Women’s cycling team LA Sweat will not participate in the new National Cycling League (NCL) series, Bicycling has learned.
Team owner and director Kelli Sam cites concerns about what she says is a lack of transparency and information forthcoming from race organizers, despite repeated outreach attempts and unanswered emails.
According to Sam, race organizers have yet to provide essential logistical information, such as course routes and race structure. The first race of the series is less than two months away, beginning in Miami Beach on April 8.
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A lack of transparency from the NCL
“We do not feel the NCL has provided clear and transparent communication on their organization, rules, board of directors, and race directors,” Sam said in a statement released to Bicycling. “This decision comes after multiple attempts to contact the organization for information with no answers. Based on this [lack of transparency] and past experiences we do not feel it is necessary to put our team and riders in a potentially compromising position.”
Sam added that the NCL has used LA Sweat’s likeness on the league website without the team’s permission.
“The US National Calendar is full of amazing events and a federation-run series that [LA Sweat] will continue to participate in as we have for the past nine seasons,” Sam said.
Other teams have opted out, too
LA Sweat is not the first well-known US-based cycling team to publicly release a statement about not racing in the NCL. A few weeks ago, the Miami Blazers cycling team and the L39ION of Los Angeles cycling team also released statements about their non-participation in the fledgling NCL.
The NCL announced two teams—Miami Nights and Denver Disruptors—in December. The league has many big-name investors and announced a four-race schedule with the first race in April and the last race of the season in September. A $1 million grand prize is up for grabs for the winning team.
The NCL responded to Bicycling’s request for comment with a brief statement:
“The NCL wishes LA Sweat well in the 2023 season and our teams the Miami Nights and Denver Disruptors look forward to competing against them in other races this year. We are excited that the NCL has a full complement of ten top teams that will be competing for the million dollar purse in the only U.S. criterium race series that will be broadcast globally creating tremendous value for teams and sponsors alike. We invite everyone to enjoy our exciting inaugural race, the NCL Miami Beach invitational on April 8th in Miami Beach, Florida.”
Natascha Grief got her first bike shop job before she was old enough to drink. After a six-year stint as a mechanic, earning a couple pro-mechanic certifications and her USA Cycling Race Mechanics license, she became obsessed with framebuilding and decided she wanted to do that next. After Albert Eistentraut literally shooed her off his doorstep, admonishing that if she pursued framebuilding she will be poor forever, she landed an apprenticeship with framebuilder Brent Steelman in her hometown of Redwood City, CA. After that, she spent several years working for both large and not-so-large cycling brands. Somewhere in there she also became a certified bike fitter. Natascha then became a certified personal trainer and spent nine years honing her skills as a trainer and coach, while also teaching Spin. During the dumpster fire that was the year 2020, she opened a fitness studio and began contributing regularly to Runner’s World and Bicycling as a freelance writer. In 2022, she joined the staff of Bicycling as News Editor.
