Peter Van den Abeele, UCI Sports Director, called EF Education-EasyPost’s new cyclocross project the best example that cyclocross is becoming more international. But for now, the three-man squad holding onto the American WorldTeam is still in its infancy. The team’s head of scouting, Sebastian Langeveld, gives us the full story.
The origin of the cyclocross team is closely linked to signing Mattia Agostinacchio, the barely 18-year-old cyclocross under-23 world champion. Many international teams were after the Italian prodigy, but Langeveld and company won the battle. The super talent signed a contract with EF Education-EasyPost until the end of 2027.
"Honestly? According to UCI rules, he could only officially ride in our kit and on our bikes starting January 1. The easiest way to get him riding for us now was to register our own cyclocross team -- with minimal investment. It may not sound spectacular, but that’s the real reason behind our cyclocross project," the Dutchman explains.
Interesting in the long run
Was Van den Abeele completely off then? According to the UCI director, the rule change that UCI points earned in secondary disciplines such as cyclocross will also count towards the UCI road ranking starting in 2027 is a gamechanger. Especially if the sport became Olympic starting in 2030. "I’m not going to say Peter is wrong in his vision. That’s interesting and there’s definitely something to it. But to be honest, we’re not focused on that right now. Mattia is contracted until 2028 and we’re not looking beyond that."
The super talent became world champion in Liévin - photo: Fotopersburo Cor Vos
Still, Langeveld doesn’t want to dismiss Van den Abeele’s story as nonsense. "Ultimately, the project can definitely grow into something bigger and more interesting for our sponsors. Right now, it’s purely about bridging the cyclocross period with Mattia and his brother. But it’s true: UCI points are very important and won’t become less so in the next three years. So it’s definitely possible we’ll get more out of this in the long term."
That will partly depend on the wishes of the Italian super talent himself. The team primarily sees him as a road rider. "He still has to prove everything, but in his youth he was quite exceptional across all disciplines. We hope he develops into a road rider who excels especially in the classics. But he’s still very young, and we believe cyclocross can help him grow in a good way. There are plenty of examples."
Team manager Jonathan Vaughters is fully on board with that vision too. "He knows more about cyclocross than you might think. He also watches how Mathieu van der Poel comes out of winter year after year. There is indeed a direct connection there. We don’t want to compare Mattia to Mathieu, but if you approach winter with a balanced cyclocross program, that can give us an advantage on the road as well."
Plenty of examples
The question remains: did Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert become so good because they did cyclocross, or are they super talents who could excel in any discipline? In other words: will cyclocross really help a talent like Agostinacchio? "That’s always hard to judge. It’s not just about Van der Poel and Van Aert. I also thought Zdenek Stybar was a better road rider early in his career when he still did more cyclocross. That’s when his greatest moments happened."
Langeveld is the team’s head of scouting - photo: Fotopersburo Cor Vos
"The same goes for Lars Boom. And now you see it paying off for Thibau Nys," says Langeveld. "Of course, these are top talents. If Nys was just a road rider, he would have won a lot too. But I really believe that the punch, the acceleration, and the fight for position into turns are very useful skills you can carry over from cyclocross, especially during the classics season. I strongly believe in a balanced cyclocross program."
Although Langeveld also wants to nuance this a bit. "You do have to come from the cyclocross world, of course. If you send someone like Jonas Vingegaard into the woods now, he’ll benefit much less than guys like Mattia who grew up with cyclocross. They have always used that punch to put a race in definitive shape, and that needs to keep being trained. That’s not so easy if you don’t do cyclocross."
Punch
Langeveld himself will be out in the mud next winter with his world champion. "Especially during the Christmas period. For the rest, he’ll spend a lot of time with his brother Filippo and a small support team. He already performed quite well in the first Italian cyclocross races of the season without specific preparation. We had a good program planned for him that was somewhat built up towards the European Championships. That’s our first goal of the winter."
"After that, he’ll take a short break before returning in Flamanville. Then it will be a busy Christmas period, like most riders who combine road and cyclocross. We’ll try to copy that a bit. The cyclocross World Championships will be the main focus throughout the winter; we’re aiming for a result there. The rest will be a fun way to get through the winter and hopefully make him stronger for his pro debut."
