Challenged Athletes, USA Cycling Launch Para-Cycling Push
The multi-year partnership aims to remove financial and equipment barriers for emerging Para-cyclists in the United States.
Updated on Nov. 3, 2026 in Cycling
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Challenged Athletes Foundation and USA Cycling announced a multi-year partnership to expand development opportunities for emerging Para-cyclists. Challenged Athletes Foundation will provide USA Cycling with $25,000 annually from 2026 through 2028.
Why it matters
Competition-ready handcycles, tandem bicycles, and tricycles can cost thousands of dollars, and equipment costs can create one of the largest obstacles in Para-cycling. The partnership aims to remove these financial and equipment barriers for emerging athletes across the United States.
Challenged Athletes Foundation has raised over $200 million since 1994 and has fulfilled nearly 60,000 funding requests in more than 70 countries. USA Cycling, with about 60,000 members, sanctions over 1,500 events annually.
The players
Challenged Athletes Foundation
A nonprofit that has raised over $200 million since 1994 to help athletes with physical disabilities access sport and adaptive equipment.
USA Cycling
The national governing body for cycling in the United States, headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Brandon Lyons
A handcyclist who became the first handcyclist selected as a resident athlete at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Training Center and represented Team USA at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
The details
The organizations will provide athlete grants, equipment support, coaching and training, competition travel, development camps, talent identification, and athlete storytelling. Coordinated educational content and events will also increase awareness of Para-cycling opportunities.
Timeline
2014: Brandon Lyons suffers a spinal cord injury and begins handcycling.
Paris 2024: Lyons represents Team USA at the Paralympic Games.
2026 through 2028: Challenged Athletes Foundation provides $25,000 annually to USA Cycling.
Season Trajectory
The initiative is timed to the United States' preparation to host LA28 and is designed to build sustainable athlete pathways for future generations. It positions Para-cycling development as a long-term national priority rather than a single-cycle effort.
Emerging Para-cyclists seeking grants for travel, equipment, and coaching can look to the partnership's talent identification camps and development programs. Athletes interested in road opportunities can explore USA Cycling's Para-cycling pathways.
The takeaway
Removing equipment and travel costs can open the sport to athletes who would otherwise be unable to start. Readers interested in Para-cycling can watch how the partnership's first cohort of 10 to 15 athletes develops over the coming seasons.
Further reading
For more on the sport's competitive landscape, see Cycling.
More information
Learn about road opportunities on the USA Cycling Para-cycling road page.
Source note: This article includes information reported by The Manila times.
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