"I’ve been pleasantly surprised": Modern Adventure Pro Cycling pass their first exam with flying colours

Cole Kessler is one of 13 neo-pros wearing the Modern Adventure Pro Cycling team's colours in 2026. The brand new American ProTeam's foundation marks a turning point for North American cycling as a successor of legacy left behind my Human Powered Health between 2018 and 2023. Part of the team's very young core, Kessler already made his professional debut with the team in Saudi Arabia where the team passed its first test with flying colours.

"We were talking, and I had my first kind of interview with them but I was still not sure, and some other things were kind of up in the air with other teams," Kessler told Domestique. "No real offers or anything, but I was still trying to figure out and talk to a few teams."

"And then when the plan kind of started coming together and I started to hear more about Modern Adventure, it just sounded too good to pass up. It's kind of a dream, you know, to be able to chase your dream on a team with a bunch of your friends that you've raced with in the past. It’s pretty cool," the American points out.

At 22 years of age, Kessler is definitely among the youngest riders on the 2026 roster, but he's definitely got plenty experience to pass down from his four seasons with Israel's and later Lidl-Trek's academy. With younger guns Harry Lasker, Ezra Caudell, Lucas Towers or Samuel Flórez making a debut on a UCI team, let alone in the Pro division, Kessler will be a middle-link between most experienced leaders and the "greenhorns".

Getting to turn pro alongside people he knows very well is an important aspect for Kessler. With chemistry already fine-tuned, now the team can fully focus on the performance aspect.

Kessler believes having an American ProTeam serve as a stepping stone between the continential/national level and the highest level of cycling is what has been crucially missing in the North American cycling hierarchy. Thanks to Modern Adventure Pro Cycling, that hole is now filled out.

"It’s pretty awesome, to be honest, as an American, you always dream of being on a team with a bunch of your compatriots from your same country, but we haven’t had that opportunity, you know," Kessler said. "There hasn't been an American team, or at least an American team with mostly Americans on it, for a really long time, so it’s really cool to be a part of something new like this."

Whenever a brand new project appears in the bunch, many questions arise surrounding its functioning, long-term goals and longevity itself. But from his experience so far, Kessler has only words of praise for the team of George Hincapie.

"I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how professional and well set up it’s been," he said. "I have to say it is a way more relaxed environment - not that Lidl-Trek wasn’t relaxed, like I found it really nice there - but this is really cool."

What helps according to the young all-rounder is that staff of ex-pros who have been in the peloton until very recently, such as Joey Rosskopf (36, retired in 2024), Alex Howes (38, retired in 2022) and Ty Magner (34, retired last winter).

"The DS staff is super young, and they are all ex pros, and they didn’t retire that long ago so they know the game. They know what it feels like to be an American a long way away from home. They really care about how you are doing and your well-being, which is something that’s refreshing.”

So far, the project has been off to a great start. At the 2.Pro season opener AlUla Tour, their South African duo Byron Munton & Stefan De Bod impressed with the former taking a 2nd place on queen stage, meanwhile the latter rose up to a 4th spot in general classification.