Eric Brunner gained his third elite males’s US cyclocross title in mid-December, which was the principle checkbox on his 2025 to-do listing when the calendar 12 months began. The months resulting in his solo victory on the dust in Fayetteville, Arkansas, had been something however choreographed, nonetheless. It seems that the highway to his success actually was on the highway.
“I raced much more on the highway this summer season than I’ve in just a few years. And that wasn’t my authentic plan going into 2025, to be proper for Undertaking Echelon Racing in 2026. It actually type of pulled me on this course once more,” the 27-year-old mentioned about his preparations for cyclocross season after which refocusing for the highway within the new season.
“I believe racing on the highway is the most effective coaching potential, particularly having the ability to stack numerous exhausting days back-to-back such as you do in stage races. I used to be planning to race much more mountain bike, however my highway season went so nicely. I believe that as quick as ‘cross is, you continue to have to coach simply as a lot as highway. So highway has been nice for placing me in a great place for the ‘cross season. Nationals is all the time a precedence.”
Now he is secured a spot again on the Continental stage with Undertaking Echelon Racing, and is deemed “a three-pronged hazard man” and might be one of many crew leaders for home and worldwide races. It’s a particular 12 months for the crew, now in its tenth season, a fourth 12 months on the professional stage, and a movie in regards to the crew’s success on and off highway race programs might be unveiled on December 25, 2025, with a cameo by Brunner from his first race with the crew at Maryland Biking Traditional simply earlier than ‘cross season began.
In 12 US cyclocross races this season, Brunner completed on the rostrum in 11 of them with seven victories. Along with his concentrate on ‘cross the final 4 years, he had gained the US cyclocross elite males’s title in 2023 and 2021, and in 5 appearances within the elite males’s division of Pan-Ams, he gained 4 consecutive years.
Brunner began his highway racing profession in earnest in 2018 with 4 years on US Continental programmes, 303 Undertaking and Aevolo, then began his personal cyclocross crew in 2021, and he solely did just a few highway occasions for just a few years. He returned to a heavy highway schedule this season, persevering with together with his small Aggressive Edge Racing setup the place he had high 5s at nationwide races like Tour de Murrieta, Redlands Bicycle Traditional after which completed second on GC on the UCI-level Tour of the Gila.
“My goal was to get Eric right here for 2026 after his efficiency on the Tour of the Gila. He single-handedly was taking all the things we had been throwing at him, and it took us till the final metres of the ultimate day to [unseat him] and clinch the general win. He confirmed his depth and his character and his will to win. I knew I wished him on our crew,” Undertaking Echelon Racing crew founder and director Eric Hill instructed Cyclingnews.
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“He is a man that may actually do all of it. He can time trial, he can deal with a motorcycle at a crit race in addition to anyone, and he can climb. I believe he brings a component again to the crew that Tyler Stites gave us in 2024.”
Stites was an all-rounder who gave Undertaking Echelon large outcomes at races in Greece, Portugal, Canada and the US. Brunner mentioned he does see resemblances to Stites, and he does see himself as a powerful time trialist, however nonetheless needs to take extra time on the highway to outline his personal type.
“I am nonetheless figuring it out just a little bit. Highway phases which are simply plain exhausting, not the longest climbs, however I do not thoughts just a little little bit of climbing. Highway racing isn’t all the time clear minimize on what rider it is going to favour. I like to coach on all the things, I put numerous work into being an entire package deal.
“We’re going over to Greece in March to do the Tour of Rhodes and Rhodes Grand Prix. I did a few of these races a number of years in the past with Aevolo, so it will be cool to return and do the identical races, simply type of with extra expertise. I actually like my probabilities for these races too, as a result of exhausting, actually type of all-rounder kind of programs.”
Brunner mentioned that when he departed 303 Undertaking for Aevolo, he talked with Hill just a little in regards to the Undertaking Echelon crew. It’s a crew he has continued to not simply compete towards, however observe their development.
“It is cool to see the programme stick round for the suitable causes. It is cool to see them make these alternatives for American riders, and to do some good issues for veterans alongside the best way. I believe that is the way you construct a profitable and sustainable programme. I am simply trying ahead to getting the highway season going right here fairly quickly with Undertaking Echelon on the highway.”
There might be no World Cup cyclocross races later in December or January for Brunner, as he focuses on a highway camp in January in Spain for his new highway crew. He may even keep in Spain for just a few weeks, and mentioned he could soar into one final ‘cross race whereas he’s there.
“I am gonna do crew camp, and just a little coaching camp over in Spain, simply on my own as nicely. And so that you may see me in Benidorm. No motive to not,” he mentioned a couple of return to cyclocross for a UCI World Cup on January 18.
Eric Brunner on the steps at US CX Nationals in Fayetteville, Arkansas (Picture credit score: SnowyMountain Pictures)
‘Outride the Darkness’
On Christmas Day, Undertaking Echelon Racing will launch a 37-minute characteristic movie known as ‘Outride the Darkness’ that celebrates the 10-year anniversary of the US-based males’s biking crew in 2026, in addition to their mission to assist US navy veterans “outride their demons” of psychological and bodily struggles utilizing bodily exercise and self-discovery.
“We have been engaged on the movie for a while. It’ll be a beautiful story of resilience,” Hill mentioned simply days earlier than the discharge.
“Our crew and group have helped hundreds of veterans to outride their demons, outride their darkness, whether or not that be loneliness, melancholy, suicide, dependancy, post-traumatic stress, issues of that nature. Additionally, our crew has outridden the darkness and a few of the struggles that our sport has confronted and simply continues to be resilient and discover a solution to compete on the high stage within the US and overseas. The movie tells these two parallel tales, which I am enthusiastic about.”
Undertaking Echelon Racing started as a US domestic-elite membership crew in 2017 and moved to the Continental stage in 2023. Whereas the elite squad centered on outcomes on the largest races within the US, after which expanded their targets to European occasions during the last three seasons, Hill mentioned the non-profit organisation went from supporting a handful of veterans to now greater than 500 veteran households in a single 12 months.
“We knew as an elite crew we may entry sponsorships and different advantages that veterans on their very own would by no means get. In our first 12 months, we supported 12 veterans. We had been a low-ranking crew on the earth of home elite biking, and our aim was to be the most effective crew within the Midwest,” Hill mentioned with a chuckle.
“A very large second as a crew was profitable the American Criterium Cup in 2022. Two years in the past, we swept the [USPro] Criterium Nationwide Championships podium and obtained wins back-to-back at UCI-level occasions, one in France and one in Portugal. We have now developed and gained respect not solely as a North American crew, however as a global competitor as nicely.”
Throughout 9 years, up to now, Undertaking Echelon has supplied alternatives for navy veterans to remain lively, from mentorship to novice rides and digital biking, and Hill has seen unbelievable achievements, together with veterans profitable world titles and Paralympic medals.
Among the many success tales embody Dennis Connors, a nine-year US Marine, who gained a Para-Biking silver medal on the Paris Paralympics and likewise has two world titles in highway males’s trike. On the ladies’s facet, Shawn Morelli, a US Military veteran who fought in two wars, is a three-time Paralympic gold medallist in Para-Biking, incomes wins on the observe and highway on the Rio Video games and repeating on the highway on the Tokyo Video games.
