TRS & CTS - In 2010, a new twist on an old partnership

Another Piece of the Puzzle: Team RadioShack & Carmichael Training Systems
By Jeff Ludlum, 27 December 2009

Many people familiar with Lance Armstrong’s racing story are also familiar with the name “Chris Carmichael.” A long-time coach for Armstrong, Carmichael’s coaching business, Carmichael Training Systems (CTS) was also very involved with the USPS and Discovery Channel teams that were so successful in the past.

In the company’s year-end newsletter, Carmichael re-capped the highlights of 2009, and looked forward to 2010 with much anticipation and confidence. Carmichael himself has been coaching Armstrong since 1996; his role as one of Armstrong’s primary advisors/coaches will certainly continue. More exciting for Team RadioShack (TRS) overall is the involvement CTS will have with many of the other riders on the squad. Carmichael says as much in the CTS December newsletter.

He writes, “one of the aspects of Team RadioShack that I’m really looking forward to is working directly with athletes beyond just Lance…we were involved with training, preparation, and camps for numerous athletes, and with RadioShack our involvement will again return to that level.” It didn’t take long.

Two of the CTS coaches, Dean Golich and Jim Lehman, were both present at the TRS training camp in Tucson in early December. Both Golich and Lehman are premium [highest level] coaches on the CTS staff. Golich has a BS in Physiology from the University of Wyoming and has also completed graduate studies in physiology at the University of Colorado. Lehman has a BA in Psychology from Villanova University and an MS in Physiology from Northern Arizona University.

Golich and Lehman both have years of coaching experience working with elite athletes, including members of the US Cycling Team. Together they are sure to bring a depth of experience, a successful coaching philosophy, and the latest sports science innovations & technologies to their teaching and training efforts with the TRS riders.

With a focus on hard work, discipline, and good communication, these two coaches, and all other CTS personnel involved in the camps and individual work with riders as well, will add to the professionalism, elite training and race preparation already initiated by the team’s management. The Shack is sure to see this partnership pay off in spades -- and stage wins! – as it fires up and prepares to head to Australia in late January for the first race of the 2010 season, the Santos Tour Down Under.