Justin Williams (cyclist)

Justin Williams (born May 26, 1989) is an American professional cyclist focusing on sprinting.[3] He began racing as a teen and won multiple US National Championships in track, road, and criterium.[2][4][5][6] He focuses on increasing the diversity of the sport and founded and manages a team in order to mentor young African American and Hispanic riders.[7][8][9][10]

Justin Williams
Personal information
Born (1989-05-26) May 26, 1989[1]
Los Angeles, California, United States
Height6 ft 1 in (185 cm)[2]
Weight175 lb (79 kg)[2]
Team information
Current teamL39ion of Los Angeles[3]
DisciplineRoad
RoleRider and Manager
Rider typeSprinter[3]
Amateur team
2007–2009Rock Racing[4]
Professional teams
2010Trek-Livestrong[3]
2014–2015Astellas[1]
2016–2017Cylance Pro Cycling[3]
2018Specialized-Rocket Espresso[3]
2019L39ion of Los Angeles[3]
Managerial team
2019L39ion of Los Angeles[3]
Major wins
  • 11 US National Championships[2][4][5][6]
  • 14 California State Road and Track Champion[2]

Career

Williams grew up in South-Central Los Angeles.[8] His parents were immigrants from Belize.[8] Williams played football with his cousins growing up, but his football career was ended by injury and the disapproval of his mother.[3]

Williams's father was an amateur bike racer, and Williams took up riding to try to connect with his father.[8][11][12] Williams's first bike ride was planned to be 70 miles along the Pacific Coast Highway but it ended when he cramped up after 50 miles.[3][11][10] His father rode away and left Williams on the side of the road where his aunt picked him up.[3][11][10] Williams understood the message his father was trying to convey: "Racing bikes is hard and you need to be serious about it."[10] He began racing a few months later.[11] Williams knew there were not a lot of opportunities for black men in South-Central and saw cycling as a means to avoid getting in trouble with the law.[3]

Williams did well in the sport, winning many Criteriums in California as a teen.[3] His goal was to join the US National Team, but felt that they ignored him despite his racing results.[3] Williams eventually made the team after winning the 2006 Junior Track National Championship in Keirin.[2][3] The National Team wanted Williams to focus on track cycling but he loved road racing and wanted to continue training for that.[3]

As a teen, Williams's father had introduced him to racer Rahsaan Bahati, and was from Bahati that Williams realized he could go professional and race in Europe.[10] Williams joined the Rock Racing team in 2007—the same team his mentor Bahati raced for—while still racing with the national team.[4][10] Rock Racing folded in 2009 and Williams moved to Axel Merckx’s Trek-Livestrong development team for the 2010 racing season.[3] In 2010, Williams went to Europe where he had success in Kermesse races in Belgium.[3] He was a domestique for Taylor Phinney in the 2010 Paris–Roubaix Espoirs race that Phinney won.[3] Although the national team coaches felt that Williams had a lot of potential, Williams decided not to go back to Europe after flying home to visit his family during the 2010 season.[3]

Williams had developed a reputation for being "hard to deal with", but he contends it was in part due to being a young sprinter who needed guidance and part due to him being stereotyped as an "angry black man".[3] With his professional career seemingly ended when he left the national team, Williams moved back to California and attended Moorpark College.[2][3] He raced for a few low level teams during this time, but did not have much success.[3]

William's younger brother, Cory Williams, joined Cylance Pro Cycling and convinced them to hire Justin Williams as well.[3] Williams was hesitant to get back into professional racing, but saw it as a good opportunity to support his brother.[3] Despite his initial trepidation, Williams had a breakout season, winning 15 races.[3] Cylance promised Williams they would keep Cory on the team, but they cut him after one year.[3] Williams was contractually obligated to continue racing, and although he debated sandbagging he decided that "I don't win for them, I win for me" and had another stellar season, racking up 14 wins.[3]

In 2018, Williams signed with Specialized-Rocket Espresso fixie criterium racing team at the Red Hook Crit.[3] He felt instantly at home with the other team members, and appreciated the lack of politics and drama that he had tired of on the UCI circuit.[3] The team allowed Williams to compete as an independent rider in road races as well.[3] Williams won both the road race and criterium national championships in 2018.[5][6][7] He placed in the top 3 in 30 of the 35 races he rode that year.[7]

In 2019, Williams founded his own team, L39ion of Los Angeles, where he is both the manager and primary sprinter.[3] The team is a mix of profession cyclists and development riders, many from South-Central LA, as well as both of Williams's brothers.[11][12] The "39" in the name represents 39th street where Williams grew up.[12] Williams once again won the criterium national championship.[5]

Williams found racing at the pro level difficult because he was the only minority, and that made him want to make the sport of cycling "great for everyone".[7][9][12] This experience led him to work for increased inclusion and innovation in cycling.[7][13] As part of that effort, he mentors African American and Hispanic riders on his development team, Endo CNCPT.[7][8][9][10]

Major results
2006
USA Track National Championship
1st Keirin[2]
1st Match Sprint[2]
1st Team Pursuit[2]
1st Team Sprint[2]
2007
USA Track National Championship
1st Keirin[2]
1st Team Pursuit[2]
2008
USA Track National Championship
1st Keirin[2]
USA Road National Championship
1st U-23 Criterium[4]
2017
1st PRT Dana Point Grand Prix[14]
1st B.C. Superweek Ladner Grand Prix[14]
1st Sprint Classification in PRT Northstar Grand Prix[14]
2018
USA Road National Championship
1st Criterium [5]
1st Road Race[6]
2nd Red Hook Crit Brooklyn[7]
2019
USA Road National Championship
1st Criterium[5]
Tulsa Tough
2nd Omnium
1st Blue Dome Crit[15]
1st Tulsa Arts Crit[15]

References
  1. "Pro Cycling Stats: Justin Williams". Pro Cycling Stats. Pro Cycling Stats. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
  2. "WCL Riders: Justin Williams". World Cycling League. World Cycling League. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
  3. Dowdney, Harry (June 21, 2019). "This is Justin Williams". Rapha. Rapha. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
  4. "Interview with Justin Williams". SoCalCycling. SoCalCycling. February 1, 2010. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
  5. "SoCal Cyclists Claim Titles at USA Cycling Amateur Road National Championships". SoCalCycling. SoCalCycling. June 24, 2019. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
  6. "Lockwood and Williams Win Titles at USA Cycling Amateur Road National Championships". SoCalCycling. SoCalCycling. July 28, 2018. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
  7. Bartlett, Sarah (August 9, 2018). "Justin Williams Is the Most Important Bike Racer You Don't Know". Bicycling. Hearst. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
  8. Dreier, Fred (October 4, 2018). "Justin Williams leads a revolution in cycling sponsorship". VeloNews. Competitor Group. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
  9. Long, Jonny (June 3, 2019). "US road champion Justin Williams: 'Being in a sport that is primarily white it was hard not to feel alone, it broke me'". Cycling Weekly. TI Media. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
  10. Flax, Peter. "Human Race: Justin Williams". Peloton Magazine. Move Press. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
  11. Williams, Justin (July 18, 2019). "Justin Williams Says L.A. Is a Great City for Cyclists". Outside. Mariah Media. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
  12. Making The Coolest Team In Pro Cycling: L39ION Of LA & Justin Williams (Video). Global Cycling Network. February 15, 2020. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
  13. Promoting Diversity in Cycling | Justin Williams | inCycle (Video). inCycle. July 8, 2019. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
  14. "Justin Williams". Outride. Outride Bike. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
  15. Dreier, Fred (June 12, 2019). "Podiums and parties: Inside Justin Williams's Tulsa Tough". VeloNews. Competitor Group. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
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