L39ION of Los Angeles

Tyler Williams

Cory Williams

Eder Frayre

Samuel Boardman

Justin Williams

Kyle Murphy

Robin Carpenter

Alec Cowan

Gavin Hoover

Lance Haidet

Tyler Magner

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CRIT Championships announces teams and format for inaugural edition

Into the Lion's Den was the first attempt at race promotion by Justin Williams and his L39ION of Los Angeles team

s, has formally announced the teams and race format for the standalone, invite-only race in St. Petersburg, Florida, on October 21.

The race, which is the final result of a project that started as an broader, internally focused series of American style criteriums, is an attempt at creating something of an “all-star game” for cycling, with the team list filled with squads that have been formed and conceived for one race only.

While it has teams functioning like American style sport franchises, with teams representing particular cities, CRIT is only one standalone race that will proceed like most American criteriums – seventy minutes, four corners per short laps and winner takes all.

“CRIT is the culmination of a lifetime of dedication and passion to the sport of cycling, and is our shared vision for what the future of cycling can look like,” Justin Williams, the race organiser, told 

“It's always been about the journey and the people we’ve met along the way. For years we’ve been striving to create an inclusive and competitive environment that brings out the best in people. We are building what we couldn’t find: a stage that welcomes riders from all walks of life, encourages competition at the highest level, and above all inspires the next generation of riders to ensure the legacy of our sport.”

Williams, who will be racing and organising the CRIT Championships, 

has been suspended for a portion of next season by USA Cycling

 has reported. That suspension, therefore, will not exclude Williams from riding in the CRIT Championships.

With L39ION of Los Angeles being the central team for the operation as Williams Racing’s primary team, the riders of L39ION will be some of the strongest amongst the peloton. However, those riders will be spread throughout the other rosters on the start list.

Beyond the L39ION of Los Angeles riders, Luke Lamperti is the big name on the start list, as the Soudal Quick-Step recruit is starting his off-season back in the United States before his first WorldTour campaign. Interestingly, Lamperti will actually ride for L39ION of Los Angeles at the CRIT Championships, while Justin Williams will race instead for the 'New York City Dream'. 

Other notable names include the full squad of the Miami Blazers, 

who featured in a recent GCN+ documentary

, and celebrated cycling photographer Jered Gruber, who is racing for his old 'home team' from Atlanta, Georgia.

Lamperti, who is a three-time criterium national champion, was also one of the stars of the Williams’ last endeavour to create an end of season criterium competition with their 'Into the Lion’s Den' project in 2021.

While CRIT is put on by Williams Racing like Into the Lion’s Den,  it is a much less ambitious prospect in terms of prize money and scope. Into the Lion’s Den boasted a prize purse that totalled $100,000 and the race attracted the likes of SD Worx riders Amy Pieters and Demi Vollering.

The race, however, was followed by a PR firestorm as the women’s winner, Olivia Ray,

 posted five weeks after the event that she was not paid

. The row that followed on social media was picked up by the major cycling outlets and included accusations of coerced apologies, but ultimately resulted in all of the winners getting paid shortly after Ray made the social media post.

While it may seem unorthodox, delayed payouts are fairly standard in professional cycling as the riders are subject to things like drug testing and tax paperwork, something that took even more time for the new race without any infrastructure around to facilitate the complex process of large scale payouts.

Into the Lion's Den was set to continue in 2022, but was scrapped a couple of month ahead of the race in the fallout of 

 Justin Williams and Best Buddies Racing at the Salt Lake Criterium. 

Instead of a $100,000 up for grabs, the new CRIT Championship will have a modest prize purse for the individual winners and the winning teams based upon mid race sprint points.

In total, the men’s team winner will get the biggest cut to split – with $2,000 going to the top teams in the men’s race and pay structure going five deep – while both the individual winners who crosses the finish first will get the biggest personal payout – with $1,000 going to the winner and the pay structure running three deep.

The women’s race, which was unable to gather a field of teams the same size as the men’s race, will have seen their prize pools inverted, with the individuals getting more of the prize share than the team prize. Both races will have the same total prize purse and there will be a small prize of $400 to the rider in each race who takes home the most points from the four sprints, including the finish.

While the CRIT Championship has been billed as a major event in the North American race scene, the race is emphasising community building and on-site fan engagement with a 'Gran Fundo', a 5km running race and amateur races before the invite-only professional races in downtown St. Petersburg. With this focus, the race is not streaming anywhere and will instead be promoted and shown through social media and through films after the fact.

Justin Williams suspended for 'dangerous riding'

 (L39ion of Los Angeles) for two months next season after it concluded its investigation into a crash between Williams and Thomas Gibbons (AUTOMATIC Racing) at the Littleton Criterium this August.

USA Cycling was investigating both riders after the crash, which occurred in the final eight laps of the race and was followed by a verbal altercation.

Gibbons was not given any suspension and received a fine for his language after the incident.

"On September 8, 2023, USA Cycling concluded an investigation of an incident in the Pro-1 Men’s field at the Littleton Twilight Criterium, which took place on August 5, 2023 in Littleton, Colorado,” read the statement from USA Cycling, emailed to

“During the course of the investigation, the investigator conducted comprehensive interviews with both Justin Williams (L39ION of Los Angeles) and Thomas Gibbons (AUTOMATIC Racing), alongside testimonies from witnesses and other stakeholders. Additionally, the investigator reviewed video footage, both from the event and bystanders, of the incident to provide an understanding of the incident and the actions leading up to it.

“As a result, Williams, who was penalised in 2022 for fighting at the Salt Lake City Criterium, will be suspended for 60 days for dangerous riding. His suspension will begin on April 13, 2024, and conclude on June 13, 2024. The suspension dates reflect the provisional start date of the American Criterium Cup (ACC) for 2024. He has also been fined $250 for unsportsmanlike conduct. Gibbons will also be fined $250 for unsportsmanlike conduct.

“USA Cycling maintains a zero-tolerance stance toward dangerous racing and unsportsmanlike behaviour, and is committed to ensuring the safety and integrity of cycling events in the U.S."

 has obtained a document outlining the reasoning and details around the investigation into Gibbons’ role in the crash and whether or not he had culpability.

Focusing on the crash and the matching screen grabs from all of the available camera angles, James Abbott, a USA Cycling Elite National Commissaire charged with investigating the matter, methodically analysed what led to the crash, what happened to cause the two riders to come down, and what was said after the fact.

“During the investigation, I have spoken to Justin Williams and Thomas Gibbons who were in the crash and are the subjects of the investigation,” the Gibbons report read. “I also spoke with witnesses to the time after the crash including Christine Discoe (bystander with connection to the race organisation), Dante Young (rider in the race who helped de-escalate the ensuing argument) and other witnesses who wished to remain anonymous.

"For context, I have included much of the contents of the investigation for the complaint against Justin Williams."

The seven-page report goes to great pains to parse through each particular complaint and aspect of the crash, and at every point where L39ion lodged a complaint, Abbott refuted those claims. Most significantly, Abbott placed the blame for the crash on Williams and not on Gibbons.

“Justin Williams does not take the racing line,” the report states. “He slows and moves to the right into Gibbons. This causes Gibbons to crash which also brings down Justin. No other riders crashed.”

As we have referenced in previous reporting, one video from three separate on-board GoPro cameras shows the moments leading to the crash. From that video, it appears that Williams continues to move straight towards the barriers instead of taking the proverbial racing line around the corner.

 obtained the video of the crash which has since been circulated on the Instagram account 

, which hosts a podcast on the American crit scene as well as covers the results from the significant events in the United States. Below we have embedded their Instagram post of the video:

The investigation report was able to illuminate the argument after the crash between Justin Williams, Thomas Gibbons, Cory Williams and some of the spectators.

“Both riders engage in a loud argument taunting each other about their professionalism,” the report reads. “Some of the bystanders at the corner taunt Justin about being a professional including the race marshal working the corner.

“Justin repeatedly shouts he is a professional and ‘what are you doing’ to Gibbons. He also suggests that Thomas should retire and should know that he should not interfere with a lead-out train.”

Gibbons, while not providing statements to 

 despite multiple requests for comment, mimicked these comments on his Instagram page and mocked Williams after he announced that he would not be suspended last week. Gibbons has since deactivated his Instagram account.

Williams and L39gion have not responded to calls to comment.

While it is normal for crashes to bring out high emotions and volatility, the Littleton incident is the fourth highly public post-crash incident involving the team. The first was last summer at the Salt Lake City Criterium where Justin and Cory Williams were involved in a physical fight with Best Buddies riders Michael Hernandez and Robert Sierra. Justin Williams, Hernadez and Sierra were all suspended after the fight.

That was not the last run-in the team had with Best Buddies racing, with Justin Williams posting a video to his Instagram of a crash at this year's Spartansburg Twilight Criterium where multiple L39ion riders sustained injuries.

In the caption under the now-deleted video, Justin Williams criticised Jordan Parra of the American Cycling Group (the name of the team that was Best Buddies Racing) for the move and called for a suspension of Parra. USA Cycling did not go on to suspend the rider and, since that time, there has not been any further incident between the two teams.

The third was at the Tulsa Tough criterium series where, after a crash, L39ion rider Alec Cowan was captured walking over and s

tomping on the wheel of a fellow competitor before pushing him

has found no record of disciplinary action being taken against the Canadian or the team from USA Cycling and Cowan raced the rest of the series.

, both riders were investigated under complaints over three separate USAC rule violations:

8A4(d) Dangerous riding; or conduct posing a threat to any person(s) other than the perpetrator.

8A5(b) Unsportsmanlike conduct, including but not limited to, foul or abusive language; insults or rude behaviour.

8A5(i) Other activities or actions not specifically covered by the rules but bringing discredit upon the sport

Williams, who was deemed at fault for instigating the crash, will have his two-month suspension run from April through June of next season. Additionally, he was fined $250 dollars for unsportsmanlike conduct, as was Gibbons, who was found not to be at fault for dangerous riding.

While Williams will serve his suspension next year, he has continued to promote and plan for the first instalment of L39ion’s branded CRIT Championship. According to the event’s Instagram, the event is set to be held on October 21st in St. Petersburg, Florida, and will have amateur race leading into the main 'invite only' professional race.

The teams who are invited have been announced, but many of those squads are not established line-ups. L39ion of Los Angeles, the Austin Aviators, London Tekkerz and the Miami Blazers - 

who were featured in the GCN+ documentary on Tulsa Tough

The rest of the teams, which seem to be structured like American sports franchises with each team linked to a city, have yet to announce who will be competing under those team names.

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 

Bonnie Walker, the technical director at USAC, and who is handling the investigation, has confirmed to 

 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, 

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. 

 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. 

 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. 

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.”

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Name	Age	UCI Career Wins	UCI Points
Tyler Williams	29	2	78
Cory Williams	30	1	50
Eder Frayre	32	1	46
Samuel Boardman	28	1	40
Justin Williams	34	1	30

L39ION of Los Angeles

L39ION of Los Angeles

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CRIT Championships announces teams and format for inaugural edition

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

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