The people in Justin Williams’s inner circle always knew he was a tenacious champion. But after the USA Cycling Amateur Road National Championships in Hagerstown, Maryland, two weekends ago, everyone else did too: Williams won both the road race on Friday, July 27, and the criterium two days later. Even more impressive, he did it without a team.

The double championship wins cap off a pivotal year even for the 29-year-old Los Angeles native, who is known for his past victories at high-profile crits like Dana Point Grand Prix and Tour de Delta at BC Superweek. In 2018, Williams landed on the podium in 30 out of 35 races. He was crowned the California state criterium champion. He snapped up a second-place finish in the rain at Red Hook Crit Brooklyn.

But Justin Williams is winning more than races. He is arguably becoming one of the most influential cyclists in the U.S., an increasingly louder voice for inclusion and innovation in the sport. He's also gained visibility through his work with CNCPT, the development race team he founded, where he mentors a talented group of African American and Hispanic riders. His dynamic personal brand has enabled him to sign Specialized, Monster Energy, and Assos as sponsors. If you’re still not impressed, he’s also on the cover of the newest issue of Bicycling.

It’s hard to imagine anything Justin Williams can’t do, but in his social media posts, Williams has hinted that it hasn’t been an easy road. We sat down with him to talk about what catalyzed his biggest year yet, the obstacles and prejudice he’s had to overcome, and how he wants to make cycling the coolest sport in America.

Two years ago on Instagram you posted that 2017 would be the best year you’ve ever had. It was a pretty great year for you, but it seems that 2018 may have been The Year of Justin Williams.

It’s the most fun I have ever had in cycling and winning Nationals this year… I couldn’t write a better ending for the season. This was my first season riding solo [Williams, who is a Category 1, has raced on pro teams the past few years, the most recent being Cylance], and it made a huge difference. I was able to control my schedule, and focus on what I needed to do to be the best athlete in each event.

Winning the national championship road race. Bruce Buckley

In the past two weeks you have been crowned the new California State Criterium Champion, and the National Road and Criterium Champion. Tell us about your race strategy. Were there any key decisions that helped you secure these wins?

Every moment of a race is about quick decisions. The way I read a race is, I identify the best guys in the race and I watch them make mistakes. At the end of the day, what makes me so good is the ability to see things before they happen. In every course, there are spots that can be manipulated to your advantage. I often walk around the course and get an idea for what things look like. You need to figure out where you can hide, where the momentum is high enough that if someone attacks they are not going to get very much space, where you can be the fastest person on the course, and where the field is weak. All of that stuff is what makes a great crit racer. I am never the strongest guy in the race, but I win races because I am great at manipulating courses and riders, and using that to my advantage.

There’s a POV video of the finish at the California state championship race where you’re sitting around sixth wheel, attack and pass five riders, and then bridge up and fly by two racers that are off the front. Based on the on-screen stats, you held around 40mph for nearly a minute. The video has more than 63,000 views right now on your brother Cory Williams’s Instagram. That was wildly impressive.

Robin Carpenter was off the front. He attacked with one [lap] to go. He’s such an amazing athlete that no one could do anything about it. I was hoping that the field would hold some momentum to chase him down, but that didn’t happen, so I had to put it all out there and go earlier than I usually would. The sweet spot for an ideal sprint for me is 200 meters, but I had to make the quick decision to go at about 800 meters. Rob had about a 10-second lead on the field, and if I had waited even a few more seconds I wouldn’t have been able to catch him. I ended up sprinting for over a minute to win the race. You can’t write that kind of stuff.

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You have one of the best sprints around. How did your training and racing throughout the season prepare you for these championship wins?

I rode hyper-aggressive in the local [early season] races. I committed to breakaways, and consistently rode hard in the front to build my engine and anaerobic endurance. As a sprinter, if you have that second set of tools it opens up so many doors—being able to ride at threshold for 30 minutes and then still have something in the tank for the sprint. It’s something I never had to develop before, because typically as a sprinter your teammates are doing a lot of the work and you just have to navigate the last few laps. It was important for me to develop that skill set this year because I was going to be on my own. When you’re being marked in a race [as a sprinter], the rest of the riders are always trying to get away from you, so the percentage of races that come down to field sprints isn’t high. It’s my job to build the skills to counteract that.

You’ve posted on your social media about how some people doubted you, and even re-posted a compilation video from Cory’s Instagram, showing other racers heckling you guys. What’s been your experience with overcoming critics and cynics?

The hardest thing in my career as an athlete has been people being dismissive of me and looking for any weakness to use as an excuse to write me off. And that’s life. I love when people talk shit because at the end of the day, that motivates me. It’s something I’ve dealt with my whole career. I want everyone who follows me to understand that you can’t make excuses. It doesn’t matter where you come from or what’s going on in your personal life. It’s really hard to sacrifice and go after what you want, but when you really want something, you have to figure out what it takes and put yourself in a position to make that happen. There’s going to be roadblocks, but you can’t let those distract you from what your end goal is.

What are some of the biggest roadblocks you’ve faced?

I’ve had some really great mentors, but it’s hard when you feel alone in a sport where no one really understands you or how you think, because you’re a minority. I have amazing friends that ride bikes, but at the end of the day, when you’re not feeling right about something, even if it’s not a racial thing, sometimes you feel like race comes into play because you’re the only one that looks like you do, and you’re trying to figure out why you are being treated a certain way. It’s almost too easy to make it about race, and cycling is a brutal sport so I’m sure it wasn’t always about race, but that lingers over some of the experiences I’ve had. That’s why I want to make this sport great for everyone.

Your sponsorships for the 2018 season include Specialized, Monster Energy, and Assos. How did you get to a place where you were able to work with big sponsors and stay true to your personal brand?

It was really important to me this year to only represent sponsors who see and support my vision. At the end of the day anyone who’s associated with me or the CNCPT team has to believe in the vision of making cycling better for the people who are coming after us, and in creating a space where people from any walk of life can feel comfortable.

This season also marked your move to the Specialized-Rocket Espresso team for fixed gear racing, and you got a lot of attention for your second-place finish in the pouring rain at Red Hook Crit Brooklyn. Will we see you claim the top of the podium at Red Hook Crit Milan in October?

I would love to win in Milan. I got beat in Brooklyn by an Italian, so I feel it’s only right that I beat an Italian in Italy. I feel like I’m home when I’m around fixed gear riders. Some of them are fiercely competitive, but as soon as you step off the bike, everyone is so loving and positive. That’s why fixed gear racing is going to go so far. The community is way more colorful. Not everyone there has a golden-spoon background. I can connect on a different level to a kid that I know has had similar struggles to me. Everyone is treated like equals—whether white, black, Hispanic, Italian, anything.

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What can we expect to see from you in 2019 and beyond?

I truly believe that you should be the change you want to see in the world. I want more people to fall in love with the sport like how I fell in love with it. Everyone that I’ve ever taken to one of my races has loved the sport and had a good time. To me, that shows that it’s possible to sell cycling to the masses.

Winning is great. Everyone loves a winner. But focusing on the road to winning, and showing that the person who is winning cares about helping those around them—I think the public can fall in love with that. American cycling is so cool, and criteriums are the perfect vessel for creating something that is worthy of television and high-dollar sponsors. My goal is to be part of the spark that pushes the sport in that direction. It’s about making cycling a sustainable sport for the future generations, so that they can actually make a comfortable living off of this thing that we all love. I am going to ride a bike no matter what for the rest of my life. And if I can ride a bike and look at some kid who is doing it professionally and “living the dream” because of some of the steps I’m taking now, then there is nothing that would make me prouder.

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