BENTONVILLE -- The U.S. Mountain Bike National Team's move to the city could have a long-reaching impact on its trails, officials said.
USA Cycling hosted a kickoff event last month at Ledger to celebrate its new satellite office here and the announcement of the team move, according to a news release from Runway Group, a holding company headquartered in Bentonville and backed by Steuart and Tom Walton.
USA Cycling is the governing body for cycling in the United States and oversees the disciplines of road, track, mountain bike, cyclocross and BMX.
In December, the organization claimed Bentonville as the official "Home of the U.S. National Mountain Bike Team," as athletes set their sights on the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, according to the release.
"At USA Cycling, we are excited to be part of the growth of Bentonville into the epicenter of American mountain biking," Brendan Quirk, USA Cycling CEO, said in the release. "The warmth and welcome we feel from the community is every bit as impressive as the world-class trail network. Bentonville will play an increasingly critical role for the athletes of Team USA as we work toward our medal goals at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games."
In 2018, Quirk went to work as the cycling program director for the Runway Group, according to his biography on the USA Cycling webpage. He was named CEO of USA Cycling in December 2021, replacing Rob DeMartini, according to the website velonews.com.
Mountain biking was added as an Olympic sport for men and women in 1996 at the Games in Atlanta.
The 2024 summer Olympics will be held in Paris. The qualifying period for those games began in March 2023 and will continue through May. The final teams will be selected in June, a couple of months prior to the games, said Angelina Palmero, communications manager for USA Cycling.
The U.S. Mountain Bike National Team already is looking ahead to 2028.
"We frequently reference the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles as we want to maximize our medal count when the games are in our home country and are using the next five years to find and develop talent that can reach their full potential by the summer of 2028. With the road to Paris already underway, we are focused on making the road to L.A. go through Bentonville," Palmero said.
A WIN FOR THE CITY
Visit Bentonville touts the city as the "Mountain Biking Capital of the World."
David Wright, Parks and Recreation director, said having the team in Bentonville gives credibility to the city trail system.
"It shows the quality of our network," he said. "This is a feather in our cap. The U.S. Mountain Bike National Team will be using our trails to train on."
With the development of so many mountain biking trails in Bentonville and Northwest Arkansas, the region has become a mountain biking destination, council member Chris Sooter said. It's a great compliment to the city and the trail-building community that the U.S. Mountain Biking Team would choose to make Bentonville its new home, he said. Many great mountain biking events and competitions will continue to make Bentonville a top destination, he said.
Cara Trautman of Bentonville and two friends rode their bikes near Ledger on Tuesday afternoon. Trautman said she was excited about the team's move to the city.
"I think this will be great for the town of Bentonville and Northwest Arkansas," she said. "We're already on the map, but even more so now with the team being here. This will be incredible for our trail system, and we will be able to bring in more people to get on the trails."
The satellite office at Ledger will further accelerate the growth of elite American mountain bike athletes and will provide workspace for the mountain bike coaching and support staff, the release states.
Ledger features six stories of bikeable ramps that take riders from the ground floor to the roof. Anyone can bike or walk the approximately ¾-mile ramp from the first floor to the roof during business hours, according to the release. The 230,000-square-foot Ledger is at 240 S. Main St. downtown. It opened in November.
USA Cycling's corporate headquarters is in Colorado Springs, Colo. It also has a European logistics base and rider housing in Sittard, Netherlands, according to the release.
TALENT PIPELINE PROMISING
The best individual Olympics year the U.S. had in mountain biking was at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Georgia Gould finished third on the women's side and Todd Wells 10th on the men's side. Wells had the best American performance on the men's side, and Gould tied Susan DeMattei's bronze medal performance at Atlanta in 1996, Palmero said.
"Overall, these past few years have been the strongest the American mountain bike pipeline has ever been," Palmero said. "The current wave of athletes have been on multiple World Cup and World Championship podiums, including top performers Kate Courtney, Haley Batten, Gwendalyn Gibson, Savilia Blunk and Christopher Blevins."
Arkansas has a rich history with the Olympics as numerous medal winners have called the Natural State home, but now an entire Olympic team will train and prepare in Bentonville, said Aaron Nolan, communications director for Downtown Bentonville.
"The impact Northwest Arkansas will have on the Games is undeniable," Nolan said. "Soon Team USA will begin using our vast collection of world-class trails. There's little question that Bentonville, the Mountain Biking Capital of the World, will make American athletes better as they race for golden goals."
Bentonville and Northwest Arkansas aren't the only places to ride mountain bikes across the state. The state tourism page breaks mountain biking trails across the state into six regional categories.
The Monument Trails are a collection of world-class, mountain biking destinations within Arkansas state parks. A grant from the Walton Family Foundation supported the development of the Monument Trails at Hobbs State Park-Conservation Area and Devil's Den State Park in Northwest Arkansas, as well as Pinnacle Mountain and Mount Nebo state parks.
USA Cycling plans to host several U.S. Mountain Bike National Team training camps in Bentonville when the team is state-side. The team just finished its first Bentonville-based camp in April prior to the U.S. Cup in Fayetteville. The team hopes to return to Bentonville in the fall after the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup season has concluded, Palmero said.
Mountain biking history
Modern off-road cycling began in the late 1970s in Northern California, and today it serves as a popular form of recreation and competition. Mountain biking encompasses many different formats, including cross country Olympic, cross country short track, downhill, cross country eliminator, marathon and e-bike on the national and international stage.
Source: USA Cycling