Crossword Genius

Former cycling team used to be holding road up (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

skywards

'up' is the definition.

'former cycling team used to be holding road' is the wordplay.
'former cycling team' becomes 'sky'.
'used to be' becomes 'was' (I've seen this before).
'holding' indicates putting letters inside.
'road' becomes 'rd' (abbreviation).
'was' going around 'rd' is 'wards'.
'sky'+'wards'='SKYWARDS'

(Another definition for skywards that I've seen is " To the heavens".)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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