Already being compared to Mathieu van der Poel: EF Education-EasyPost signs top Italian talent "for the long term"

Agostinacchio won almost everything in cyclo-cross last season, including the world championship in Liévin, France. The young talent is also successful on the road. The rider from Aosta won a stage in the prestigious Trophée Centre Morbihan (2.Ncup) and finished fourth in the Trofeo Emilio Paganessi.

Jonathan Vaughters, CEO of EF Pro Cycling, has been following Mattia's progress for some time, according to the team website. “This kid is crazy intelligent. He learned English from YouTube and TikTok, and that impressed me. The second thing that impressed me was that when I met and had dinner with his entire family, I got to know his background.”

Vaughters also talks about the specific strengths of his new signing. “When it comes to watching Mattia race, the first thing that stood out to me was the way in which he wins races. In cyclo-cross, his skill is that he can pick one climb, or one moment, and just be massively explosive for two minutes and create a gap, and that gap never comes back.”

And according to the team boss, that is what makes him a good road rider. “That super explosive power, lasting 45 seconds to two minutes, is something that not many riders possess. It’s natural and really hard to train. You’ve either got it or you don’t, and in modern cycling, that’s how you win races, by creating that separation.”

Agostinacchio will already be competing for his new team this year, in the field. He will be doing so for the team's new cyclo-cross project, which will be announced shortly. “We’re not going to push on him too hard, so he will race on the development team, but he’ll also race as part of the WorldTour squad,” said Vaughters.

“Here and there, we’ll put him into a few WorldTour races, just to start learning. We won’t overcook him, but when we can, and when we think he’s ready, we’ll race him up on the WorldTour team so that he can gain that vital experience. The sooner he understands how races like the Tour of Flanders or Amstel Gold work, the sooner he can start finding success in them.”

Agostinacchio is described as an all-rounder: before his road career and successes in the field, the young talent was a mountain biker. In his own country, the Italian is compared to Mathieu van der Poel. “Growing up, I was a big fan of Mathieu van der Poel. Lots of people say I look like him, but I really don’t think so.”

“On the bike, people also compare me with him, but honestly, if I could be anything like him as a rider I’d be super happy. We’ll have to see in the future. In the short term, I’m just looking forward to meeting my new teammates and wearing the EF Education-EasyPost kit.”

“I think that EF Education-EasyPost is going to be the perfect team for me. It’s a good team for young riders to join because I think they are very strong when it comes to rider development. I had conversations with Jonathan Vaughters in the spring, and he made a very good impression. I genuinely believe that I’ll learn a lot from the team and become a better rider.”