Cyclus Sports hopes to ‘change the face of cycling’

Character is a big part of their ideal rider.

“We also wanted to recruit good people who are ambassadors of the sport,” Mr. Villella said. “We don’t want someone who is stuck up or elitist in some way. I wanted guys who are humble. I’d rather have a slower cyclist who is a great person who is good for the sport, than a fast guy who is not good for the sport.”

The local teams aren’t professional in the sense that riders are paid — though that is true for Cyclus’ national team members who get free housing and a stipend that at least means they don’t have to work a full-time job.

But being on a local team has many of the trappings of professionalism: Each member’s bike, equipment, replacement parts, uniforms, entry fees, travel and even their coaching is paid for by Cyclus. The package of perks is worth around $10,000 per member.

The costs are footed by a combination of sponsors — both national and local — and investors led by Mr. Lewis, who said that the split between sponsor revenue and investor revenue is “getting close” now to 50/50.

Pittsburgh has a long and proud cycling reputation, from Frank Lenz, “The Lost Cyclist” who tried to ride around the world in 1892, to Danny Chew and the Dirty Dozen bike race. The race is the current work of the Allegheny Cycling Association, the local biking organization that oversees racing at the Bud Harris Cycling Track, an outdoor velodrome where many cyclists have begun their careers.

Chris Popovic, the cycling association’s president, said there are other recent professional cyclists who have risen out of Pittsburgh, and “It’ll be interesting to see how many of the smaller [local Cyclus] clubs actually produce a professional cyclist.”

The Pittsburgh team already has done that.

Mt. Lebanon’s Ian Baun, 19, raced with the Pittsburgh team last year and performed so well that Cyclus promoted him to the national team in January.

Long known in the local cycling community as one of the best young talents around, Mr. Baun was about to quit competitive cycling when he first was asked to join the Pittsburgh team.

“I hadn’t even planned to race this past [2016] season,” he said. “I didn’t feel I could afford it anymore.”

But after impressing Mr. Villella and Mr. Fetty, he now is spending the rest of the racing season training full time in Greensboro, planning his workouts and arranging his meals to give him the energy he will need — without having to worry that he can afford it — and dreaming of international racing.

“It really is just a whole other world,” Mr. Baun said.

Will it lead to doing racing tours in Europe any time soon? Mr. Lewis is counting on it. “We’ll get there,” he said.