USAC investigating Williams and Gibbons over a crash at the Littleton Criterium

USA Cycling (USAC) is investigating Justin Williams (L39ION of Los Angeles) and Thomas Gibbons (AUTOMATIC Racing) over a crash and confrontation that happened in the closing laps of the Denver Audi Littleton Criterium on 5 August.

Bonnie Walker, the technical director at USAC, and who is handling the investigation, has confirmed to GCN that USCA is looking into the crash and has notified both riders. No sanctions have been given at this time.

While the crash and aftermath was not captured by the fixed camera on the livestream, GCN has obtained a video from the incident, including the lap preceding the crash. In the video, the two riders are seen battling for position, before Williams appears to motion from his line through the apex of a turn, with he and Gibbons moving all the way to the curb, where both riders crash. GCN reached out to the L39ION of Los Angeles team, but they have declined to comment on the crash at this juncture.

Thomas Gibbons is one of America’s top criterium racers and founded, races for, as well as coaches riders on AUTOMATIC Racing. Earlier in his career, Gibbons lived and raced in Belgium, which culminated in a stint as a stagiaire for Wanty Group Gobert in 2017, before he returned to the United States to race criteriums. Previously Gibbons drew controversy with the current ACC series leader Danny Summerhill at the 2019 Spartanburg Criterium.

Gibbons won that event after a final turn where he cut the apex and pushed Summerhill all the way to the barriers in a corner that was the site of a major crash earlier in the race. While there was intense debate after the race, Gibbons was not, and has not been, sanctioned for his riding.

GCN reached out to Thomas Gibbons for comment. He declined the offer due to the on-going USAC investigation.

The incident at Littleton is the second time Justin Williams has been investigated by USAC in connection to a confrontation in a criterium. The first was last year at the Salt Lake Criterium where he got into a fight with Micheal Hernadez and the Best Buddies Racing Team after one of their riders was aggrieved by the riding of L39ION of Los Angeles. After that incident, Williams and Hernandez were both suspended for the rest of the 2022 season.

This USAC investigation also follows a meeting in June between Brendan Quirk and the team directors of the top American crit teams before the Tulsa Tough criterium. From a recording of the meeting, which was open to the public, Quirk made it clear that USAC was going to put a premium on safety at the future criteriums.

“I watched the Giro every day last month and there are crazy field sprints, they are aggressive, argy bargy, trying to get their position,” Brendan Quick said in the meeting, a meeting which both representatives of L39ion attended but AUTOMATIC missed since they were not at the race. “And then after the race they pat each other on the back and say good job, let's try again tomorrow. That's not going on in American crits. Something has to change.”

“We have the ability to discipline and we are going to do it and it is going to be more severe. If we have to be the police, we will be the police. It is going to be more expensive in terms of race days and money. I want all teams to hear this now, we are instructing officials and my philosophy as a CEO is that the shit is about to stop.”