KIEL REIJNEN

Bainbridge Island, WA USA
Age: 26
Professional Since 2008

Kiel Reijnen has won the Tour of Thailand and found his way to the podium at China's high-mountain Tour of Qinghai, the Tour of Hainan and the Tour de Korea. He has a strong profile in hilly time trials, and is one of the best young American climbers in the peloton.

Kiel was sick in 2011 and he didn't find his health until the second half of the season. Diagnoses were missed, tests came back inconclusive, his fitness and morale both flagged in the face of an inscrutable adversary. But he weathered the storm and ultimately prevailed, beating back the virus that had settled into his body and finding triumph way at the tail end of the season, in hilly and rainy Rwanda. It is a silent signal to the rest of the peloton that Kiel will be back even stronger in 2012. He has his eyes set firmly on the European races he was born to win, and he's got a point to prove to himself and to the world this year. Watch for him.

2011 HIGHLIGHTS

1st GC Tour of Rwanda, RWA
1st St1 Tour of Rwanda, RWA
1st St2 Tour of Rwanda, RWA
1st St3 Tour of Rwanda, RWA
1st St5 Tour of Rwanda, RWA
2nd St8 Tour of Rwanda, RWA
4th St4 Tour of Rwanda, RWA
4th St7 Tour of Rwanda, RWA