Meet Justin Williams, The Bike Racer CEO Of The Diversity-Championing L39ION Team Of South Central LA

Justin Williams is one of the fastest cyclists in the world; he’s also one of the most entrepreneurial, leveraging his success on the bike by cofounding a team that, through influencer-style hustle, attracts sponsorship from marquee brands.

Energy drinks company Red Bull, valued by Statista at $15.5 billion, uploaded a ten-minute documentary on Williams on October 3. “He’s a mean mother****** on a bike,” intoned the commentary.

Wearing a Red Bull baseball cap and sporting a beefy gold chain, Williams reported in the film that he was “fed up with the entire structure of cycling; we wanted to create something that was cool and had soul and have a positive effect on people that come from where I come from.”

Williams comes from South Central Los Angeles, a hardscrabble, mostly Black and Latino neighborhood not noted for spawning Spandex-wearing cyclists, world-class or otherwise.

Commuter cycling is relatively diverse, but cycle sport is generally not. A 2020 report by the U.S. national governing body for cycle racing found that 86% of participants were white.

L39ION, the cycling team Williams cofounded in 2019 (it’s pronounced “legion”), celebrates South Central’s 39th Street, where he grew up.

It’s not the “most fancy of neighborhoods,” Williams told me over Zoom, “it was unpredictable, and it was rough.”

“It’s getting a bit better now,” he continued, “[but back then] it was like the Wild West.”

Born to immigrant parents from Belize, Williams hung out with his extended family rather than joining any of the local gangs.

“We had this alley where we used to play football and basketball. And that’s where I learned to be tough because my cousins said, ‘if you cry, you don’t play.’ I didn’t have to go make friends because I had my whole family.”

Also protected was his younger brother, Cory, with whom he founded L39ION; the team now has 20 members, including CJ Williams, father of Justin and Cory and who was a champion cyclist back in Belize as well as a Pan-American Games competitor.

Don’t expect to see L39ION in the Tour de France—it specializes in US-based criterium races. These 140-minute city center multi-lap circuit races—or “crits”—are spectator-friendly, shoulder-to-shoulder, high-intensity crash fests often run at dusk. Fast-twitch athletes compete for large prize purses in front of baying crowds.

In 2021, a new crit held in downtown Sacramento, California, was billed as having the “largest criterium purse in U.S. history.” The Into the Lion’s Den event was staged—and won—by Williams. He was accused of handpicking his competitors, a claim he has put down to racism.

Sponsored by SRAM, the race was controversial some weeks afterward for being slow to pay the $100,000 in prize money. The 2022 event was canceled, with Williams writing on his Instagram page, “I only have so much energy, and I’ve decided to focus on my goal of building community.”

The event is back on for 2023, said Williams.

Business mind

Many pro-am cycle teams are sponsored with equipment, L39ION’s sponsors cut checks. Alongside indoor cycling brand Zwift the team is sponsored by Californian bike firm Specialized and British cycle apparel brand Rapha.

L39ION might not race outside of North America, but it has a global fanbase powered by social media. The brothers reach fans directly through YouTube videos (race footage is shot on helmet-mounted Go Pro cameras) and photographs on Instagram.

Cory—@nationsnumber1beast on Instagram—has 130,000 followers, 10,000 more than @juswilliamz.

Both accounts feature carefully curated lifestyle images blending the hip style of Black South Central L.A. with the Spandex culture of mostly white road cycling. Brands that associate with L39ION benefit from instant street cred.

The brothers also have individual sponsorship deals. Justin’s Instagram features shout-outs for the massage-gun brand Therabody.

“They make these recovery boots,” said Williams.

“And they’re the best. If I have a big ride and I’m wrecked and trying to get ready for the next day, I’ll jump in the boots on my computer and get some work done, killing two birds with one stone.”

Brands often pay sponsored athletes extra if mentions make it into mainstream media. For instance, Red Bull might pay Williams a bonus for getting the brand mentioned on Forbes.com. That’s business.

And with 20 on the L39ION team’s roster (not all of whom have pro contracts), Williams—who studied graphic design at Moorpark College near Los Angeles—has to treat bike racing as a money-maker.

“I have an entrepreneurial mindset,” he told me.

“That’s always been just a part of who I am. I’ve always thought about how things work, why people buy things, and what connects people to products. I’m thirsty for learning and understanding how things work in business. I love pitching; I love negotiations. I’ve studied how other CEOs operate, looking at successful businesses, businesses that have failed, and understanding why those things happen.”

Clothing sponsor Rapha calls L39ION “cycling’s most consequential race team.”

Most of its members might now be white, but because of its founders, L39ION leads on diversity and inclusion.

Williams began racing at 13, started with a professional team at 17, and was part of the U.S. national team by 18. He moved to Europe to race on Belgium’s famously tough circuit races but suffered from a lack of emotional support and cash, returning to the U.S. at 21 after just one season.

“I think a white kid with my talents and abilities would have gotten nurtured differently and gotten more support,” Williams told Peloton magazine in 2017.

L39ION does things differently from most cycle racing teams, with Williams likening it to more of a marketing firm than a traditional cycle team.

It helps that its principals also win races.

“We want to win races while bringing more people of color into the sport,” Williams has said. There are just a handful of Black riders in the top rank of world cycling teams. In recent years French cyclist Kévin Reza has often been the only Black rider on the start line of the Tour de France.

But this lack of diversity is changing, said Williams.

“There were barely any people of color [when I started racing]. And now it is amazing because there is often a 50/50 split with Asian people, Black people, and [Latino] people, and it’s incredible to watch.”

He continued: “Last year I was on a panel in London at a Rapha event to celebrate Black talent in cycling and I’ll never forget how proud I was to see this room full of people of color. It took me aback when I heard the applause: they had something they could be a part of and connect to. That was probably one of the proudest moments in my life.”