for young riders is something that I hope our sponsorship of Modern Adventure Pro Cycling will help support,” Gitelis explained. “We know the talent is there. We want to make sure the inspiration and opportunity also exists so that we can contribute to growing the sport, not only in the US but all around the world.”

But it’s not only Americans who would like to see the sport grow in visibility and popularity. European race organisers recognise the importance of having a strong cycling foundation in the US. “I spent the better part of last year going back and forth to Europe, meeting with organisers, preaching our dream, pitching our story of where we want to go,” Hincapie explained.

“It’s clear that people want American eyes on their events. We’re getting more invitations than we ever could have imagined. The first three months of the season are going to be jam-packed for us. We’re getting thrown into the deep end from the beginning, which is a lot more than we expected, but also super exciting and motivating, not only for us as the management team but for the riders as well.”

Modern Adventure Pro Cycling’s first event will be the hotly contested AlUla Tour in late January, and with the news that the squad has been invited to the Volta a Catalunya, it will quickly have the chance to race in its first WorldTour level event. 

This rapid level of acceptance has even caught off guard Factor’s Chief Brand Officer, David Millar. “It’s eye-opening to me to see just how much these big organisers want an American team. They see the value to their events, to their partners, and how important American cycling is to world cycling.”

In it for the long haul

Starting any type of cycling team from scratch is an incredibly challenging undertaking. But when the team is expected to perform in some of the toughest races on the calendar within the first few months of its existence, then a certain amount of expectation management is required. “Success for me these first few years will be just building a team that rides as a team, that trusts each other; if the riders are a percentage better than when they came to use because of our training, because of our equipment, because of the support that we give them, that would be a sign of success,” Hincapie explained.

“If we get to the Tour de France in five years, that is success. Could it happen sooner? Yes, certainly it could, and we’ll be prepared to deal with that if it does. The plan is for right now to get into as many European races as we can, and then also have a split team that races the iconic events on the US calendar that will help establish the team and help create a following. Those races are important for building our following in the United States. We certainly also want to do the big marquee gravel events. We want to send a good team to those and show up like a real team with a real presence.”

The management and partners of Modern Adventure Pro Cycling know that just showing up isn’t enough. Even showing up and winning isn’t enough. It’s important to race in a way that shows strong team spirit and then to tell that team story effectively. That’s how to connect with the fans and really build a base. “In the meetings I had last year with organisers, everyone was super receptive, they said they needed it, the sport needed it, they want more American eyes on their events, they want an American team,” Hincapie revealed.

“Are we ready for rapid success? We are invested; we have tried to build a solid infrastructure. We are investing in sponsorship search; we are investing in the storytelling of the team. So yes, if things come more quickly than expected, then we’ll be ready.”

What’s their ride?

The members of Modern Adventure Pro Cycling will be starting their season at the AlUla Tour in Saudi Arabia racing aboard the Factor OSTRO VAM, which will be the perfect choice for the event which faces not only the potential for wind-swept echelons, but also several difficult climbs including the Bir Jaydah Mountain Wirkah, which offers a legitimate fitness test for so early in the season.

The OSTRO VAM, with its advanced aerodynamics, low weight and exceptional handling will help the Modern Adventure riders surf the pack and search for their opportunities. And it will be beautifully liveried using our Prisma Studio to match Modern Adventure’s racing kit.

This season, we invited our pro teams to design their own OSTRO VAMs in Prisma Studio. Their designs are ready for the new season. What about yours? Get inspired by Human Powered Health’s and Modern Adventure’s liveries, or start with a blank canvas. Choose your colour. Choose your finish. Prisma Studio.

Follow us for the latest updates from all our athletes.

Instagram / Facebook / Youtube

Modern Adventure: Instagram / Website