When the newly formed National Cycling League (NCL), a long-shot pro-am attempt to make road racing exciting in America, launched its first event in Miami on 8 April 2023, many veteran road racers, including me, predicted it would not last.

Unfortunately, we were right.

Following a setback filled 2023 season, the NCL went on life support in 2024 while pausing operations, and now on Monday 13 January 2025 its CEO Andrea Pagnanelli posted on LinkedIn that the NCL was no more.

After raising $7.5MM from high profile investors, hiring well-known pro riders, inviting elite amateur teams to join and welcoming everyday amateurs to training camps, the “future of pro cycling” held just three events in 2023.

But NCL officials remained hopeful of a 2025 comeback following a pause to restructure, rebuild and recapitalize.

But now, to paraphrase The Coroner from Wizard of Oz, the NCL is not only merely dead, it’s really most sincerely dead.

Photo Credit: NCL/marisakurk.com

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