LUX/CTS p/b Specialized, one of the most successful junior development programmes in the United States, will close its doors at the end of this season. The announcement was made by team General Manager Roy Knickman earlier this week, ending the decade-long run for the elite under-19 development team.
Among a long list of young athletes that the programme helped move into pro careers at the WorldTour level were a trio of men who competed at the 2022 Tour de France in Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates), Kevin Vermaerke (Team DSM) and Quinn Simmons (Trek-Segafredo).
On the women’s side, teenagers Kaia Schmid and Makayla MacPherson signed for Women’s WorldTour team Human Powered Health this season. Schmid was a silver medalist in the junior road race at Worlds while MacPherson was just three spots behind.
“LUX would like to thank everyone who has been involved in working with us and supporting the LUX program. It has been a great run with a lot to be proud of,” Knickman said in a team statement.
“I couldn’t be any prouder of what we were able to accomplish over these past many years with numerous National and World Championships, on the track and on the road. Domestically we dominated with hundreds of podiums throughout our tenure. And this year we were able to watch 3 of our alumni race in the Tour de France. It’s all been an amazing experience for me.”
Knickman, who was a junior national team and men’s road coach at USA Cycling, has been the team director for LUX for more than eight years. In a statement on its web site, there were several reasons provided in the decision to cease operations but the main factor was funding.
“LUX is ceasing for a combination of reasons that will be no surprise for long time cycling fans: difficulty in securing continuous and adequate funding, staff shortages the result of being under resourced. It has been a yearly struggle to piece together a budget to support these young athletes, with the recent economic downturn being the final factor resulting in the end of the operation for the team,” read the statement.
Knickman talked to Cyclingnews earlier this year after 20-year-old Zoe Ta-Perez burst on the scene at the USA Cycling Pro Road National Championships in June when she won the bronze medal in the elite women’s time trial, and took the U23 crown.
Later in the summer she was third overall in the 10-day Intelligentsia Cup omnium standings. He did not mention an issue with funding for the team, but did emphasise that the team wanted to stay true to its roots regarding development.
“We are part of the development pipeline. Unlike some of the other pro teams, where they have to have results, we think that we can chose young talent well and support them properly, they will get the results. And as soon as they get the results, and move up to that level to handle the next step, we can make the calls and try to move them up. If we are doing our job, it’s rewarding,” Knickman told Cyclingnews.
“I don’t want to be a marketing machine where I just get money to get results. We get donors to support the development pipeline. I’m always thinking dollar for development, it’s just a different motivation. And it’s more personal.”
The LUX women’s team is competing this week in Italy at the Giro Toscana International Femminile, including Katherine Sarkisov, the 2022 junior road race and time trial national champion, Olivia Cummins, the 2021 junior time trial champion and two-time junior criterium silver medalist.
The team had notified all members of its men’s and women’s teams prior to the announcement. The LUX organization said it would work to pass on the knowledge, connections and relationships they have developed so there can be a continuation of this new influx of young US talent into the European peloton.
