Joanne Kiesanowski joins Rally Cycling staff

Image 1 of 5

Rally Cycling announced today that it has hired Joanne Kiesanowski as part of its performance staff. The three-time Olympian from New Zealand will be an assistant director for the UCI women's team alongside Canadian and fellow Olympian Zack Bell

"Joanne brings an enormous amount of international experience, which will be vital as we make the transition to a global program," Bell in a statement released by the team. "I knew Joanne from my own racing career, and she's just what we need - serious about performance but low key and good with helping athlete's manage the high energy of competition."

During her own 16-year career, Kiesanowski competed in three Olympics and finished top 10 at the UCI Road Cycling World Championships and La Course by Le Tour de France. Since retiring from Tibco-SVB in 2016, Kiesanowski has been coaching athletes with husband Jeff Pearce, who recently took a job with the USA Cyclign track program.

"Rally Cycling is a team I've always been impressed with," Kiesanowski said. "They've been running a successful dual program for seven seasons now, and they've developed a lot of great talent. That's always the sign of not just focussing on team results but helping athletes grow and develop into their true potential. I'm looking forward to keeping this trend alive."

In the release announcing Kiesanowski's new role, Rally says she will emphasize the benefits of hard-earned experience and ingenuity over an obsession with power metres.

"I was known for being race savvy and interpreting races well during my career," Kiesanowski said. "I feel that's such an important part of racing, especially these days when a lot of people are only interested in power numbers. They don't account for much if you can't figure out how to read the race and position yourself. I know how important race knowledge is and will use professional racing knowledge to help guide and prepare the athletes as best I can."

Bell believes Kiesanowski will help foster the positive and supportive environment the riders need to flourish.

"Each rider has invested in the growth of their teammates, and this makes each performance greater than the sum of their parts," Bell said. "I see Joanne integrating into this culture immediately and contributing what is sure to be a special year for our program."

Kiesanowski will join the team in Southern California at the beginning of January for a mini-camp and team presentation ahead of their first race in Australia.

Rally Cycling women's roster for 2019: Erica Allar, Sara Bergen, Allison Beveridge, Kelly Catlin, Krista Doebel-Hickok, Gillian Ellsay, Heidi Franz, Megan Jastrab, Kirsti Lay, Katherine Maine, Abigail Mickey, Summer Moak, Sara Poidevin, Emma White