Updated March 25, 2026 03:07AM
Tyler Stites has done everything right.
The American pro won just about every race on the U.S. domestic circuit and survived the grind of pro cycling’s lower tiers.
But after a luckless 2025 unraveled his mojo after making a move to Europe, the 28-year-old is getting a fresh start with Modern Adventure Pro Cycling.
He’s betting his future on George Hincapie’s new U.S.-backed project, and has one stubborn goal that still burns.
“My big goal is to win a pro race,” Stites told Velo. “I don’t have a specific race in mind — any race, a bigger race. Getting one of those wins is my dream.”
It’s not an empty ambition. Stites has been close before.
And he just kicked to a top 15 at the team’s WorldTour stage race debut this week at the Volta a Catalunya.
One of America’s top domestic roadies
Stites is America’s top domestic pro who never quite made it to Europe.
A solid all-arounder with solid TT chops, Stites can win stage races and out of breakaways.
The Arizona rider boasts a deep domestic palmarès, highlighted by overall victory at the 2024 Tour of the Gila as well as the Redlands Classic three years in a row from 2022-2024.
On top of that are multiple stage wins across Gila, Beauce, and Joe Martin, and podium finishes at U.S. nationals.
Those victories count, but Stites wants a real pro win in a race against the top pros in Europe.
“In 2024 with Echelon, I was doing races like Provence and getting top-5s, top-10s. It felt very achievable,” he said in a phone call. “Last year I went away from that, but I’m trying to remember I have that in me.”
Determination and personal belief are driving Stites into 2026.
And he’s already paid back the team by riding into the day’s main breakaway for 145km in Monday’s stage 1, which was reeled in 10km to go to open the Volta a Catalunya.
It’s not for a lack of trying.
More than a decade ago, the once-thriving U.S. domestic scene allowed roadies to make a living, race full-time on home roads, and have a chance to show off at races like the Amgen Tour of California.
That was wiped out by COVID. The U.S. road racing scene, however, is showing some signs of life.
The arrival of Modern Adventure Pro Cycling and a revival of Philadelphia and the expansion of the Maryland Classic are encouraging.
Aevolo, Echelon provide backing
He’s hoping the win comes this season.
Or, in a dream world, this week, where the team is racing against the best of the WorldTour.
Now 28, Stites doesn’t need to be reminded how cruel pro cycling can be.
He’s lived it most of his racing career.
Racing on the Aevolo development squad, he hit some promising U23 results and raced the 2018 Tour de l’Avenir to support Arizonan Brandon McNulty. A fellow from Slovenia won that year.
Just when his career looked to be taking off, COVID shut everything down in 2020. That cost him a few big opportunities to impress the European teams.
He kept racing, linked up with Project Echelon in 2022, and kept winning.
His name is on the podium of just about every U.S. road race that’s left on the calendar during the past five years.
After another big season with Echelon in 2024, with third in the final TT at the Volta a Portugal, he got a chance to sign with Spanish Pro-Team Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, the same team heading to the Tour de France this summer.
After stepping up to Caja Rural, Stites finally had the stability he’d been chasing through years of piecing together contracts and chasing races across continents.
Missed chances at Caja Rural
The Spanish ProTeam offered structure, a salary, and the kind of calendar that he’d been dreaming about.
Instead, 2025 turned into a slow grind of frustrating setbacks.
“I would have a big training block, get into really good fitness, and be ready to race,” Stites told Velo. Then I’d go to a race and have some bad luck — get sick, or crash at the beginning of a stage race. All the work I put in would evaporate, and I’d have to start over.”
A tibia fracture in May, just weeks before nationals, was the low point.
“Just over and over, bad luck kept me from showing my true level,” he said. “I never really got to show what I was capable of.”
The frustration wasn’t directed at his team. Quite the opposite.
“They treated me really well. I was very happy with Caja. It wasn’t the best year performance-wise, but it wasn’t their fault,” he said.
“Last year was a learning curve with dealing with setbacks and working on my resilience. It was difficult, but I just kept plugging away.”
Hincapie comes calling
While Stites was trudging between bike races, Hincapie and others were quietly building out Modern Adventure Pro Cycling.
Riders like Stites are just the kind of profile the team is hoping to help. Hincapie wants America’s first major men’s road team in more than a decade to serve as a bridge between the U.S. and Europe.
Hincapie and his team of advisors had an eye on Stites, and after hammering out a deal to get him released from his final year with Caja Rural, Stites became the team’s 21st and final rider for 2026.
“The team is perfect for me and where I am in my career,” Stites said. “I have a lot of friends on the team, former teammates, guys from the national team. The American culture is exciting.”
Now he’s all-in on what the project could become help revive the broader U.S. scene that’s been scrambling since the collapse of men’s teams like Human Powered Health.
“This team is huge for American cycling,” he said. “There’s finally something to strive for again, a way to make a living bike racing.
“Going up to Caja gave me a lot more stability with salary and focus on being a pro cyclist,” he said. “Now I have a two-year deal with Modern to continue that lifestyle and be able to perform.”
That’s huge for Stites and other U.S. and international pros who were scratching out a living on the edges of the sport and can now focus on racing and have the backing to perform.
There’s also a sense that the team is building something from the ground up, with a mix of hungry young riders and experienced pros.
“The team chemistry is great,” Stites said. “There’s a bunch of young guys with limitless energy, and a couple of riders with more wisdom. I’m one of the older guys now, which is kind of a new feeling.”
Knocking on the door
The early signs are encouraging.
Stites lit up the big breakaway in stage 1 to open the Volta a Catalunya, the team’s first WorldTour stage race invitation.
Now that all the pieces are in place, it’s up to him to deliver.
“There’s not a lot of pressure this year for winning races or performing. They’re not telling me I’m a GC leader who needs to win,” he said. “I feel like I am one of the more experienced riders, to help the younger guys to learn, contribute to the team, and hopefully we can win some races.”
U.S. nationals are a big goal, and just about any race in Europe.
He kicked to 15th on Tuesday’s second stage at Catalunya, with more chances this week.
After all these years, the objective hasn’t changed for Stites.
And he’s getting closer than ever.