Justin Williams and Ty Magner will continue to anchor the L39ION boys in Los Angeles, while sisters Alexis Ryan and Kendall Ryan will lead the girls. The move will pit brothers against brothers, and pairs of sisters against sisters instead of teammates.
Both L39ION and the Blazers are owned by Williams Racing Development, and all success belongs to the family, so to speak, so the riders were eager for this move. The Austin Aviators, an elite national team like the Blazers, will announce their roster later this month.
"I think 2024 will be the most exciting year in American criterium racing in a while for both men and women, with talented riders spread across a variety of new teams. Personally, I'm looking forward to changing things up a bit by moving to the Miami Blazers, and I'm looking forward to some fast and aggressive racing this year," Skyler Schneider told Cycling News.
The Schneider sisters earned 36 podiums and 18 wins at L39LION last year, while the Ryan sisters earned 21 podiums and 9 wins. They competed in all of the criterium events, including the American Criterium Cup, Tour of the Americas Dairyland, Intelligencia Cup, USA Speed Week, Saint Francis Tulsa Tough and IU Health Momentum Indy's Omnium.
In addition, two-time US Pro Criterium champion Kendall Ryan won a Pro Criterium silver medal in 2023, while Skylar Schneider won the Pan American Road Race and a bronze medal in the US Pro Nationals Road Race. The younger of the Schneider sisters, Skylar joined L39LION in Los Angeles in 2021, while her sister Samantha joined in 2022. Kendall Ryan also joined L39ION in 2021, while her younger sister Alexis, two years younger, joined last season.
Also joining the Miami Blazers from L39LION are Julin Aguilar on the women's side and Edel Freire and Corey Williams on the men's side; the 10-man men's team includes Corey Lockwood and three-time national track champion Gavin Hoover is new to the team and will work under returning team leader Brandon Feehery. With only three women on the national elite team, the Blazers could add guest riders at various events throughout the year.
The Williams brothers, who co-founded L39LION in Los Angeles, raced tandems for six seasons throughout their careers, the last five with L39LION. Justin simply stated on social media, "I believe in you," in response to his brother's new path.
"We may fight, but in the end I will always have your back. We never claimed to be saints and I know we are not perfect. But in the end, we are still here doing what they told us we couldn't do.
"Next year, you are your own man. You're going to learn some hard lessons, and I'm going to teach you some, but I believe in you. But I believe in you.
Justin Williams is in his sixth season with L39LION of Los Angeles. Last season he won the opening criterium of the three-day St. Francis Tulsa Tough, out of eight podium finishes. However, he was suspended for the second time in two years (60 days) for dangerous riding in the Audi Denver Littleton Criterium on August 5. The 60-day suspension runs from April 13 to June 13, 2024.
In the early season races, look for Magner, a former US Pro Criterium Champion who was the top L39ION rider in the American Criterium Cup men's race with a 6th place overall finish and won the Momentum Indy Omnium title. Alec Cowan, Kyle Murphy, and Robin Carpenter return for the men, and Yary Salazar for the women.
Danny Estevez and Richard Horek, formerly of the Blazers, are new additions to the L39ION men's team, while Jamaican national road champion Lori Sharp, who has been with the Canyon-SRAM Generation for two seasons, adds firepower to the women's team adds to the mix.
The L39ION of Los Angeles and Miami Blazers athletes will participate in preseason races in California and Arizona in the coming weeks and will have a team camp before the Sea Otter Classic in April.
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