Project Echelon Racing begins their first season at the UCI Continental level at Challenge Ciclista Mallorca, a series of five 1.1-level races from January 25-29. They will race alongside eight WorldTour squads, including Soudal-QuickStep, with two-time World Champion Julian Alaphilippe making his season debut.
There are 10 ProTeams in the field, along with an additional pair of Continental squads and the Spanish Track selection team. The Mallorca races begin on January 25 with Trofeo Calvia and conclude on January 29 with Trofeo Palma, with live broadcasts on Eurosport for the final hour and a half of racing each day.
After six seasons in the amateur ranks as a US domestic elite squad, Project Echelon Racing moved to the UCI level and added four international stage races to its calendar. After the Mallorca opener, other international stage races will include the Vuelta Colombia in South America, the 10-day Tour Cycliste International de la Guadeloupe in France and then Vuelta a Guatemala in Central America.
Project Echelon will also compete in the two remaining UCI stage races on the US calendar this spring – Tour of the Gila and Joe Martin Stage Race. Tyler Stites, the silver medalist at the US Pro Road Nationals, led the stage racing scoresheet for the team last year with third overall at Joe Martin and had a pair of stage victories at Tour of the Gila. He also took the GC title at Redlands Bicycle Classic.
Also returning is New Zealander Ethan Craine, who secured the U23 crown and second place in the sprint classification at the 2022 American Criterium Cup series of nine men’s races.
Canadian Gravel Championships in 2023
Canada will join the growing list of countries that will host a gravel national championships in 2023. The titles will be awarded by results in the Paris to Ancaster (P2A) bike race, the 110km Cento course.
P2A, inspired by Paris-Roubaix, is a predecessor to the gravel race trend. In its 29th year, it has taken place since 1994 and incorporates rough cobblestone roads, farm lanes, gravel roads, singletrack trails and tarmac west of Hamilton, Ontario.
This year’s race will be held on April 30. As of January 16, P2A already had 1,600 registered riders for all four distances.
USA Cycling listed a gravel championship event in its list of nationals for 2023, but the date and location have yet to be announced. The Netherlands held their championships in 2022, with Marianne Vos winning the women’s title along with Coen Vermeltfoort in…
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