Kiel Reijnen

Kiel Reijnen

Personal information
Born	(1986-06-01) June 1, 1986 (age 35) Bainbridge Island, Washington
Team information
Current team	Trek–Segafredo
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	Sprinter
Professional teams
2008–2010	Jelly Belly Cycling Team
2011–2012	Team Type 1–Sanofi Aventis
2013–2015	UnitedHealthcare[1]
2016–2021	Trek–Segafredo[2][3]

Kiel Reijnen (born June 1, 1986 in Bainbridge Island, Washington) is an American former cyclist, who last rode for UCI WorldTeam Trek–Segafredo.^[4] While competing as an amateur he attended the University of Colorado Boulder and obtained a degree in mechanical engineering.^[5]

Career[]

In 2009 Reijnen competed in both the Tour of California and the Tour of Missouri. In 2010 he finished 3rd in the national championships and had several strong results while riding in events in the UCI Asia Tour. He won the Tour of Thailand, finished 3rd in the Tour of Qinghai Lake, and came in the top 10 of both the Tour of Hainan and the Tour de Korea. In 2011 he did not ride a full season, but rode the Tour of Rwanda, part of the UCI Africa Tour, and dominated the event by winning four stages and the overall classification. In 2012 he often participated in Gran Fondo semi-pro type events, such as the Tour of the Battenkill in Upstate New York. He took 3rd in the National Championships, competed in both Tour of China I and Tour of China II, as well as the Presidential Tour of Turkey. Once again entered the Tour of Qinghai Lake where he earned another top 10.^[6]

In 2013 he switched teams to Team UnitedHealthcare and competed in the Tour of the Gila, where he won stage 4 and also the 2013 Tour of Utah where he finished 3rd in the points classification behind Michael Matthews and Greg Van Avermaet. He won the Philadelphia Cycling Classic and finished 3rd once again in the road race of the US National Championships. In 2014 he rode the Tour of the Gila and 2014 Tour of Utah, finishing 2nd in the points classification to Jure Kocjan, and once again won the Philadelphia Cycling Classic as well as a stage and the sprints classification in the US Pro Cycling Challenge. He rode the Tour of California, and the 2nd most important stage race in Italy (behind Tirreno-Adriatico), which loosely translates into English as The Race of Coppi and Bartali. He also rode the Cycling monument Milan-San Remo as well as the Tour of Alberta for the first time.^[7]

In 2015 he once again won a stage and the sprints competition in the US Pro Cycling Challenge and won the King of the Mountains competition in the Tour de Langkawi. For the fourth time in his career he took 3rd place in the US National Championship. In the 2015 Tour of Utah he won stage 1 and went back and forth in the points classification between Jure Kocjan and Brent Bookwalter.

These results riding on a continental level led to Reijnen being signed to a top level pro team in Trek–Segafredo in 2016. As such he began racing more premier, top level UCI World Tour events including Strade Bianche, La Flèche Wallonne, Amstel Gold Race and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. He rode the 2016 Tour of Utah and this time won stage 5 as well as the points classification. Reijnen also entered the first grand tour of his career near the end of the year when he was named in the startlist for the 2016 Vuelta a España.^[8] During the Vuelta he earned two top 10 stage finishes while riding as a Domestique, in support of veteran Spanish rider Haimar Zubeldia, as well as Fabio Felline who won the Points classification.^[9]

In 2017 he rode Giro di Lombardia, another cycling monument, which he did not finish, but he did enter and finish the only Canadian UCI World Tour level events in the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal, the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec in addition to the UCI World Championships for the first time. He also competed in the Tour de Suisse for the second consecutive year and took another top 10 finish in the US National Championships.

In 2018 he entered the Critérium du Dauphiné, the race known as being the warm-up race for riders contending the Tour de France, but he did not finish. He also entered but did not finish E3 Harelbeke, Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, and Gent Vegelem, but he did finish his second edition of Milan-San Remo. He rode the Vuelta in 2018, this time supporting Bauke Mollema, who ended up winning the Most Combative Rider award.

In 2019 he completed the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, the Tour Down Under and the UAE Tour, a typical early season schedule on the World Tour. He also entered the 2019 Vuelta, which he finished for the 3rd straight time.^[10] This time he was initially riding in support of Gianluca Brambilla as well as sprinter John Degenkolb, but Degenkolb was unable to claim any stage victories and the highest placed rider on GC ended up being fellow American Peter Stetina.

In 2020 he competed in many of the same races, but all but the early season schedule was severely disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, as was the 2021 season. He made the decision to retire on New Years Eve 2021, so 2021 would be his final season as a pro. He entered the 2021 Vuelta a España for the final time, but for the first time did not finish, as he bowed out during stage 15.

In June, he rode the semi-pro Gran Fondo style event 'Unbound Gravel', formerly known as the Dirty Kanza,^[11] being a favorite to win along with other American pros including Ian Boswell and the up and coming Quinn Simmons. Unfortunately for Reijnen he suffered a "mechanical" early in the race while riding in the front group. He was no longer concerned with winning the race, but he wanted to finish the race to honor the hundreds of other riders participating who don't have the time necessary to be a pro bike rider.^[12] As such he picked up his bike and began running, hoping to reach the first neutral zone about thirty miles away where he could have repairs made. Along the way he was hoping to get assistance from a fan or someone in a nearby home who he might happen across, but he had no luck. After doing some "MacGyvering"^[13] to get his bike rolling again, so he no longer had to carry it, he continued walking, but after eighteen miles he realized he didn't have enough water for the remaining journey and called it quits.

The final pro race of his career, was in Belgium in early October, a one day race to honor Belgian rider Frank Vandenbroucke, a rider who died young losing his battle with Addiction.^[14]

Major results[]

Grand Tour general classification results timeline[]

Grand Tour	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021
Giro d'Italia	—	—	—	—	—	—
Tour de France	—	—	—	—	—	—
Vuelta a España	132	—	135	141	—	DNF

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kiel Reijnen.

• Kiel Reijnen at Cycling Archives
• Kiel Reijnen at CQ Ranking