Freddie Rodriguez APS Pro Cycling: How to Push Riders Outside Their Comfort Zone
Giro d’Italia stage winner and multi-time uspro road champion Fred Rodriguez returns to professional cycling for what might be considered a fourth time. Known as ‘Fast freddie’ during his 19-year racing career that covered 11 teams in the US and Europe, Rodriguez is a human ‘transformer’ who will now dictate strategies for other riders as a co-owner and manager for APS Pro Cycling by Cadence Cyclery.
The team debuts at the UCI 2.Pro volta Comunitat Valenciana, February 4-8, in Spain, as one of a few invited Continental squads to face nine WorldTour squads, including Red Bull-bora-Hansgrohe with time trial world and Olympic champion remco Evenepoel.
“Its nice to be part of this, really cool to get back involved at a higher level with cycling,” Rodriguez told Cyclingnews. “Once I retired from Jelly Belly [2015] I told Danny [van Haute, team director] that was the last team I was gonna race for. I started my own clothing company, have been coaching and I wanted to be really involved with my kids’ growth as a father. So I didn’t want to travel too much. Now I have two kids in college.
“I’ve been growing these ideas, the way teams race and the way teams look at training and how we develop riders.“`html
Andrew Lydic, 24, joins for a renewed road campaign, with compatriots Patrick Welch, also 24, and Eddy Huntsman, 23, moving from US domestic elite teams. Walls, just 18, raced for a local Irish club last year.
Creating a new team
Team Overview:
* Level: UCI Continental team, launching in 2026.
* goal: To develop riders, provide UCI race experience, and get riders noticed by bigger teams. They aim to eventually become one of those bigger teams.
* Rider Focus: Developing talent regardless of age, valuing experience of older riders alongside younger ones. They have riders representing 12 national teams.
* Race Focus: Prioritizing UCI-designated road races, but will also participate in some gravel events.
key Personnel:
* Jeff Makohon: Co-founder, involved in overall team direction.
* mike (last name not given): Co-founder,working with Freddie on projects.
* Freddie (last name not given): Responsible for race strategy, training, and rider development – aiming to modernize how a development team operates.
* Chad Plumlee: Drives equipment sponsorship, particularly with Van Rysel.
* Daggs (last name not given): Will drive the team car and serve as the main race director.
sponsorship:
* Van Rysel: Major bike sponsor. They are “very, very interested in the US market” and this is only their third pro team sponsorship (along with Decathlon CMA CGM and Van Rysel Roubaix).
* Cadence Cyclery: continues involvement with a junior/men/women’s club team (Cadence Cyclery p/b Encore Wire).
Roster (2026):
* Ethan Dunham (USA)
* Liam Flanagan (USA)
* Eddy huntsman (USA)
* Cian Keogh (IRE)
* Adam Lewis (GBR)
* Andrew Lydic (USA)
* Conn McDunphy (IRE)
* Ronan O’Connor (IRE)
* Alex St Andre (USA)
* Matthew Walls (IRE)
* Patrick Welch (USA)