{"id":237975,"date":"2025-10-24T16:32:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T16:32:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/237975\/"},"modified":"2025-10-24T16:32:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T16:32:08","slug":"ef-pro-cycling-gets-dirty-with-new-cyclocross-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/237975\/","title":{"rendered":"EF Pro Cycling gets dirty with new cyclocross team"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>EF Pro Cycling has announced a new three-rider cyclocross squad for the 2025\u201326 season, bringing the pink kit to the winter racing scene for the first time.<\/p>\n<p>The new lineup features Luxembourg\u2019s Nina Berton, along with Italian brothers Filippo and Mattia Agostinacchio. They are both rising stars with deep roots in the discipline.<\/p>\n<p>Vaughters on the new project<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is a fun experiment for us, but one we want to excel at,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.efprocycling.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">EF Pro Cycling<\/a> CEO Jonathan Vaughters said. The former pro sees the move as an extension of the team\u2019s \u201cAlternative Calendar\u201d ethos. \u201cWe\u2019ve always tried to push the boundaries of what a pro cycling team can be. Cyclocross lets us reach new fans and showcase our riders in a totally different environment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The program marks a homecoming of sorts for Berton. She is a former under-23 Luxembourg cyclocross champion who joined <a href=\"https:\/\/cyclingmagazine.ca\/sections\/news\/magdeleine-vallieres-world-title-shocked-cycling-but-not-her-canadian-teammates\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">EF Education\u2013Oatly<\/a> earlier this year. The off-road return gives her a chance to sharpen her handling skills over the winter while reconnecting with her roots. \u201cCyclocross has always been part of how I train and stay motivated,\u201d she said. \u201cDoing a full season with proper team support will be something new and exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cyclingmagazine.ca\/sections\/news\/alison-jackson-heads-to-france-for-2026\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Alison Jackson heads to new squad for 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>For the Agostinacchio brothers, the mud is familiar territory. Filippo, 22, is a two-time under-23 Italian cyclocross champion and a Giro Next Gen stage winner, while 19-year-old Mattia captured the junior world title before turning heads on the road this summer at the UCI world championships in Rwanda.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s an amazing project,\u201d Mattia said. \u201cRacing cyclocross with EF gives me a great chance to develop before my first road season with the WorldTour team in 2026. Having my brother there \u2014 and Nina too \u2014 makes it even more special.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>EF\u2019s cross team will debut in November, with a full calendar leading up to the 2026 UCI cyclocross world championships early next year. Vaughters says it\u2019s just the latest way EF plans to blur the lines between road, gravel, and mud \u2014 \u201cbecause cycling,\u201d he said, \u201cshould never stay in one lane.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EF Pro Cycling has announced a new three-rider cyclocross squad for the 2025\u201326 season, bringing the pink kit&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":237976,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,784,124089,104051,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-237975","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-cycling","11":"tag-cyclocross","12":"tag-ef-pro-cycling","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=237975"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237975\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/237976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=237975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=237975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=237975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}