USA CRITS teams respond to Morris’ termination, and the future of U.S. crit racing
17 teams state their collective intent to continue competing under a unified criterium series in 2022.
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A collection of 17 teams that raced in the 2021 USA CRITS have responded to the U.S. SafeSport suspension of USA CRITS managing director Scott Morris and subsequent fallout such as Morris’ dismissal from USA CRITS, with teams and races announcing that they would no longer take part in the series of U.S. criteriums going forward.
The teams have stated their intent to move forward with a national criterium series, and have asked for patience from the various criterium race organizers who worked with USA CRITS this year.
USA CRITS released this statement below on Sunday on the USA CRITS Instagram account.
A few teams, notably L39ion of Los Angeles and Aevolo, had announced on social media that they would no longer be participating in the USA CRITS series.
Then, Tulsa Tough and Boise Twilight, race numbers one and two in the 2021 series respectively, released statements that they would also be pulling their events from the series. No other race in the series this season has since made a statement.
VeloNews contacted a number of teams, but most declined to speak on the record. Now, 17 teams have released the following statement.
“We, the undersigned D1 teams of USA CRITS, seek to continue competing under a unified series. We believe a national criterium series brings great value to the teams, spectators, and events as well as to our partners and investors.
“In light of the suspension and firing of the former director of USA CRITS, the D1 teams met to discuss our goals and vision of the future of American criterium racing. We remain committed to sustainable growth in cycling at every level by creating a safe and fair sporting environment that empowers equity, diversity, and inclusion.
“While we intend to move forward with a series, we will only participate in a program guided by the teams and events; one which provides transparency on critical issues, and honors and complies with USAC and SafeSport code. The teams and events have a vested interest in the success of a national series and our hope is that together we can continue to build criterium racing in America.
“Finally, as planning and discussions are ongoing, we urge participating events to hold off on any decisions with regard to series participation. We ask that you stand with us, the teams, in our effort to create a safer, more unified program. It is only through mutual investment from teams, events, and our respective sponsors that we will succeed.”
The 17 teams who signed the statement are as follows. There were 20 D1 teams in USA CRITS this year, including three teams that fielded men’s and women’s squads.
- Automatic Racing — Lauren Dodge, Tom Gibbons, team owners
- Best Buddies — Richard Fries, team director
- ButcherBox — Steven Ramirez, Dino Piskopanis, team owners
- CS Velo — Kurt Dodds, director/owner; Meredith Dodds, manager
- Clif Bar — Dylan Seguin, director
- Colavita-HelloFresh — Christina Gokey-Smith, Tina Pic, team managers
- DNA Pro Cycling — Catherine Fegan-Kim, Lee Whaley, Alex Kim, team owners
- Aminorip-Extra Sweet — Valentina Chacin, president Extra Sweet Corp.
- Good Guys Racing — Michael Tan, team director
- Levine Law Group — Lauren LeClaire, team director
- Nashville Local Cycling — Michaelee Bowes, director; Richard Keller, director
- Robson Forensic-Milligan Cycling — Osias Lozano, team director
- Space City Development Team — Brady Reed, director
- United Cycling — Lauren Koon, Grayson Keppler, team owners
- Voler Factory-OVCB — Philip Mooney, team manager
- ATX Wolfpack-Jakroo — Kelly Barrientes, Dustin Barrients, team owners
- BSGC-Support Clean Sport-Guttenplan Coaching — David Guttenplan, team owner
VeloNews will continue reporting on this ongoing situation.