Team TIAA-CREF's silent partner unveiled

TIAA-CREF's secret financial backer Doug Ellis

TIAA-CREF's secret financial backer Doug Ellis (Image credit: Beth Seliga)

In the past three years, the TIAA-CREF team has grown from a development team of promising junior and U23 riders, to become one of three UCI-registered Professional Continental teams in North America. But just who is helping out behind the scenes? Mark Zalewski secured an exclusive first interview with that rarest of individuals - a wealthy American businessman prepared to invest in the sport.