With a "struggle to get the money", REIGN Storm Racing management confirmed to Cyclingnews on Friday that the US men's team, so dominant in North America last season, would "pause" operations this year and look at relaunching in 2026.
"With REIGN Storm, I anticipated that being a much longer deal than it was. We had another major player that was really interested in being a title sponsor, and they came in with good money and a good program, but to start building towards being a title sponsor, unfortunately, just didn't work. We're on pause," Thomas Craven, team director, told Cyclingnews Friday morning.
"I thought I was gonna be able to pull it together last Monday. The guys with the money behind the team decided not to re-up. To run [the team] as a bare-bones thing could have been possible, but we started adding it all up and trying to achieve what we like to do, it just didn't work. It needed to be a replication of the year before."
The surprise confirmation came on the heels of the 2025 USA Crits calendar announcement, a series dominated last year by REIGN Storm Racing with a podium sweep of the elite men's individual standings, the overall going to Alfredo Rodriguez, and team category.
The team replicated success on the American Criterium Cup circuit as well, Jordan Parra winning the overall, Danny Summerhill winning the sprint title and the entire squad contributing to the team title.
The current website for the domestic elite squad, which formed last year from a metamorphosis of Craven-led teams competing as Best Buddies Racing and American Cycling, touts the team's domination at the top two one-day race series, saying 'See you next year!' But that promise is now a plea for a comeback in 2026.
"All of the cycling industry partners that we had were all holding their breath and crossing their fingers we could pull it all off. But in the end, it was just unfortunate that we had to pull the plug. I mean, going into October [2024], I was 95% sure that we were moving on. Then things just kept getting pushed," Craven noted.
"It's not my team, I work for the organisation. I loved being able to have that much input in the team. We were the dominant team out there in the States. It was a great, great time. It just sucks for this year."
REIGN Storm Racing competed at a USA Cycling-registered domestic elite team, with a focus on one-day races in North America. Rodriguez took signature wins at Sunny King Criterium and Greenville Cycling Classic while Parra had 12 podiums, including four victories.
Summerhill was on the podium at five major one-day races, including second at Athens Twilight Criterium, and Bryan Gómez, the 2023 Athens Twilight champion, had eight podiums, two of them wins. Colombian Jamie Alberto Castañeda was prolifically successful with five race wins in Puerto Rico last summer.
"We had a great formula for beating other competitors. I think everybody wants to win. It's crazy how successful it was."
Craven said the group looked at a base budget of close to $500,000 to meet operational costs for the team, with travel, insurance, entry fees and salaries defined as the major expenses. Host housing relieved the budget in past years for his teams, but that was never a guarantee. Craven said it was a priority to pay salaries for their riders, which is not always the case for other domestic teams.
"It costs a lot to get across the country. You add in paying riders and provide all the food, housing... We had some great partners as far as host housing goes. That was a huge saving, and I did all the cooking on the road.
"One rider texted me and said 'I'll ride for free'. That was an option, but the decision was made that it was not going to be a barebones attempt at a team. It was a freaking blast. I'm going to miss it this year," Craven concluded.
There were 12 riders on the roster in 2024. Gómez was rumoured to have a new home with one of the Williams Racing Development teams, which operated L39ION of Los Angeles, Miami Blazers and Austin Outlaws last year, while Parra was looking to join a new team in Florida.
