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2/11/2025

Finding Small Wins During a Difficult Week in the Vuelta Valenciana

The 76 th Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana proved to be one of the most challenging tests Project Echelon Racing (PER) has ever faced. The race featured incredibly demanding courses, highlighted by three consecutive climbing stages. The event kicked off with a Team Time Trial (TTT), where our team started strong, riding a clean and smooth race despite having only one practice run the day before. This impressive performance allowed us to outpace several respectable teams.

The following three days presented even more challenging courses, reminding us of the high standards in the sport and where we need to push ourselves to reach the top. We fought hard to make it to the final stage, aiming for a shot at the sprint finish. However, in bike racing, sometimes luck plays a crucial role. An untimely flat tire and a few crashes left all our riders, except Hugo Salas Jr. out of contention for the final stage. Despite these setbacks, Hugo managed to secure a strong top 15 finish in a very fast race.

“We leave Valencia hungry and determined to come back stronger,” PER Performance Director Isaiah Newkirk said. “Its time to get to work and prepare for the next challenge.”
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Next up, the boys continue their trek of Spain with the Vuelta a la Region de Murcia (Costa Calida) beginning on Saturday, February 15.

You can watch all of the action in the United States on HBO MAX and on FloBikes.
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2/11/2025

Challenge Mallorca Recap

Project Echelon Racing started the 2025 season in Spain for the third consecutive year racing against the best teams on the UCI professional circuit.

"Mallorca is always an incredible setting and race to start the season. It's unique set up of five consecutive one-day races allows us to switch up rosters and take some gambles that stage racing doesn't allow." PER President Eric Hill said.

Heres a day by day breakdown of the action at the Challenge Mallorca.
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Day 1: Trofeo Calvia

The opening day of the Challenge Mallorca kicked off with the Trofeo Calvia. The race started from Peguera and as anticipated, was one of the most challenging races of the season.
Cole Davis and Hugo Scala Jr. led the Project Echelon push but unfortunately nothing materialized from it as the break never truly formed.
Despite the disappointment of not tasting the podium on Day 1, Hill found some nuggets of gold in the seasons first outing Spain.
"The performances they (Cole and Hugo) put down, with their ability to navigate the front of the race against some of the words best in grippy conditions is a clear sign that our guys are up to whatever task we put in front of them this year."


Day 2: Trofeo Ses Salines

It was a much better day for the team as Colby Lange and Ethan Craine both hoisted hardware celebrating Sprint and King of the Mountain accolades. For Craine, this is the second consecutive podium as KOM (2024, 2025).

Stage 2 was a relatively flat finish that culminated in a crash heavy finale, ending the hopes of Cade Bickmore who was well positioned at the time.


Day 3: Serra Tramuntana

It was a tough day for the squad and the entire field with only Hugo Scala Jr. finishing the 151.3km race for PER that was full of geographical challenges of hilly climbs and descents as well as Mother Nature's touch of heavy rain.


Day 4: Trofeo Andratx – Mirador des Colomer.

The day's racing was cancelled due to weather and dangerous road conditions. This cancelation upset many on the Mallorca Challenge organizing committee but was rider-led as the majority felt the circuit too dangerous after continuous rain made the trek treacherous.


Day 5: Trofeo Playa de Palma

After resting the previous day, PER riders saw much more favorable conditions on Sunday's final day of racing.
It took some time for a break to happen, but at the 37km mark, Colby Lange took off. He along with Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) formed a two-man break away staying out front until 100km's to go in the race (149km race in total) when a punctured tire slowed the speedy Lange costing him valuable time and distance - a deficit he could not recover from.

"For Colby, Mallorca was his return to top form and confidence on the road after putting a heavy focus on the track for the past two seasons in pursuit of the Olympics."

While the overall results for the team weren't there, Challenge Mallorca laid a solid foundation to build from for the remainder of the season. It's difficulty, competing against the best in the world and oh yeah... the rain and wind sets Project Echelon up for success moving forward in Europe and domestically.

"We also saw gritty performances from newcomer Cole Davis and Hugo Scala during some of the races most demanding days in Mallorca," Hill reflected. "For our other riders, there are so many small wins, things that bring a team together, elevate a rider's belief in ones self, that will lead to success down the road at their target races. We may not have set the world on fire this week, but we set a solid bed of coals that will burn long into the season. The team showed great cohesion and promise for races to come, especially hitting the front of the race as a unit inside the closing 5 kilometers."

2/6/2025

Sports Editorial: Criterium Nation

Project Echelon's Season Gets Underway by Rob Kelly

Can the UCI Continental Squad Improve on a Stellar 2024

Read on Substack

1/31/2025

Trophies at Trofeo Ses Salines for Lange and Craine

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1/27/2025

Bassett to Anchor Team with Experience and Ambition in 2025 Campaign

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"I've been trying to win a national championship for 15 years, so to do it with this team was pretty special," Bassett told Cyclingnews during a media day this winter. "It was my first race with the team - A pretty quick turnaround that was fun, really.

"It was a pretty crazy race - very controlled and then very chaotic in rapid succession. So pretty big crash with two laps to go, and then myself and Brendan [Rhim] solo, and then Scott [McGill] sweeping up the field. Yeah, pretty sweet."

Read the full article...
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