It would be an understatement to say that Brendan Quick took over an organization in turmoil when he moved from his spot as USA Cycling's chairman of the board to the office of the chief executive in December 2021.
The national governing body had churned through CEOs for more than a decade, each with their own vision and ideas but never staying long enough to implement them. Some wanted USA Cycling to be a vehicle to get more people on bikes, tapping into the recreational market, while others wanted to build up lower level and domestic racing programs.
Quirk wants all of that to happen, of course, but more as a byproduct of a sharpened focus on Team USA's elite athletes, the ones that will be competing over the next 10 days at the world championships in Scotland and the Paris Olympics next summer.
“There was a period where I think the leadership here tried to become the signature cycling organization across America and the truth is that's not our mission,” said Quirk, who has held a USA Cycling license since the 1980s. “We have really tried to focus our strategic plan and make it hyper-focused on our mission to compete at the highest levels.”
Recreational riders are important, Quirk explains, but there are numerous nonprofits and advocacy groups — perhaps with help from USA Cycling — that are better equipped to lead those efforts. Rather, he wants USA Cycling to follow the lead of governing bodies for many other Olympic sports that are designed to identify, nurture and produce top-end talent.
While the American team has done relatively well at the past three Summer Games, given all the changes in leadership, the truth is that Britain, the Netherlands and many other nations have lapped the U.S. in many of the disciplines.
“We've got a pretty passionately held belief at USA Cycling that there are three things that have grown bike racing in America at the grassroots level: Greg LeMond, Lance Armstrong and Kate Courtney,” Quirk said, referring to the two Americans who have won the Tour de France and the former mountain bike world champion.
“Those are the things that create broad reach and media coverage. That's what sucks people into the sport, and got me into the sport,” Quirk continued. “It cuts through with these stories of heroes and champions. So I believe that yes, if we win a world title or someone wins Tour stages, that's going to correlate to growth in cycling as the grassroots level.”
Quirk comes from a different background than previous USA Cycling executives.
He co-founded Competitive Cyclist, one of the world's largest online bike retailers, then served as president of the North America section of Rapha, a premier cycling and lifestyle brand. He also was program director for the Runway Group, led by members of the Walmart Inc.-owning Walton family, which has poured millions into cycling infrastructure in Arkansas.
Quirk replaced longtime USA Cycling fixture Bob Stapleton on its board in 2019 and was elected chairman in October 2021, two months before former CEO Rob DeMartini stepped down and Quirk was asked to fill the void.
Like many organizations, USA Cycling dramatically cut staff during the COVID-19 pandemic, when there was no racing and thus no revenue from licenses. That left Quirk with a spartan staff at first, but it also gave him the opportunity to fill those empty offices with staff members who shared his vision for the future.
“We had no revenue and the impact of COVID on racing — it's barely been a year that racing has been back,” Quirk said. “April 2022 was the first time there was a sense of normalcy. We're like, 14 months into normalcy. We've had to rebuild the staff, and you can only build so quickly. But we feel really good. We're fully staffed and people are racing.”
Racing quite well, too.
The U.S. has the reigning Olympic omnium champion in Jennifer Valente. Her teammate, Chloe Dygert, is a threat to win world titles on the track and in the time trial in Scotland. Team USA remains strong in both BMX freestyle and racing. And on the men's side, the road team is coming off a Tour de France in which it made plenty of headlines over the race's three weeks.
Success in Scotland this week is important. So is winning medals at the Paris Games next summer. But the long-range goal, Quirk said, is to put the U.S. in position to compete in every discipline at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
“It's kind of mission impossible, but you know what? We're turning it around," he said. "2023 will be the first year since 2012 that we will have year-over-year growth in membership and year-over-year growth in racing days. The key metrics where you want to say: ‘What’s the temperature check? Is the business going on the right direction?’ They’re going in the right direction.”
