One of U.S. cycling’s biggest sponsors, Exergy Development Group, owes hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid sponsorship invoices and is now facing potential legal action. If Exergy proves unable to fulfill its obligations, the impact on cycling in the U.S. would be devastating. Few sponsors are more deeply woven into the U.S. scene than Exergy: they sponsor USA Cycling, all of the country’s top stage races, and the country’s most prestigious women’s race. They also fund two teams, a men’s team and the Exergy Twenty12 women’s team, home to two-time gold medalist Kristin Armstrong. While both teams report they’ve received funding, other vendors have yet to be paid. Exergy CEO James Carkulis sent out emails last Friday detailing the company’s inability to meet its obligations, and promised to hand-deliver checks at the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah. “ when it’s come to our normal business practices,” Carkulis said. “We have tens of millions of dollars that are invested into our [energy] projects and we’ve had a number of delays in our financial closings.” Carkulis failed to show at the Tour of Utah, but has subsequently promised to pay the debts as soon as possible.
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