Riley Pickrell wanted to win at all costs, he had already tried since the first stage, finishing second behind Malucelli and two days later the same story repeated itself, same result. Today, however, he was unstoppable, with perfect race tactics, aided also by the puncture suffered by the XDS Astana team athlete in the first kilometers of racing, and he achieved that success he had been chasing for far too long. Riley had already become one of the protagonists of our days at the Tour de Langkawi, among the most combative in the sprint, among the most smiling before and after the stage. Of Canadian origin, he is one of those riders who didn't grow up on cycling bread, but fell in love with it almost by chance and from that moment on never wanted to leave it. After several seasons in the development team of the Israeli squad and two in the main formation, the twenty-five-year-old from Victoria became an athlete of Modern Adventure, the team of former pro George Hincapie which allowed him to truly test himself, to pedal without pressure, to have fun and start collecting his first results

He arrived at Langkawi to test himself but from day one it was clear that Riley didn't just want to participate, but above all to make his mark. What struck us immediately was his manner, always with a smile and the desire to challenge himself and keep learning. A simple chat was enough to travel all the way to Canada, the country that has just hosted the world championships, but where the cycling tradition is very different from ours. Riley's adventure on a bike began at age 13, like all children he had first practiced hockey, the national sport, then moved on to speed skating, but at that point he realized it wasn't enough. He wanted to race all year round, even in summer, but snow sports didn't allow that and so the decision came to follow the path of cycling which was initially supposed to be just training. Unlike many other athletes, the bike was never an obsession, he didn't aim to become a professional at all costs, but then came the first races, the first results and more and more coaches started telling him that this was the road to follow. "In my family there isn't a great cycling tradition, we didn't watch races, we didn't have a champion to cheer for, for us it was simply a sport. Until the junior category I didn't take myself very seriously, I didn't believe there was a future, I would never have thought it could become a job, then in my final year they told me I had to believe in it, this was my future and I had the numbers to become a real athlete. At that moment I understood that I had found my world".

Talking with Riley seems like talking with a friend, the tone relaxed, without pressure, just a lot of desire to talk and tell not so much his story as his way of living cycling. Together with him we reflect on how this sport has a long tradition at the European level while being lived in a completely different way in North America, in the Israel team the difference was glaring, lots of pressure, lots of rigor and many objectives. In the Modern Adventure team instead he finally feels at home, not so much for the structure but rather for the mentality, more distant from ours, closer to his. "They contacted me during last season, they were interested in having me on the team and they made sure to explain their objectives to me, but above all the type of atmosphere they wanted to create, they convinced me immediately. I feel very good because there's an American mentality that is very similar to the one I grew up with, we don't have a cycling tradition and we approach things differently". Pickrell continues, who decided to face 2026 as a real learning year to improve and challenge himself. With his teammates he created a cohesive group determined to make their mark. Less pressure about achieving results at all costs, more about taking the time to understand how to improve. "This year has been a kind of trial run for everyone, we literally started from the basics and immediately told ourselves that we shouldn't be afraid to admit our mistakes. We thought about results only secondarily without putting unnecessary pressure on ourselves, if we do everything right those come as a consequence. We're growing together, we understand how to do it and how to organize ourselves in various race situations. Month after month we've built a real train, everyone knows what they have to do, but above all each one trusts the other. Everyone has their task and in races we try to put into practice what we've learned, we're focused, but we don't want to achieve results at all costs, if we have fun doing our job sooner or later those will come too." The progress is evident, if at the beginning of the season Pickrell had to launch himself in the sprint alone, now there's a real structured train ready to support him. Today everyone was there for him, the Modern Adventure riders didn't make a single wrong move, first they sent an attacker leaving all the chasing to the Astana team, then they positioned themselves ready in the final kilometer to launch Riley in his sprint. This time there was nothing Malucelli could do as he immediately went to congratulate him, just a few days ago he had expressed beautiful words about his opponent who step by step managed to take the victory.

The emotion was palpable, in Riley, in his team, a sense of liberation after two second-place finishes literally a step away from success. One of the first hugs was for mom Susan and dad Douglas who this time didn't just wait for him after the podium, they ran to meet him overwhelmed with happiness. The Canadian athlete had introduced them to us just yesterday at the end of the terrible Genting Highlands stage; two nice gentlemen with a lot of desire to learn more about the world of cycling, ready to support their son, in a discreet way, but with so much pride. "My parents are retired and with the excuse of following me they come on vacation. These days they're visiting many cities, they often only come to the finish because in the meantime they're out exploring. Last year they came to China during the Tour of Guanxi, they always wanted to visit that country so they took the opportunity. Their presence makes me feel more at home, they're very understanding because they know this is my job and I often have a lot of stress to manage. It's funny because in the end I manage to talk to them for maybe ten minutes, then they say goodbye because they inevitably have things to do and want to visit other places."

After reaching the most beautiful emotion for Riley Pickrell the journey must continue, two more stages await him in Malaysian territory and then there will be time to reset everything and take another step forward. In 2027 he will still wear the colors of Modern Cycling and will take the opportunity to improve. His greatest dream is to make it to the Tour, to compete with the best sprinters in the world to try to feel what it's like to fight in the mix and who knows, leave his mark once again.