All the Instagram cycling meme accounts are going on about some beef between Justin Williams and Travis McCabe. Can someone do an ELI5?
My limited understanding: Justin is former Amateur Crit National Champ but is now Pro. Travis is former Pro Crit National Champ but is now Amateur. But what are they fighting about?
They unfriended each other a few months back and there was some fallout between them but not sure why or why this is coming up now.
Who cares
Sounds like thre was some kind of trash talking about an upcoming race where Travis told Justin to leave his USA jersey at home and wear a normal one because he is the ârealâ USA crit champ.
Itâs like watching a car crash, you donât like seeing it but you just canât look away. Unfortunately it looks bad on both but Iâll definitely be wanting to watch any race where both are involved.
Basically Rob from Crit Nation posted a pic of Best Buddies brining along Danny Estevez with a caption of âthis changes everythingâ. Justin chimed in and did his âthis changes nothingâ and then it just went off from there.
What @Madhavok said.
Justin is the amateur Crit champ, Travis is the pro crit champ. Justin threw shade, and Travis asked if he was going to leave the jersey at home now that is a pro, and to stop pretending. Justin then insuated that Travis was washed up and was just on a retirement tour now. Basically the âthrowdownâ between both will be Tulsa. Then, donât forget Thomas Gibbons is the reigning individual champ, but he doesnât get a special jersey.
Basically the fight is about who has the right to wear the Stars nâ Stripes. Justin apparently couldnât race in Pro as L39ion wasnât a UCI team at the time (they are now) and no way would he race solo. So really, the problem is cycling in the US and howâs itâs structured, basically have two championships due to whether a team is UCI reg or not.
Then the meme pages got (hilariously) involved and blew it up.
I honestly think itâs good for the sport to build hype. Cycling is pretty stuffy and a stick in the mud, so dudes playing bad guy / good guy makes it more fun and creates a story line. More than a few are suggesting itâs staged, like a MMA fight, but I donât think it is. It got me hyped at least.
I did LOL at someoneâs comment about how Lachlan Morton would show up in a football jersey, bibs, and a frame bag, and still win. I donât think he would, but the mental image is funny.
Thanks @Madhavok and @hoffman900 for the explanations. Rivalries/hype/drama are fun (and funny). Inevitably though someoneâs going to lose perspectives, go too far, and ruin it for everyone. 
Yeah, some of Justinâs haters are taking it too far, I think. I mean, heâs cocky, but people who are good in their perspective sports typically are (and also partly why theyâre good). I think people who maybe arenât fans of Justin at least acknowledge they like what L39ion is about and what theyâre doing. They get some flack foe the show boating and all, but as Justin said, heâs not trying to reach out to people already in the sport, and I agree with that.
I really have no dog in this fight and could care less one way or another who wins/loses of the two. I wonât be in the race, so as long as itâs entertaining, then Iâm all for it.
But with the new team structure, wouldnât this happen this year with Justin still being amateur? The team, apart from Justin, is Pro. So if heâs racing the amateur crit champs, are there non-pro team members still to help him?
Yea, this is the odd part. And itâs created this whole situation. Having pro and amateur racing together, but then apart for the national champs, but then they can both wear the jersey if the race is P/1/2 or whatever. Definitely a strange situation.
Thanks, was able to find the post and comment thread based on this. Never would have found it otherwise.
https://www.instagram.com/p/COddHBHhQrU/?igshid=1ceou3vrott4e
Ok, read the full thread now. My 2 cents, irrespective of whatever macro organizational and/or structural disfunction exists within USA Cycling: 1) started as normal trash talk, but Travis comes off as the aggressor/instigator; 2) Justin took the bait; 3) mot_cycling234 is a dick. That being said, Iâm a fan of Justin, so am probably biased.
For consistency, parts of Canada should be included as well.
What flag would the winner wear if they were Canadian?
This is the best summary Iâve seen so far. I read it as Justin just talking normal trash talk and then it getting way out of hand after that.
Appears that numerous former Legion team members got unfollowed by the Williams brothers.
Cory Lockwood and Dante Young, for example.
Seems petty.
Yeah Iâm conflicted.
Justin talks a lot of trash and hypes himself constantly. Thatâs generally not my style.
However, thereâs tons of trash talk in American team sports. It does get people interested and invested in the sport and specifically the American crit scene, which I think deserves more attention.
The ghosting of former teammates really bothers me. Like I donât expect you to hype them, but acknowledging their existence and your history with them is just being a decent person.
Cory is riding for Cinch (Tom Danielson) this year. Cory is / has been coached by Tom and coaches under him for some other younger riders. The team is out here now and using local races to gear up. They kicked butt last weekend. Tom put this team together for this year. Theyâre fast. One of the riders won the two American Crit rounds. Not huge turnouts but Dante Young and Thomas Gibbons were at the first one. Theyâre planning on a few USA Crit races as least.
Dante bounces between Boulder and Cali. Heâs still unaffiliated, so not sure what his schedule is looking like, but I think heâs at least doing Steamboat Gravel.
Really not sure what happened with any of them. Dante hinted that he was unceremoniously dropped on social media. Cory is a lot better riding directly for Tom (besides just the coaching).
US Pro Crit Champ - Doesnât wear jersey because he believes thereâs only 1 US Road Cycling Champ. Alex Howes (and Ruth)
US Amateur Crit Champ - Wear jersey to races, training, photo shoots and bar mitzvah. Conveniently leaves out the âAmateurâ part.
The results speak for themselves;
https://www.road-results.com/?n=racers&sn=h2h&rID0=118975&alltime=1&rID1=20453
Itâs. Not. Even. Close.
Man I feel like this post has everything you need to know. I agree with McCabe, Howes should be the only one wearing the jersey on the Menâs side. Itâs a road discipline. And you have to like that he doesnât wear his out of respect for that. I guess thatâs something youâll only see on the pro side. Whether this is a fake argument or not, the billion jerseys the US has for every discipline/state/etc is kind of funny.
And wow, that head to head. Just wow. All bark and no bite?