George Hincapie: Greenville Cycling Classic ‘breeding ground for getting kids into sport’

It’s Grand Tour season in the world of cycling as May brings the Giro d’Italia and La Vuelta Femenina, but it’s always Grand Tour time in Greenville, South Carolina. A trio of former road pros – George Hincapie, Bobby Julich and Christian Vande Velde – all call the small southern city home, and the community tags them as Grand Tour Legends, with the riders accounting for 59 appearances across the Giro, Tour de France and Vuelta a España.

They never rode together on the same trade team at the same time, each amassing their own palmares across European racing and the Olympic Games. They also were part of a generation of pro cyclists embroiled in admissions of having used banned substances at some point in their careers. They have moved on to successful careers in coaching, broadcasting and entrepreneurship.

All still stay close to racing and this spring brought a fresh opportunity for the trio to give back to the local community with support for the inaugural Greenville Cycling Classic, playing themselves as ‘legends’ to inspire young people to ride, and race, bicycles.

“The main thing is having events like this, big community events where a lot of people show up downtown. It gets the kids motivated. Any child that’s here tonight is watching and probably saying ‘that looks pretty cool, I want to try that’,” Hincapie, a 14-time Tour de France competitor, told Cycling News. “I think events like this are the breeding ground for getting kids into the sport.” 

The Greenville Cycling Classic took shape just six month ago and became the lead-off event for the 2024 USA Speed Week race series – eight events in 11 days across three southern US states. It had been 20 years since a grassroots effort had been made to put on a criterium, aside from US Pro Road Championships for a few years, and Hincapie knew it was time to re-energise the community.

“The crit is like the foundation of cycling for Americans. I grew up racing crits. When you get talented kids who are good at crits, they can progress into other things. Obviously, the end game is road racing in Europe. But this is a great way to start,” he said. 

The trio of legends are all residents of Greenville – Vande Velde and Julich relocating eight years ago – and are connected to the EF Education-ONTO development team – Vande Velde as a board member, Julich as a ‘cheerleader’ and Hincapie by way of his family apparel business as the apparel sponsor, and his son, Enzo, a member of the team. 

“I first came to Greenville for the National Championships in 2007 and little did I know that in 2016 I would become a resident of this amazing town,” said Julich, who was third on GC at the 1998 Tour de France. 

“George, Christian and myself, we try to ride our bikes five, six days a week. And these kids are seeing us do that. They’ve heard the stories of what we’ve done, and they have a reference point. There’s a lot of people here who have raced bikes. So here in Greenville, it’s not just the three of us.”

He talked about how the EF Education-ONTO development team, now in its 10th year, has provided a way for young riders to learn about road racing. There are also opportunities for new riders with the Supra Cycling Club, which has more than 150 members. 

“Cycling is not easy, and you suffer. And when you’re young and you don’t know why you’re doing it, it doesn’t make sense. Down here with EF [devo team], what they’ve created, there’s a lot of exposure. [The young riders] are watching the current pros be successful. They have a reference point from us retired pros, and they’re just doing their thing and having fun together. That is the key to success. You want to ride with kids your age.”

Aspirations

Vande Velde agreed that the junior riders were best served by having races with their peers. He is also a board member at ONTO, team director Rusty Miller confirming the former pro brought “a universe of experience” to the team and that he “cared deeply about our young people’s journeys”, whether the path led to a pro cycling career or something else. 

“The Greenville Cycling Classic is incredible to have in our backyard for talent development,” Vande Velde told Cycling News. “Everyone needs a mentor to start. Join a club or get involved with a core group where you will receive guidance. These days there are many different avenues above and beyond racing.”

The 10-time Tour de France veteran, who had a career best fourth-place overall in the 2008 Tour, said there is so much technology available that riders can educate themselves quite a bit with the metrics that are required to perform at a high level. But Vande Velde added that the number one way to get young people interested in racing as a career is to “race your bike and prove yourself against others”.  

“That is why races like the Greenville Cycling Classic are instrumental in continuing the growth of prominent US racers like we are seeing today in Europe. And not only for the Enzo’s but for the young kids who got to ride/race around the course with their parents and then in turn see riders like Enzo and Gray [Barnett], from their community, perform at a high level and aspire to be like them.”

Before the pro races took centre stage, cyclists of all ages and abilities participated in the Tour de France Legends ride, a free 20-minute session led by the legends themselves, casually clad in street clothes. Vande Velde and Julich rode electric bike share two-wheelers and Hincapie took to his mountain bike. 

One local recreational cyclist said the legends ride not only gave him and his family a way to scout out the one-kilometre, six-turn route to find a good spot to watch the pros race later, and see crashes, but it inspired him to add racing to his bucket list.

“I started in the very back and as I worked my way from the back to the front, the ages of the people got lower and lower. In the back you had older people, some on foldable bikes, and probably not comfortable riding in a group. About mid-pack. I noticed were people my age or younger [20s to 40s]. Then at the front where George was, it was very noticeable – it was all kids. They were trying to keep up with George,” Greenville resident Alex Dresko told Cycling News.

“Bobby and Christian were on the electric bikes, which was hilarious, but I watched them all interact with people. George was talking to all the kids.

“I rode nine or 10 laps. It was an opportunity to ride in a group of people to experience a crit track. I’m not super-fast but It gave me confidence to do a cat 5 race.”