Ben Oliver wins his second stage of the week at Tour de Wallonie for Modern Adventure and brings new American team first stage-race victory in debut season.
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(Photo: DAVID PINTENS / Belga / AFP via Getty Images) / Belgium OUT)
Updated June 8, 2026 03:34AM
Modern Adventure Pro Cycling blasted onto the world stage Friday by claiming its first stage-race GC win – and doing it on European soil.
Ben Oliver kicked to victory in the 5th and final stage of the Tour de Wallonie to make it a wildly successful week for America’s new road squad.
George Hincapie’s team leaves the Belgian race with two stage wins and the overall, just six months into its debut season.
Oliver was the star of the show for his American team this week.
The New Zealander won stage 2 on Tuesday and doubled-up with another stage win in Aubel on Friday that secured the general classification.
“It’s insane to get my first pro win and win a GC in a 5-day race in Belgium, it’s incredible,” Oliver said at the finish. “On the new American team, the vibes are super high. It’s a wicked team to be part of.”
Modern Adventure Pro Cycling is the first new U.S.-backed team to bring serious European ambition in more than a decade.
Oliver just proved the team has the legs to match the ambition.
“I’m really proud of all the guys this week – riders and staff,” said Hincapie, who co-founded the team this winter.
“We were put in a new position for us by winning stage 2 and being in the overall lead, and the guys all stepped up. In fact, not only did they step up but they took control,” Hincapie said.
“Today they rode with confidence, they sat back all day, biding their time for the finish and in the end it paid off. I could not be any happier with the guys. I’m super proud.”
Oliver denies Coloradan racer Sheehan the GC victory in final stage chaos
Sheehan lost his GC lead to Oliver in the chaotic final of stage 5.
It was all on the line in Friday’s 5th and final stage.
Oliver was only 3 seconds back on Colorado’s Riley Sheehan (NSN Cycling Team) ahead of roll-out.
Oliver managed to overturn his deficit when he avoided a huge crash in the final corner of Friday’s stage and outkicked the remaining survivors.
Sheehan was held up in the aftermath of the crash and had to make do with second on the final podium.
With an American team winning the stage and overall, and a Coloradan finishing second on GC, it was a huge day Friday for North American racing.
It was also a breakout moment for Oliver. The 29-year-old started the Wallonie Tour without any wins on his resume and leaves it with three after claiming stage 2, stage 5, and the GC.
“It’s insane, it hasn’t sunk in yet [that I’ve won],” Oliver said at the finish.
“I was hoping to have a good week here, but the competition was super strong,” he said. “I just had to take it day-by-day. Today was the hardest one yet. I was just surviving and managed to have a kick to the line.”
But it wasn’t all perfect for Modern Adventure Pro Cycling.
Paul Wright, another of the team’s Kiwi contingent, was hit hard in a spectacular crash that upturned the final minutes of the stage and came to the line torn up and dazed.
Tour de Wallonie final results