"He has the qualities even though he’s still super young": EF Education-EasyPost promote top Italian prospect to WorldTour squad for 2027

Roberto Capello will take the next step in his career in 2027 after earning promotion from EF Education-Aevolo to EF Education-EasyPost. The 19-year-old Italian is set to join the WorldTour squad following his first season with the team's development program, which was disrupted by injuries but also provided him with an opportunity to demonstrate his potential.

Capello arrived at EF Education-Aevolo after an impressive 2025 campaign. Among his results that year was victory in the Italian junior time trial national championships, while he also claimed silver in the road race at the European Championships in France. Those performances had raised expectations ahead of his first season in the under-23 category.

His transition, however, proved difficult. Knee problems affected the beginning of the year before a collarbone fracture in a crash forced him to undergo surgery. Another accident in his first race after returning further delayed his comeback, leaving him with several months of limited competition.

“I’ve had my fair share of bad luck this season, but I’m confident I’m in a good position to join the WorldTour with EF Education-EasyPost. They have shown a lot of patience and faith in my qualities as a rider, and I’ve worked really hard since joining the development team at the start of the year. I’m confident I can have a successful 2027 with the team and be a strong rider and teammate,” Capello said.

The Italian eventually returned to racing in September, with little time left to build form before the end of the season. Nevertheless, he was satisfied with how he handled the setbacks and highlighted the support he received from the team during his recovery.

“At the start of the year, I had some knee pain, and when I solved that, I broke my collarbone in a crash. I had surgery, worked hard, but then crashed again in my first race back. I basically went several months without racing, but I came back in September, and by then the season was almost done. I’m still happy with how I came through those experiences and how the team supported me on and off the bike,” he explained.

Capello pointed to his performances at the European Championships as particularly encouraging. “I was missing a bit of race pace when I came back, but I was proud of the top-ten finish I had at the European Championships in the time trial. I was also proud of how I raced in the road race at Euros. I attacked, and I raced well, making an impact on how things turned out. That was also my first TT of the year, so I have to be happy with that performance too,” he said.

The Italian described reaching the professional level as a long-standing ambition and is particularly looking forward to sharing the team environment with certain riders.

“I’m looking forward to the future and not looking back. It’s been my dream to race pro since I started cycling. I can’t wait to race with the best riders in the world, and EF Education-EasyPost is a really cool group. Nicolas Milesi is my friend, and Mattia Agostinacchio is someone I’ve raced with before,” Capello said.

“Next year I want to try my hand at some short stage races but mostly just gain as much experience as possible. I want to learn from my teammates, and give everything that I can. I can’t wait to start,” he added.

EF Education-EasyPost head of scouting Sebastian Langeveld believes Capello has the physical attributes to develop into a stage-race contender, although he acknowledged that the young Italian will need time to reach his potential.

“If you see Roberto’s results, he was one of the top riders in 2025. I’m super happy that we signed him. This year was a bit on and off because of injury, but you can see from his training that he’s super talented. He has an incredible capacity on climbs and against the clock. He’s a very promising GC rider. It will take time, maybe a few years, but he has the qualities even though he’s still super young,” Langeveld said.