On Thursday in Santa Monica, California, three pro riders named Williams - Justin, Cory and Tyler - will begin their 2026 reunion for L39ION of Los Angeles. Along with 10-time Tour de France stage winner and three-time cyclocross world champion Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike), the group will lead a sold-out community ride, the second of two Red Bull Rollouts.
In a nod to the early days of the US-based powerhouse co-ed team, Justin Williams confirmed that his brother Cory and all-rounder Tyler, no relation, will rejoin the L39ION squad in 2026 after two seasons at Golden State Blazers (previously Miami Blazers). The men's team will also return to UCI Continental status, where the team competed in the first three seasons, 2021-2023.
The Blazers, a US domestic-elite team managed by the brother's company Williams Racing Development, will not continue next year. A third team, Austin Outlaws, which was funded for two years, closed this year.
"We tried to give a lot of opportunity with different teams, but we're going back to one team for next year. It's kind of a reunion, Cory and Tyler coming back. We're getting the band back together," Justin Williams told Cyclingnews.
The entities for the community ride went fast; several hundred reservations were confirmed in under two hours. It's been a steadier build for Justin to decide to go back to his original roots for one team, he and his brother signalling the restart at a Red Bull Rollout.
"We have three planned for next year, possibly four," Justin said about Red Bull Rollouts. "I think we're getting back to our mission of building community, and just doing cool stuff."
L39ION has been known to try their hand at creative fan engagement and events. In 2021, they hosted a criterium in downtown Sacramento, Into The Lion's Den, won by Justin Williams.
Earlier this year, Justin Williams collaborated with Red Bull to hold the inaugural Red Bull Roundabout Rumble, an invitational, one-day pro bike race in Indianapolis, Indiana, won by L39ION of Los Angeles riders Kendall Ryan and Robin Carpenter.
The women's team will compete as a US domestic elite squad in 2026, with Holly Breck returning, and joined by three riders from the Blazers - Samantha Schneider, Joyce Monton and Alexandrine Obrand.
The men's team will add Belizian riders Jaylen Briceno and Jyven Gonzalez, and return Jason Paez beside the Williams trio. Younger Williams brother Cory won the Caribbean Championships road race in 2024 and this past season won both events at Belize Road Nationals. Tyler, a northern California native who turns 31 in mid-November, won two silver medals at USPro Road Nationals in 2023, silver in the road race and bronze in the criterium, when he was last with L39ION of LA.
Other riders, Justin Williams confirmed, would be announced in the coming weeks. There were no updates on whether Carpenter or Ryan would return to the team. For Ryan, who has won the elite women's USPro Criterium title three times, it be her fifth season at L39ION of LA.
