CEO Brendan Quirk narrows the focus of USA Cycling with an eye on worlds and the Olympics

It would be an understatement to say that Brendan Quirk 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. “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. “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. 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.