'We hope to be America's Dream Team' - George Hincapie launches US team with eyes on Tour de France

U.S. road racing legend George Hincapie is launching a new professional cycling team with ambitions to reach the Tour de France within five years. The team, named Modern Adventure Pro Cycling, will begin competition in 2026, with the intent to register as a UCI ProTeam.

More than a team, Hincapie says it's an effort to re-ignite American cycling through a long-term platform for U.S. riders to compete at the sport’s highest levels.

“I’m very excited, nervous, anxious, to be embarking on this project and most of all, very passionate to be starting what we feel like could be a renaissance of American cycling,” said Hincapie. “We hope to be America's Dream Team, racing in the Tour de France in five years or less.”

Hincapie rode 17 Tours de France between 1996 and 2012, many of them as a key domestique to Lance Armstrong, and later Alberto Contador. In 2012, he admitted to the use of performance-enhancing drugs earlier in his career.

The Who's Who

The team is a passion project backed by a powerhouse cast of American cycling veterans and high-profile partners. Hincapie and his brother Richard are co-owners, alongside longtime friend and business consultant Dustin Harder. Former WorldTour pros Alex Howes and Joey Rosskopf, along with former US domestic pro Ty Magner, will serve as team directors. And Bobby Julich, an Olympic medalist and Tour de France podium contender, joins as performance coach.

Modern Adventure, a Portland-based travel company founded by Luis Vargas, is the team’s title sponsor and a co-founding partner.

“When George and Dustin approached me about this opportunity, it was an easy yes,” said Vargas. He sees a deep alignment between the team and his company’s mission: “The cycling team and Modern Adventure is the Venn diagram that in the middle is huge. It's about courage. It's about saying yes, and it's about going on a journey.”

Factor Bikes is the material sponsor, with the brand’s creative director David Millar, himself a former Tour de France stage winner, personally involved in the project. “This felt like something completely different,” Millar said. “It’s inspiring—and for us at Factor, a great privilege. We're going to be a long-term commitment as well with Modern Adventure. We want to support them, and we want to learn from them.”

Hincapie Sportswear, the family's apparel brand, will be the official clothing sponsor.

A Home for American Talent

A key motivation behind the project is the absence of a clear pathway to the WorldTour for top American riders. As Hincapie and his partners see it, there's plenty of talent in America but no centralised platform to house and develop this talent.

“I think we're all aware that the American cycling scene is [in] a bit of a challenging state, but that is not reflected by the riders that are coming through," Millar commented.

“Our top American riders are currently scattered all over the WorldTour,” Hincapie said. “A lot of the American fans, arguably, don't even know who they are, because they're all on different teams. There isn't just one team that hosts these guys, and our goal is to get most of them under our umbrella.”

The team plans to start with a roster of 20, with at least half of the riders coming from the U.S. Hincapie said the first 12 riders have already been offered contracts. Many are expected to be rising U.S. talents who are on the edge of breaking through in Europe.

“We’re not at the level to hire the best Americans—they’re all spoken for anyway—but we’re really close with about 12 riders right now,” Hincapie said.

When asked if his 16-year-old son Enzo would be joining the squad, Hincapie said: “I would love to see him do his own thing for three to four years and ideally come to us after that. But he’s going to take his own path for now.”

There are no current plans to field a women’s or development team, though Hincapie didn't rule it out, stating: "Ultimately, it would be amazing to have a development or women’s team.”

Modern Adventure Pro Cycling will primarily focus on road racing, but the calendar will include gravel events as well.

"Gravel is growing tremendously. It's very important to brands like Factor and our other brands to participate in those races," Hincapie said.

Building for the long term

Hincapie and his brother Rich previously ran the Hincapie Racing Team from 2012 until 2020. It was a respected development programme, helping launch the careers of riders like Joey Rosskopf and TJ Eisenhart. But its limitation, Hincapie said, was the short-term sponsorships and a year-to-year operational model.

In contrast, Modern Adventure Pro Cycling is structured around a multi-year commitment and a clear trajectory. “I really need a long-term commitment in order to build a strong foundation,” said Hincapie. “I couldn't work the way I had before… I wanted a long-term plan and a long-term commitment from my partners.”

That long view, he said, was key to securing both investor and sponsor backing.

The average WorldTour team operates on a budget of approximately $25 to $28 million per year. When asked how he planned to raise that level of capital within five years, Hincapie remained optimistic.

“By creating the vision that we are, we are starting to create… the reception I’ve gotten from sponsors, partners, people interested in the team has been overwhelming,” Hincapie said. “We haven’t even started looking for that level of funding yet. But my doors are being knocked on already, so we're confident that we will get there when we need to get there.”

Funding aside, storytelling and creating fandom is integral to the team's success, Vargas commented.

“We want to be an inspiration to the new generation of American cycling,” he added. “And I think we have a real shot at truly inspiring a whole generation of cyclists here in the United States.”

“The way we’re starting off, the team is so much more approachable to a lot of young, aspiring cyclists… like, hey, they just signed this guy that I ride with on the Tuesday night rides. Maybe I can get there.”

And, should the team be successful in inspiring young talent to ride bikes, Hincapie's pipe dream is to see a re-emergence of events. Recalling the many race opportunities he had as a developing rider, Hincapie said, “We don’t have that anymore, and we hope this project inspires organisers in the United States and North America to create more races as well.”

As for any involvement from his longtime friend and The Move podcast co-host, Lance Armstrong, Hincapie said, “He is not involved in any way in the organisation or the structure of the team,” he said. “But I will lean on him for advice from time to time, I’m sure.”

Hincapie is aware that his plans are ambitious and the obstacles that lie ahead. But he believes the time is right and puts his confidence in the team assembled. “We have no disillusions that it's going to happen overnight, but we have a long runway to get it done, and we know what we need to do, and we're going to work our asses off for the next several years to make it happen.”