Pro cycling was never in Svein Tuft’s sights when he dropped out of high school.
But, needing a way to get around, he picked up a bike. Unbeknownst to him, he was building up substantial base miles for his future career.
After trying out racing for fun, he catapulted through the sport’s ranks and landed his first pro contract at 23 years old — monumentally late for a sport that more often identifies riders in their teenage years.
Despite that belated start, he went on to race for nearly two decades, competing in 13 grand tours and even wearing the maglia rosa Giro d’Italia leader’s jersey.
Finding the sport as an adult, and riding at both the North American Continental and WorldTour levels, gave Tuft perspective on how strange a world professional cycling can be. He calls professional European cycling “ridiculous,” and points out “how ridiculous it is that we (North America) try to emulate it.”
That attitude and background have led him to his latest gig: coaching the Denver Disruptors in the National Cycling League, an upstart league rethinking the sport from race format to teams.
Also read: Meet the Miami Nights, a new team racing in the upstart National Cycling League
From racer to coach
Now 45 and a few years on from hanging up his race wheels, Tuft finds himself in charge of bringing together a diverse group of 16 riders, eight men and eight women, from 10 different countries.
At the same time, Tuft has to adapt to a race format that has never before existed, where the first rider on each lap scores points that count toward the team total — making each lap important, not just the last — and where the points scored by both the men’s and women’s squads contribute to the team’s point total. That equal importance of the men’s and women’s riders coupled with the fact that anyone on the team can score points requires everyone buying in and working together.
Achieving that is easier said than done.
For Tuft, creating a unified team comes down to one thing. “How you win races is through culture,” he says.
Throughout his racing career, Tuft experienced many directors who cared only about a rider’s results.
“In my time, the DS (directeur sportif) was only there to make a plan, do some logistics, and drive the car,” he says. Helping out an athlete with anything else in their life fell outside of that scope.
But at the top level, athletes don’t usually have issues with training or doing the work. It’s the things beyond racing, understanding what’s going on in athletes’ personal lives off the bike and what they need to succeed, where Tuft feels he can be of most help.
“I see the whole operation as a family,” he says.
While referring to colleagues as family is often mocked as insincere, after talking with Tuft I get the sense that he really, truly cares about his riders. He brings an even-keeled energy and a calming presence that is less macho coach, and more friendly mentor.
Getting results, however, is still front and center on his mind, and he lists success in the four NCL races as the team’s number-one goal. After seeing the team together at team camp earlier this year, he has confidence in their ability to deliver.
“We have hit squads on both sides,” Tuft says. And in the NCL race format, every rider is going to matter.
The team
The women
- Hayley Bates – USA
- Ava Hachmann – USA
- Elizabeth Harden – USA
- Leah Kirchmann – Canada
- Argyro Milaki – Greece
- Nerea Neño – Spain
- Valentina Scandolara – Italy
- Erica Zaveta – USA
The men
- Juan Arango – Colombia
- Ulises Alfredo Castillo Soto – Mexico
- Noah Granigan – USA
- Sergio Henao – Colombia
- Reinardt Janse van Rensburg – South Africa
- Oskar Nisu – Estonia
- Riley Sheehan – USA
- Serghei Tvetcov – Romania
The women’s side is headlined by two time Olympian Leah Kirchmann who has found success at the top levels of road cycling. Argyro Milaki brings a strong track racing background to the team along with road experience, with national titles to show for her efforts in both disciplines.
There are many strong riders on the men’s side as well.
Sergio Henao brings a decade of WorldTour experience with Team Sky, among other teams, to the team. And Reinardt Janse van Rensburg joins him in bringing top-level road racing experience, having competed in the Tour de France six times.
Juan Arango has competed in two Olympics on the track. And Serghei Tvetcov joins him as an Olympian. There are plenty of former road national champions on the squad as well like Ulises Alfredo Castillo Soto.
“It’s a really complete squad for what we’re doing,” says Tuft.
The coach is especially excited to have track riders like Arango and Milaki on his team, and thinks their background in points races, as well as familiarity with standing starts, will prove beneficial in the unique format of the NCL, where in addition to points being up for grabs every lap, the team can substitute in riders mid-race. It’s an element Tuft calls both exciting and scary.
To prepare for substitutions, Tuft says he has a lot of riders doing standing start efforts because it’s up to those fresh riders to get up to race speed from a standing start as fast as possible to join the race.
That’s just one element of what it will take to win come the first race day in Miami on April 8, but Tuft is feeling confident in his team’s ability to adapt to the NCL’s dynamic format and respond to any possible race situation.
“I feel very lucky that everyone has bought in,” he says.
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