Brent Bookwalter, the new director of the Pro Cyclist Foundation and a recently retired professional road cyclist, wants to pave the way for riders living outside the United States to compete in the Stars & Stripes jersey. His vision is to remove the debris that littered the career paths of many American cyclists, both young and seasoned, on the international scene.

To this end, Bookwalter is spearheading a new Nations Rider Support Project funded by the ProCyclist Foundation. The project will support a number of American riders based abroad to compete in Knoxville, Tennessee, in the USA Cycling Pro Road National Championships. Athletes will receive mechanical, logistical, and ground support that overseas teams are unable or unwilling to provide.

"This project is something I really wanted to get up and running and get off the ground when I started working for the Foundation late last year. Support should be a stimulus to competition and the lack of support should not be a deterrent to competition," he told Cycling News.

Among those who benefited from logistical support as single riders were Thursday's time trial champions, Leah Thomas (Trek-Segafredo) and Lawson Craddock (Team Bike Exchange-Jayco). Also, men's silver medalist Magnus Sheffield (Ineos Grenadiers) received support from the project.

Fighting for the national jersey and a medal is an important trophy for anyone's career. But to win it, you have to be in it. Bookwalter uses his personal experience to help others. During his 16-year career as a professional road racer, he has raced for two WorldTour teams, competed in all three Grand Tours a total of 11 times, and competed in the USA Cycling Pro Road Championships 10 times. He competed in nine road race national championships, finishing in the top ten five times, and competed in six time trials, never finishing lower than fourth, but never winning a title.

He noted that with many athletes moving to European teams, the national championships fall off the radar. Many teams view this competition as one of their biggest expenses, including airfare, ground transportation, equipment (usually multiple bikes), housing, and feed zone support.

"I have been very fortunate in my career to have been on the BMC Racing team for 11 years, BMC has supported us as athletes in the All-Japan Championships, and I am very proud to have been a part of the BMC team. I benefited from that for most of my career. And it was great," Bookwalter told Cycling News from his home in Spain.

"One year in particular, there was a mechanic, a director, a van, a car, everything was provided for me alone. I thought this was overkill, but that's the way it turned out." Gavin Chilcott [Continuum Sports' chief operating officer] told me many times, 'We're one of the biggest teams in America. 'We're one of the biggest teams in America.

"Then in the last few years of my career, I started running for GreenEdge, an Australian team and a multinational team. And then I got another chance to race in the U.S. in front of friends and family, and I wanted to contribute to the sport and inspire others to do the same. In fact, it was like, 'If you want to go, go for it. So it's a lot of work to pull it together on your own. That's what I did last year."

Bookwalter likened the self-supporting work he did when he was racing for the WorldTour team in 2021, traveling and riding individually to the US Pro Road Nationals, to putting together a puzzle for two months. And to do just one bike race.""Yes," was the short answer.

"For a rider, male or female, on a Dutch team, making a living over there and trying to live over there for the entire season, it's a completely different thing to come back to Tennessee for a week or two in the middle of summer and try to live with us. We can provide a support network," Bookwalter explained.

The Nationals Rider Support Project is funded by the foundation, which also has a working relationship with USA Cycling, which includes referrals for staffing needs and miscellaneous supplies. The criteria for athletes to be eligible for funding in the first year was that they must be on an international or national team based outside the U.S. and live outside the U.S. for most of the calendar year.

"For some of the younger riders like Cole [Kessler], Finn [Gullickson], and Riley [Sheehan], this was not something they were expecting. They are very excited and grateful. [So are the two Instafund riders, Maddie (Ward) and Heidi (Franz). They are on a Canadian team and race in the US for a good part of the year. They are among the best women in the U.S., but their team did not send a support system to the National Championships. At one time there was talk of their (team) vehicle heading to Knoxville, but it was pulled up for the Canadian Championships (in Alberta).

On the other end of the spectrum are veteran World Tour riders like Craddock, Thomas, and Colin Rabecki (Jumbo Visma). Last year, Labecki provided feedback to Bookwalter, who used it to develop some elements of the program.

"One of my takeaways was talking to Colin. She knows how to handle herself. She has a supportive spouse and network. And she loves racing and is a competitor. She is clearly good at building her own team and has done so before. For someone like her, it's one more comfort, ease, and convenience."

"For Leah, she had a really supportive host family in Knoxville that she was very excited to go back and stay with. They had a car and let her use it. They really take good care of her. But they don't have a professional mechanic. So they let me use a good system like Plug and Play

"Everyone does their own race. If they choose to cooperate in some way, that is not the role of the Foundation. Our hope is that by forming a support team we can make their lives a little easier and their performance a little stronger."