Founded by Henry Sturmey in 1892 to establish a common definition of amateurism and to organise world championships[1] its role was taken over by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) in 1900.
Having secured the co-operation of British officials and writers such as George Lacy Hillier, he approached other countries' national associations through the NCU.
Trouble was already in store because the Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques was not the French national body.
The national body, the Union Vélocipèdique Française, sent observers but was not allowed to take part because the NCU had broken off relationships with it over the question of amateurism.
By the definition proposed by the ICA, that meant: Zimmerman was "recognised as an amateur by the ruling body of his country", the League of American Wheelmen.
The distance from the centre of world cycling in Europe limited the number of riders and Americans won two of the three gold medals.
France no longer wanted to tolerate the system in which several British teams competed and a proposal at an ICA meeting before the 1900 championships called for the UK to be limited to one.