New US team Modern Adventure secure first WorldTour invitation

Managed by George Hincapie, Modern Adventure’s stated aim is to secure a place at the Tour de France within the next five years. 

The new American ProTeam are ineligible for a Grand Tour spot in 2026 as the aggregate UCI points of the top 20 riders on their roster does not meet the criteria for selection.

The team’s first competitive outing is set to come at the Alula Tour later this month. The 2026 roster includes American talent Cole Kessler, who signed from Lidl-Trek Future Racing, and Leo Hayter, who returns to the professional ranks after a previous spell with Ineos Grenadiers.

Bobby Julich is the head of performance, while former pros Alex Howes and Joey Rosskopf serve as sports directors.

Modern Adventure are one of six ProTeams at the Volta a Catalunya. Pinarello-Q36.5 qualified automatically by dint of their ranking in 2025, and they will be led by Tom Pidcock at the week-long race.

Together with Modern Adventure, Spanish squads Burgos-Burpellet-BH, Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, Equipo Kern Pharma and Euskaltel-Euskadi were given wildcard invitations by the organisation, who announced the line-up on Tuesday.

The organisation had an additional wildcard at their disposal after Picnic-PostNL opted against racing the Volta a Catalunya. 

Under revised rules implemented for 2026, top-flight teams are allowed to skip just one WorldTour race per season, and they cannot skip the same race in successive years. Lotto-Intermarché have already indicated they will forgo the Tour de Romandie. 

The 2026 Volta a Catalunya takes place from March 23-29, and it will serve as Jonas Vingegaard’s final race before the Giro d’Italia. He will face stiff opposition from the Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe duo of Remco Evenepoel and Florian Lipowitz in what is set to be their only stage racing appearance together ahead of the Tour de France.