(Miami, FL, December 22, 2022) – The National Cycling League, the first of its kind professional sports built around 21st-century values of diverse ownership, gender equality, technology, and sustainability, announced the Head Coaches and rider rosters for two new co-ed professional cycling teams – the Denver Disruptors and Miami Nights – ahead of the 2023 NCL Crit Racing Tour (CRT).
In addition to the NCL races, the Disruptors and Nights will compete in a full racing season, including road races and stage races. The NCL Crit Racing Tour events will feature an innovative competition format wherein men and women compete on the same team, on the same course, in a way that respects their differences yet weighs their performances and values their contributions equally. Fans will have unprecedented access to rider biometrics and in-race data through the NCL’s proprietary technology platform. Races will feature 10 teams competing for a record-setting $1 Million prize purse across a series of four criterium-style races
“The Denver Disruptors and Miami Nights are the start of a revolution in American professional cycling,” said Reed McCalvin, VP of Teams and Athletes. “There is so much untapped cycling talent out there and we’ve rewritten the team model to showcase top-level pros and provide a pathway to success for our development riders. We’re excited that our vision for professional sports – the first gender-equal and gender-integrated professional sports team concept – combines both men’s and women’s racing and creates opportunities for teams in the United States to grow.
To make sure athletes have the resources to compete at their best, all 32 NCL athletes receive annual salaries in addition to racing for a share of the $1 Million prize purse and prize money from races throughout the season.
Denver Head Coach Svein Tuft
Denver Disruptors
The 16 riders on the Denver Disruptor, 8 men & 8 women, hail from 10 different countries, led by Colombian Paris-Nice Champion Sergio Henao and two-time Canadian Olympian and World Champion Leah Kirchmann. The team’s Head Coach will be Olympian Svein Tuft, who won 13 Canadian National Championships and finished 11 Grand Tours during his celebrated professional cycling career.
“Denver Disruptors’ greatest advantage is that we have a healthy mix of experienced riders with incredible international Palmares blended with a powerful younger generation that will be able to learn from their extensive knowledge,” said Tuft. “We also will be focusing on the culture of the group. I’ve seen many times over my career that a team that rides for one another is far more powerful than a group of big individual names.”