L39ION of Los Angeles co-founder Justin Williams has claimed the Belize national road race championship from a small group sprint.
The victory comes only days after the process of changing his UCI nationality to the Central American country of his father was completed.
"I haven't wanted to win a race that bad in a long time," Williams said in the race live stream. "I didn't think I had it and then it kind of slowed down a little bit. Then my legs came back and I thought as long as I could make it to the sprint, I can usually do something. Oscar and I were both in the same position, we were both hurting. It was a slow man's sprint and I was able to get it done but it was everything I had. I'm going to need days [to recover]. It was rough."
The Cycling Federation of Belize (CFB) announced on Saturday that Williams had been declared eligible to compete after the new license went through.
"We are honored to officially announce that Mr. Justin Williams has completed the process of nationality change with the relevant authorities namely the UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) and USA Cycling," said the CFB.
"Mr. Williams has obtained an international license issued by his membership federation USA Cycling with a Belizean Nationality."
Williams is from Los Angeles but travelled most years to his father Calman's home country to compete in the annual Holy Saturday Cross Country race, which he won in 2015 and 2018.
The 32-year-old has won 11 US national championships and most recently was the elite amateur criterium champion.
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