Betting on a brand new team is always a bit of a gamble. But, for Riley Pickrell, it could already be starting to pay off. The Victoria, B.C. racer joined George Hincapie’s Modern Adventure Pro Cycling in the fall of 2025. Now, that team is set to embark on its first European stage race at the WorldTour level.
Modern Adventure confirmed its invitation to the Volta a Catalunya for this March. That will be the first WorldTour stage race, in just the program’s first year.
With Pickrell being one of the more prominent names on the roster, we here at Canadian Cycling Magazine, while admittedly slightly biased, are hoping that means the Canadian will get a few chances to go up against the big team’s sprinters on at least a couple stages.
Pickrell left what was then called Israel-Premier Tech last fall. His wasn’t the only, or most high-profile Canadian departure from the squad in 2025. Mike Woods called an unexpectedly early end to his impressive career over the summer. Derek Gee’s departure then dominated headlines for most of the fall.
But Pickrell is on a similar trajectory as both those riders, but is just slightly younger. The B.C. sprinter rose up through IPT’s development squad to join the WorldTour team (just as it was downgraded to ProTour) and was just starting to find more consistent success in the European races. Here’s hoping that Modern Adventure’s first Euro adventure isn’t its last this season and Pickrell gets more opportunities to keep showing his skill on the WorldTour stage.
One of five ProTour teams
Modern Adventure is one of five invited ProTour teams that will line up for Volta a Catalunya in 2026. The Hincapie squad will join Burgos-Burpellet-BH, Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, Equipo Kern Pharma and Euskaltel-Euskadi, all returning teams to the classic stage race. Pinarello Q36.5 also gets an invite from the ProTour level by virtue of ranking.