By Ben Delaney
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (VELONEWS) — USA Cycling announced Thursday that Bob Stapleton stepped down as chairman of its board, and vice chairman Brendan Quirk has been elected by board members to be the new chair. The changes are effective immediately.
The move underscores the growing importance of Arkansas in American cycling, as longtime Little Rock resident Quirk has been instrumental in building multiple brands and organizations in that state.
Quirk co-founded Competitive Cyclist, which he grew over 12 years into a massive, Arkansas-based online retailer that was acquired by Backcountry.com in 2011. He went on to be president of Rapha North America for two years, and then the interim CEO of Allied Cycle Works. Allied was founded in Bentonville, and Rapha North America moved there last year.
Quirk was the cycling program director since 2018 at the Runway Group, a foundation started by Wal-Mart heirs Steuart and Tom Walton that has invested heavily in cycling infrastructure and promotion in northwest Arkansas.
Stapleton, the chair since 2014, was a co-founder of Western Wireless Corporation (now Alltel) and later Voicestream Wireless (now T-Mobile). In 2007, he created High Road Sports, Inc., a sports management company that owned and operated the team that was the successor to Team Telekom/T-Mobile. That team was called variations of High Road, Columbia and HTC from 2007 through 2011.
Stapleton also acquired the assets of Mad Fiber Wheels from a bankruptcy auction in 2014.
More on this story on VeloNews.com.
