The world of cycling welcomes back a prodigal son, George Hincapie, of whom all trace had been lost for some years. One of the leading names of American cycling at the turn of the century, always lived in the shadow of lance Armstrong Despite all the doubts left by history, Hincapie is still someone who has won a lot, even famous classics like the 2001 Ghent-Wevelgem. He is now the head of the Modern Adventure, a new professional team from the stars and stripes that will be in the caravan from next year. There have been some important signings so far, such as the return to the pro ranks of the South African Stefan DeBod and above all the hug to Leo Hayter, who left cycling at just 22 years old due to depression.
Hincapie, on the other side of the Atlantic, is working hard on the project, in anticipation of the training camp that will take place in Greenville starting December 1st. Enthusiasm is exactly what he brought to the roads of Europe and also of Italy, a country to which he remained very fond.
Your last experience as sporting director dates back to 2018: what have you done since then?
To be precise, I own the team with three sporting directors. At the time, we had a couple. I supervise it, I lead it. I got back into the game after my experience at Holowesko Citadel and I focused only on my family and my family business: Hincapie SportswearI also do a podcast with Lance and travel to events. So I haven't covered teams since 2018, but obviously I've always been a fan of the sport and everything that goes on. Coming back is fun, exciting, even nerve-wracking, but it's a great feeling.
How did the idea for Modern Adventure come about and what are your ambitions?
I want to create the American dream team, the Tour de France dream team. I know it will take a lot of time, a lot of work, a lot of patience. I feel like I did when I signed with Motorola at 19. I arrived in Europe and I didn't know anyone, but it was very tempting for me to try to prove that I was in the right place. And no matter what happened, I wanted to keep working as hard as possible to become a successful professional cyclist. Thirty years later, I'm more or less in the same position. I want to prove that I can build a very successful team and reinvigorate cycling here in America. Even though we have some amazing American cyclists, they are on different teams across Europe and fail to impress the public and get the coverage they deserve. The numbers, in terms of audience, are decreasing here in the United States. So, I would like to rebuild a Serie A team that American fans can support.
There are other American teams in the WorldTour, but yours has a greater density of US riders. Is that a deliberate choice?
Yes, of course. And in the future, it will always be that way. We want to have at least 50 percent American riders. It's true, the other teams have US licenses, but they have at most one or two Americans.We want to do something different. We'll choose riders from all over the world, but the core will always be local.
Will you be doing activities in both Europe and the American calendar?
We're evaluating which races we'll receive invitations to in Europe or the Middle East. In the first two years, we'll compete wherever possible. Since we're a second-division professional team, we're not guaranteed invitations. But right now I'm traveling around the world, meeting as many people as possible, talking about us and our vision.Obviously, we want to race in America, but there aren't many races, so we'll do what's available, but the focus will be on the European calendar.
The question is a must. Given your relationship with Lance Armstrong, will he also be involved in the project?
No, we are in contact, as I said I work with him on the podcast but the team is completely independent from Lance and even in the search for sponsors I move independently, through other ways.
The American program is mostly made up of criteriums: do you think they are useful and make sense when compared to European races?
It's hard to say, it's completely different. We'll do some. But they shouldn't be underestimated; there are exciting races. They're short, adrenaline-filled races. Action-packed. Even at night. It's a different kind of cycling and that's not what we want to focus on., but we'll definitely do a couple of big ones just to be there, just to build a following in terms of fans here in the States. There are also classic races that are developing, in Maryland, Philadelphia which is coming back, then maybe we'll do the Redlands, which is a smaller stage race. And some gravel races, if they work out, for our sponsors like Factor e SRAM.
Leo Hayter is back racing with you: how do you plan to support him after the difficult times he's been through, and what can he do?
He is incredibly talented, won the Giro NextGenHe comes from a family of cyclists. I know how challenging cycling is, especially mentally. When I saw the opportunity to bring him back to a less stressful environment, provide him with excellent equipment and excellent training, I hired Bobby Julich as my performance directorWe'll all work to take the pressure off him, but also to give him the best tools to get back to his level, and even better. I know it's risky for him to sign with us, a small new team, and also for us to tie ourselves to him, given that he's just returned and has spent so much time away from the sport. We agree that we'll all work for the best. And personally, I'm very excited to have him on the team. Cycling isn't really forgiving or gives kids many opportunities. I want to be someone who can give people a chance to get back to playing the sport we all love.
Are you planning to scout in Europe in the future, perhaps in Italy, a country you know well?
I hope so. I'm contacting friends who have contacts and acquaintances with the organizers in Italy and also Maurizio Fondriest he contacted me and is helping me a little. I want to race in Italy, a country I love, we want to do everything possible to be selected for the races in Italy too. and if there is a possibility, also bring riders to us.
You won a lot as a cyclist. How would you feel about cycling today, and how different is it from yours?
Oh, it's very different. We measured our training sessions by feeling, by quantity., today everything is calculated, training, nutrition, recovery, sleep, hydration, watts… there are many calculations and much less conjecturesEveryone knows exactly what they need to do, how much food they need to eat. So it's much more technically advanced than it was in my day. I think many sports look at cycling for the way cyclists recover now, for the way they train. I think it's one of the most technically advanced sports out there.
What are your hopes and goals for the team's first year?
In the meantime, we need to focus on the team's image and branding, giving riders the opportunity to compete in the most important races. And I don't want to sound pretentious, but I know we're going to go out there and try to win five races.It will be very difficult, but I want to make an impact. I want the kids to show up knowing they have the best equipment, the best coaches, and I want them to improve on their past performances. They will become better cyclists thanks to our program.
