Two more years at US WorldTour team for American rider
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Kiejl Reijnen in the Trek-Segafredo line up(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Kiel Reijnen made the most of the early miles before racing got tough.(Image credit: Wil Matthews)
Kiel Reijnen (Trek-Segafredo) has a chat with Alex Howes (EF Education First - Drapac) on the front of the peloton on August 8, 2018 in Cedar City, Utah. (Image credit: Jonathan Devich/Getty Images)
Kiel Reijnen wins stage 5 at the 2016 Tour of Utah(Image credit: Jonathan Devich/epicimages.us)
US rider Kiel Reijnen has re-signed with Trek-Segafredo, the team has announced, keeping him with the American-registered WorldTour team until at least the end of 2021.
Reijnen joined Trek-Segafredo in 2016 from US Pro Continental team UnitedHealthcare, and has since been a regular at the world's biggest races, riding two Vueltas a Espana and continuing to take part in major one-day races, including the Tour of Flanders and Milan-San Remo.
Four of his five pro victories came while he was still at UnitedHealthcare, and all were at US races: the Philadelphia Cycling Classic, a stage of the Tour of Utah and two stages of the USA Pro Challenge. The fact that only one victory has come since joining Trek-Segafredo – another stage of the Tour of Utah, in 2016 – is testament to the hard work the 33-year-old from Bainbridge Island, Washington, performs for his teammates.
"I'm super happy to stay with the team," Reijnen said in a press release. "After four years, it feels like home to me, so I can't imagine racing anywhere else.
"Now, being one of the older guys, I do feel like my role is shifting a bit, and I need to definitely look after the younger guys and help the team to get results by being a leader on the road: helping make tactical decisions, and using my experience a bit more," he said.
"The other things I'm looking forward to are the new sort of GC ambitions of the team, so I'll maybe have to shift my training around that a little bit to help accommodate that," he added, presumably referring to the recent signing of 2014 Tour de France winner Vincenzo Nibali, and the development of 24-year-old climber Giulio Ciccone, while GC rider Richie Porte is also on the team, having joined from BMC this season.
"New challenges are always nice," Reijnen continued. "Of course, the Classics are my favourite time of the year, so I hope to be there for the team, as always, and then look for my chances at the US races and then some of the shorter stage races. I think the main difference is just that now I'm one of the older guys on the team, so my experience is going to be more important in helping the young guys to learn the ropes."
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Trek-Segafredo manager Luca Guercilena added that he was very happy to sign Reijnen for a further two years.
"He's a very loyal and hardworking teammate who is developing into a good road captain," said Guercilena. "He's one of the guys you can always count on to close gaps, pull at the front of the peloton or drop back to go for bottles.
"And don't rule him out in reduced-bunch sprints; he still has a good punch," he said.
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