EF Education-EasyPost are set to venture into the world of cyclocross, the team have announced, with the creation of a three-rider program including a former junior World Champion in the speciality, Mattia Agostinacchio.
The 18-year-old Italian is also set to join EF's WorldTour team next January, but now will first be racing in the team's colours in the current cyclocross season.
His elder brother Filippo, a double U23 Italian National Champion who also won a stage on the road of the Giro NextGen, is also set to be in the squad.
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The third member of the initial program will be former U23 Luxembourg cyclocross champion Nina Berton, a third-year pro who has already been a member of the EF Education-Oatly ProTeam since the start of 2025.
“This is a fun experiment for us, but one that we want to excel at,” EF Pro Cycling CEO Jonathan Vaughters said in a team press release.
“From the start of the alternative calendar with Lachlan Morton, we’ve always done some pretty experimental stuff that’s been a bit on the edges. This is a continuation of that, as we’ve always believed that cycling should be as inclusive as possible."
"We have always wanted to bring as many people to the sport as possible, so having a cyclocross team allows us to connect with and engage a whole new audience. We’re starting with a junior world champion, Mattia, his brother Filippo, and Nina, which feels like a good place to begin,” Jonathan added.
Having recently competed in the Road Worlds in Rwanda, Mattia Agostinacchio is due to participate in a full cyclocross race program prior to doing the UCI cyclo-cross World Championships in the southern Netherlands town of Hulst next February.
“As a world champion, cyclocross is super important to me, so I want to give it my all," Agostinacchio said in the same press release.
"I also believe that starting to race for the team in cyclocross will really help me adapt and improve over the winter before I start to focus on the 2026 road season."
“We see with many riders how cyclocross can help you on the road because you can learn a lot from the discipline," Berton - whose full race program has yet to decide - said.
"It's also something cool to have in your program for the winter."
"Everyone in Luxembourg who comes up through the ranks participates in cyclocross because it’s part of their development. I’ve never done a full cyclocross season, but it was always an essential part of my off-season."
Combining a cyclocross program with the road has long been a staple part of squads like Visma-Lease a Bike, Alpecin-Deceuninck and Fenix-Alpecin, as well as many Belgian teams. For EF, though, this is a first.
