There are just under two months to go, and questions swirl about who will contend for the massive $1 million payout in the inaugural four-city National Cycling League (NCL). Only two teams are so far confirmed to line up at the opening criterium in Miami Beach, Florida, April 8, with eight more teams to be announced for the unique, invitation-only series.
The list of teams who have declined invitations is on the rise, L39ION of Los Angeles confirming today they will pass on the newly-launched four-city dash for cash series.
"L39ION of Los Angeles will not be participating in the NCL, but we're glad to see the investment in American cycling and share the desire to increase participation and grow our sport,” said Hunter Grove, team manager for L39ION of Los Angeles. “We look forward to sharing more shortly about our exciting plans for 2023 and beyond.”
L39ION of Los Angeles has been one of the most dominant US road racing squads the past two seasons with top results from both men’s and women’s squads. The team includes two-time women’s US Pro criterium national champion Kendall Ryan as well as former men’s crit champ Ty Magner and reigning US Pro men’s road race champion Kyle Murphy.
On the heels of the L39ION statement, the Miami Blazers confirmed they would also pass on the series. The Blazers are a US domestic elite men’s team led by Brandon Feehery, who dominated the American Criterium Cup series last year by winning the individual overall and sprint titles.
"The Miami Blazers have no plans on participating in NCL races. We wish the best for them and all participating riders, and look forward to our upcoming race season," stated Dennis Ramirez, team manager for the Miami Blazers.
Organisers of the NCL said they were not surprised that several teams had declined early invitations and were looking forward to a future announcement about a confirmed lineup in the NCL Cup series.
“Although expected, NCL is disappointed that L39ion and its affiliated teams have chosen not to participate in NCL's races for the time being. The best American bike racing teams will be competing in the NCL Cup in 2023, and we are excited about the opportunity to bring them and their sponsors exposure to a national and global audience through our in person, broadcast, and virtual platform," read a statement from NCL organisers.
What seems to left many of the Continental and Domestic Elite teams across North America hesitant about participation are the requirements that a ‘team’ in the series must have both men’s and women’s riders, under one entity, and that the league also owns the teams, which is a new blueprint for the sport.
The two NCL-owned teams - Miami Nights and Denver Disruptors - are the only two confirmed teams for the series at this time, though a full lineup of 10 is expected to be announced.
One of the prominent Domestic Elite teams on the criterium circuit has been ButcherBox Cycling p/b LOOK, which fields programs for both men and women. They echoed concern over the league’s structure and have also not accepted an invitation to compete as yet.
“While we continue to entertain NCL offers, at this point we have declined those offers due to concerns with the league’s single-entity ownership model and unequal allocation of resources,” Dino Piskopanis, co-founder and strategic director of ButcherBox Cycling told Cyclingnews.
During the team recruitment process, Cyclingnews has learned that the NCL organisers have asked men’s-only or women’s-only teams to join forces and create a partnership in order to participate in the series. It sounds like a good idea for the riders across just four races, but what about the main team sponsors?
“The main reason we couldn’t consider doing it [NCL] is because we can’t pair up with a men’s team,” Alex Kim, co-owner of women's Continental team DNA Pro Cycling, told Cyclingnews. His title sponsor is an apparel company, DNA Cycling, which stands for dirt and asphalt, and he wants to protect their investment and create conflicts with a men’s team that has a competitor’s brand.
“The points totals, which are going for this big prize purse at the end, is based on your team’s points that are made up of the men’s and women’s squads. We [the women’s team] would be one of the stronger women’s teams, but we’re going to be relying on a men’s team that may or may not be getting points. It’s out of our control,” Kim added. The squad, which competes in stage races and criteriums has added Olivia Cummins, 19, the current US U23 criterium champion, to its roster for 2023.
“We wish success for the series, it sounds really cool. It’s a good place for some riders because they have full-time jobs and they could join this and get paid a big salary with just four races.”
NCL organisers have worked for over a year to produce a creative series, with a field of 10 invitation-only teams, each with six men and six women, competing in four newly-created events they own held in major US markets, with a $1 million prize purse to be divided among the top five teams. Organisers will also launch their NCL ‘scoreboard’, a technology to provide fan access to in-race pro athlete biometric and performance data in real time.
After the Miami Beach opener, the series will move to Atlanta, Georgia on May 14, then Denver, Colorado on August 13 and conclude on September 10 in Washington, D.C.
