World champion Brandon McNulty debuts his rainbow jersey on home soil on November 21 at El Tour de Tucson. A native of Phoenix, Arizona, McNulty will make his first appearance at the Tucson event, now in a 43rd edition that has grown in size to 12,000 participants across three routes, the longest 103 miles.

McNulty will be joined by three-time US Pro road race national champion Quinn Simmons, Canadian road national champion Jérôme Gauthier, as well as multi-time road and track world champions Chloe Dygert and Sir Bradley Wiggins.

A number of former pro athletes are also part of the front corral of starters including four-time triathlete world champion Leanda Cave and former Grand Tour riders George Hincapie, Bob Roll, Bobby Julich, and Frankie Andreu.

All riders compete for prestige and bragging rights in a choice of three distances, as there is no prize money.

El Tour de Tucson is the flagship event for El Tour America, a non-profit that produces cycling events and helps raise funds for more than 120 other non-profits. Many of the current and retired pros participating in the ride will also participate in The Prologue, an exclusive camp for limited attendees to raise additional funds.

Ide Schelling continues with gravel focus

RNRNYC Racing p/b R1 will support former WorldTour rider Ide Schelling for a second season, this time with a focus on gravel racing, and will be the the new home for New Zealander Ethan Craine as the team grows their roster for 2027.

RNRNYC, which takes their name from cycling apparel brand Rubber N’ Road that has a design studio and manufacturing in New York City, launched last season as an elite club team. They promote inclusivity and give riders opportunities to develop and race at a high level alongside experienced pros.

Schelling had a limited role with RNRNYC Racing last year, participating in a limited calendar of road and gravel, taking 10th place in The Gralloch. The Dutch rider retired from an 11-year pro road career in 2025, which included six years at the WorldTour level with Bora-Hansgrohe and XDS Astana. He will continue as a brand ambassador for RNRNYC and be supported as a privateer in gravel.

“Ide will be racing a lot more by himself, but remains part of the bigger ecosystem, the RNR and L1 racing family. Maybe he’ll do a couple of races with the team, but really he will focus on doing gravel events, which are mostly in Europe. Maybe doing Big Sugar and a couple more in the US,” Gil Lavi, co-founder of Rubber N’ Road and RNRNYC Racing, told Cyclingnews.

Lavi said the cycling apparel brand benefits greatly from an international roster of riders, since the company has production facilities in three countries and customers around the globe.

“Having Ethan [Craine] is huge. César Marte and Wiley Close are very talented racers, super young, super talented,” Lavi said about some of the new riders that have been announced so far.

Craine, 25, joins from five years with Project Echelon Racing, where he had stage wins in the Green Mountain Stage Race, Salt Lake Criterium and Chicago Grit. Close, 22, moves from ENVE MOG Squad’s gravel team, where he finished eighth on the queen stage at Green Mountain Stage Race in his first road race in September.

Marte, a sprinter from the Dominican Republic, earned top results in the US across multiple teams at the Tour of Somerville, Gateway Cup, and Tour of America’s Dairyland since 2022 and als has multiple stage wins at the Vuelta Independencia.

The full roster will be disclosed in the coming weeks, with 12-15 riders expected to compete on a heavy road racing calendar, with a few gravel races mixed in.

Crusher in the Tushar retires for good after 14 year-run

Retirement news is typically reserved for riders, but this time organisers for Crusher in the Tushar confirmed Thursday that the Utah gravel race would permanently close after 14 years.

Taking its name from the Tushar mountains of central Utah, the highest range in the state, the Crusher was cancelled twice in the last three years due to impact from active wildfires in the area.

Life Time purchased the event from founder and former road pro Burke Swindlehurst in 2019, and included the race as part of the Life Time Grand Prix series from 2022 to 2024, though the third instalment was not held due to the fires. Keegan Swenson won the two Grand Prix editions while Haley Smith and Sofia Gomez Villafañe split the wins for elite women.

“We made the decision to retire Crusher in the Tushar,” Life Time posted Thursday on social channels and the web site for the event.

“Since its founding, Crusher in the Tushar has played a pivotal role in shaping gravel cycling, challenging athletes on one of the sport’s most demanding and memorable courses.

“We are deeply grateful to founder Burke Swindlehurst for his vision, the greater Beaver community for its incredible hospitality and partnership, and the athletes, volunteers and partners who have made Crusher such a special event over the years.

“Our thoughts remain with the Beaver and Piute County communities as they continue to recover and rebuild following this year’s devastating wildfires and flooding.”

EuroCrossAcademy opens 24th season in Netherlands and Belgium with 12 juniors

A total of 12 US teenagers will be part of EuroCrossAcademy’s November block of training and racing, with the first competitions set for the Netherlands November 14-15 including Vam-Berg Cross in Wijster.

The squad will have multiple skills training sessions in Alphen, Netherlands and Lichtaart, Belgium, with a focus on forest trails and sand, then complete the two-week trip with racing in Hilversum, Netherlands and Maldegem, Belgium.

This is 24th year EuroCrossAcademy, led by Geoff Proctor, and a third consecutive year for a unique block for 15-16 year olds. The programme began in 2003 as EuroCross Camp to help athletes prepare for the Cyclo-cross World Championships. It has grown into a non-profit, EuroCrossAcademy (ECA), which now provides summer camps in Montana and Vermont as well as blocks of European racing experience in the development process for young US riders.

The group of 15-16 year olds are the focus for November, with the 17-18 year old riders taking part in a separate experience in December.

“The emphasis at the ECA November block is specifically on development, not results or outcomes. Are are they becoming better people by improving their character/continuing to find purpose?” Proctor told Cyclingnews about what measuring success.

He said ECA coaches measure success based on the level of “finding joy in a safe, kind, supportive environment” as well as learning life skills, not just riding skills, from their teammates, mechanics, support staff, and themselves.

For both blocks of training and race, Cyclingnews will provide coverage with rider dairies, the athletes providing first-person accounts of the ‘character development’ and competition.

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