Funding from NBA and NFL stars to elevate new criterium series and bring 'style of track racing into the streets'
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2023 jerseys for Miami Nights and Denver Disruptors(Image credit: National Cycling League)
Denver Disruptors team jersey for 2023 will have rider names and numbers on the back of each jersey(Image credit: National Cycling League)
Miami Nights jersey design for 2023 will have rider names and numbers on the back (Image credit: National Cycling League)
The US-based National Cycling League (NCL) announced the first pair of teams invited to participate in the fledgling professional series of criterium events next year, the NCL Crit Racing Tour. The Miami Nights and Denver Disruptors, each with rosters of eight men and eight women, have been created by the NCL for earning opportunities and rider development in the sport of cycling.
The Disruptors will be led by former WorldTour riders Sergio Henao and Leah Kirchmann, while the Nights feature a number of criterium specialists who excelled in the American Criterium Cup, including pros Clever Martinez and Andrea Cyr, both silver medalists in the series.
The team director for the Nights will be Sebastian Alexandre, who led the successful UnitedHealthcare squad, while the Disruptors will have former pro Svein Tuft at the helm, who won 13 Canadian national titles during his career.
All 32 NCL athletes across the two teams will receive annual salaries, in addition to racing for a share of the $1 million NCL Crit Racing Tour prize purse as well as prize money from other races throughout the season.
The teams are expected to confirm registration as Domestic Elite squads in the new year, which includes rankings on the USA Cycling National Road Calendar that are used for invitations to the US Pro Road National Championships. The Domestic Elite level also provides eligibility for consideration in team points in the American Criterium Cup events in addition to the NCL race series.
“The Denver Disruptors and Miami Nights are the start of a revolution in American professional cycling. There is so much untapped cycling talent out there and we’ve rewritten the team model to showcase top-level pros and provide a pathway to success for our development riders,” said Reed McCalvin, vice president of Teams and Athletes with the NCL.
“We're excited that our vision for professional sports – the first gender equal and gender integrated professional sports team concept – combines both men's and women's racing and creates opportunity for teams in the United States to grow.”
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The Denver Disruptors will be led on the men’s side by Colombian veteran Henao, who raced 10 years on the WorldTour level, and eight-time Romanian national champion Serghei Tvetcov, who raced the last two seasons with US-based Wildlife Generation. US rider Noah Granigan also joins from Wildlife Generation.
On the women’s side, former Canadian time trial and criterium champion Kirchmann moves across from three seasons on the WorldTour. She will race alongside Erica Zaveta, who had 13 top 10s in US criterium races this past season with Colavita Factor Pro Cycling.
“I am excited to return to American racing to compete in this new and innovative series," Kirchmann said in a press release. "The NCL will have a positive impact by engaging new fans into professional cycling, while also showing there is value in elevating all competitors equally."
The Miami Nights feature accomplished criterium specialists Martinez and Frank Travieso, both from the Miami Blazers. Martinez finished second overall in the American Criterium Cup individual standings, while Travieso finished fifth in sprint points. They’ll be joined by former Best Buddies Racing teammates Alfredo Rodriguez and Bryan Gomez, both in the top five of the ACC standings.
Cyr will lead the women’s side for the Nights, having finished second in the individual and sprint standings in the 10-race American Criterium Cup last season. Joining the US sprinter will be Austrian Verena Eberhardt, a 20-time national champion on the track.
“The NCL will take criterium races to the next level. The riders will compete in a different style, bringing some of the style of track racing into the streets, where everyone can see and be a part of it. Cycling is an individual sport, but it is raced as a team and NCL's goal is to increase the level of teamwork,” Alexandre said.
Unique to the NCL teams are jerseys with rider names and numbers on the back, which borrows a style from traditional pro sports teams in the US and caters to a broader audience for cycling.
Who shares in $1 million prize purse?
Up to 12 teams, each required to include six men and six women, are expected to receive invitations to compete in four NCL criteriums next year, beginning in Miami in April, and followed by races in Atlanta, Denver and Washington, DC. The dates and exact course venues had not been disclosed at this time.
Scoring in league events include points for the top three riders on each lap of a race, with double points for the final lap, so the traditional “winner” is not determined by the first racer across the finish line. The distribution of the $1 million prize purse at the conclusion of the four events in the inaugural year will be based on a scoring system that rewards teamwork, combining scores for men and women, and the team with the most points will win $700,000, with lower prizes for second through fifth.
The NCL announced earlier this month that it received $7.5 million in ‘seed financing’ from a number of investment firms and sports stars, including four NFL players - Jalen Ramsey of the Los Angeles Rams, Derwin James of the Los Angeles Chargers, Kevin Byard of the Tennessee Titans, and Casey Hayward of the Atlanta Falcons. Other big names in sports were Michele Roberts, a former executive director of the NBA Players Association, and three-time NBA All-Star Bradley Beal of the Washington Wizards.
“The investment will accelerate the launch of the NCL Crit Racing Tour and two new co-ed professional cycling teams,” Paris Wallace, CEO of the NCL said in a statement. “The goal is for our teams to instantly become the top teams in U.S. pro racing next year.”
According to the League’s statement, funding will also support the development of their groundbreaking technology platform, which seeks to deliver interactive access to pro athlete biometric and performance data for consumer applications in real time.
Jackie has been involved in professional sports for more than 30 years in news reporting, sports marketing and public relations. She founded Peloton Sports in 1998, a sports marketing and public relations agency, which managed projects for Tour de Georgia, Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah and USA Cycling. She also founded Bike Alpharetta Inc, a Georgia non-profit to promote safe cycling. She is proud to have worked in professional baseball for six years - from selling advertising to pulling the tarp for several minor league teams. She has climbed l'Alpe d'Huez three times (not fast). Her favorite road and gravel rides are around horse farms in north Georgia (USA) and around lavender fields in Provence (France), and some mtb rides in Park City, Utah (USA).
