The rocky pathway into pro cycling - Troy Fields overcomes concussion, broken bones to restart career with 'unfinished business' at US Nationals

Mountain biking in Tennessee is where Troy Fields learned to love riding a bicycle. Those roots were firmly planted by his father Stan, who has ridden Leadville Trail 100 MTB twice and in 2015 completed Cape Epic with Briton Paul Slattery, the teammates finishing in the top 100 of the Masters category.

Rather than follow the tyre tracks of his father with off-road endurance racing, such as Cape Epic or Leadville, Troy Fields pursued a junior career in road racing, last year earning a silver medal at US Pro Road Nationals in the men's under-23 time trial. He also won a stage in Spain at Vuelta Ciclista a Zamora and was third at Boulder Roubaix. 

He's proven a quick learner, having graduated a year early from high school and displayed talents on the bike that were noticed by elite teams and USA Cycling. With a big engine that excels in time trials and his 6-foot, 5-inch frame size, the national governing body invited him to a national track camp, and he got his first taste of Team Pursuit. 

At 21 years of age, he signed as the youngest of 15 riders on Continental-level Project Echelon Racing for 2025. He said he has 'unfinished business' at US Pro Road Nationals, as he aims to secure the gold in the U23 ITT. 

The path to a pro contract was more than rocky, as he suffered a severe concussion that took him out of action for almost all of 2023. Then his start this year as a first-year pro with Project Echelon Racing was derailed not once, but twice. First Fields crashed at Challenge Mallorca and fractured the heads of both of his femurs, and once back to training in March, a driver of a car struck him while riding his bike in Arizona. 

He made an unlikely return to racing in April, winning the circuit race at Sea Otter Classic and finishing top 30 at The Growler at Levi's Gran Fondo. Cyclingnews caught up with Fields about his rough start as a pro, how his time trial skills translate on the track, and his target to earn a stars-and-stripes jersey in Charleston, West Virginia, in May. 

Cyclingnews: Tell us about where you grew up and how your father got you into riding a bike.

Troy Fields: I grew up in Nashville, TN, which is a place not many top-level cyclists come from. I raced multiple disciplines growing up, but as a child, I dreamed of becoming a professional mountain biker. My dad Stan is the reason I got into cycling. In 2015, he raced the Cape Epic MTB race in South Africa. He has also raced Leadville MTB 100 two times and is an avid mountain biker. I started riding with him when I was five years old. In middle school and high school, he founded and coached my NICA MTB, which was a great pathway of development for me in the sport.

CN: You said you had a fun family, so tell us about your siblings.

TF: I have a great family. Two sisters, one older and one younger. My oldest sister just graduated from George Washington University and is working in politics in Washington, DC. My youngest sister is eight years old. She loves riding her bike and will participate in the kids' race at the Armed Forces Cycling Classic this summer for her second time. 

CN: Growing up in central Tennessee in Hendersonville, where did you enjoy riding the most?

RF: I have made frequent trips to Maryville since I’ve been old enough to drive. I make these trips to visit and train with my close friend Bond Almand, who recently broke the world record cycling the Pan American Highway [rode 14,000 miles solo from Alaska to Argentina in 76 days]. We grew racing mountain bikes together and thrive when training together. We have had some great adventures and even did some ultra-endurance rides throughout the pandemic.

CN: You started racing road bikes in 2021, competing with the Nashville Local Cycling team, winning the Tennessee State Criterium Championships for junior 17-18 men, and also in the men's category 3 division, then adding the state time trial title junior 15-18 men. But you said the biggest gains were made with a block of Kermesse races in Belgium. Tell us about that.

TF: I spent the better part of my summer in Belgium. My coach at the time had a friend living near Antwerp who I went to stay with. I was taking the train by myself to kermesse races, usually 3-4 days a week and racing unsupported. This block was filled with lots of ups and downs, having many crashes, but was a huge step in my development and built a lot of confidence. 

CN: In high school, you took extra classes at a community college and were able to graduate a year early at age 17. After a full season with Colorado Mesa University in 2022, you had a bad crash in 2023, and that set you back almost a year, right?

TF: It was near the end of April, I think it was the week after Redlands, I was doing a local crit in Fort Collins, Colorado. It was a collegiate crit, actually, at Colorado Mesa. And it was the last lap. I just hooked bars with somebody doing a leadout for our sprinter, and I hit my head. I did not race again for nine months. It was a concussion, and I had really bad back pain. I was able to ride a little bit in August, and really able to start building up in September to find my form again. By January 2024, I was feeling really good.

CN: So you got back to racing in 2024 with Team California, an elite racing team in the US, and also some individual off-road races. With your MTB background, you did well at Belgian Waffle Ride Arizona with 12th place, third at Boulder Roubaix and fifth at Highlands Gravel Classic. But then your focus turned to the US Pro Nationals and Spain. Tell us about that.

TF: At U23 time trial nationals, I got second. I feel like I have some unfinished business there.

The week before I flew out to Spain with Team California, I came down with a bad case of COVID. I wasn’t able to ride for four days and felt weak on the bike for the two days I rode before flying. Once I was in Spain, I still felt sluggish for another 2-3 days, then it felt like I had to rebuild my fitness from the ground up. 

After two solid weeks of training, I got ready to race Vuelta Zamora. I had been targeting the stage 1 time trial. I ended up feeling mediocre at the start, but still was able to land myself on the podium, wearing the green jersey into stage two. Days 2-4 of the Vuelta Zamora are where I spent riding as a domestique for our GC rider Kellen Caldwell, who finished the race third overall. On the morning of stage 5, I had good feelings and went into the day with a lot of confidence. I followed moves all day and was able to win the final stage, making a move 30km out. 

Rough pro start

CN: In 2025, you travelled back to Spain, now with Project Echelon Racing, but crashed out of the season opener at Trofeo Serra Tramuntana because of a crash on the wet and slippery roads. That race was ultimately cancelled due to the inclement weather, but you could not race for an extended time because of double fractures to the heads of both femurs. There was no surgery required, but how has recovery been?

TF: It was like some of the most pain I've ever been in. It was just uncomfortable. I felt like I couldn't even move at all at first, and then getting home was a tough process. I ended up staying in Mallorca four days longer, trying to recover a little before flying, and spending the night in London.

But once I got home, Hendersonville, Tennessee, I was hoping to start recovering a lot faster, but then I got the worst flu of my life, and it turned into bronchitis, and that was a whole other nightmare. The knees kept me off the bike for a while, some sort of tendonitis.

After three weeks at home, I pushed back really quick, started spinning on the trainer, even faster than I could walk, and had a couple of days riding in Tennessee. I went to Arizona, probably in early March, to do actual training. Honestly, the pain was still there for sure in my knee. Getting hit was just enough to cause some bad inflammation.

CN: You were hit by a driver of a car in Arizona on a training ride? 

TF: I was riding alone. I was like 60 miles into the ride in the Saguaro West National Park. I was riding westbound, and it was a bit of a headwind. There was a guy really upset that I was holding up traffic. And, yeah, he intentionally hit me. Another motorist saw it, actually chased the guy down. 

The sheriffs got him like five minutes after it happened. He was taken into custody with no bail. The sheriffs in Tucson are really, really good and definitely there to help cyclists, and they made it as hard as they possibly could for him. I think he'll be facing attempted murder charges.

It was crazy how lucky I got. I flew over the hood, and I just landed it in between two cactuses, in probably the softest spot I could have, not touching me at all, just super lucky. Since my knee was already pretty sensitive, just the initial hard bump to the knee really set it off. I could still walk, but the inflammation was really bad.

CN: Now that you are back with some racing completed, including a win at Sea Otter, you'll restart your year with Project Echelon at Tour de Bloom in early May and then head to US Pro Nationals. What do you have planned for the rest season?

TF: I've gotten two weeks of really good training in now, and then I'll head to Tour de Bloom, which I'm really excited about. It has a 30-kilometre time trial, which will be a good way to test my legs before time trial nationals, which is a big focus. 

June will be a big training month. I'm hoping to spend some time on the Velodrome as well, training for Team Pursuit. I'm one of the younger guys on the team. The Olympics [Los Angeles 2028] are at the back of my mind. There may be one or two spots still around, but I don't know.

CN: Your talent in time trialling was noticed by USA Cycling, and you went to a track ID camp last fall. Tell us about your experience on the track and if that discipline will replace road racing as your favourite.

TF: It's really surprised me how much I enjoyed riding the track because I did it for my first time in November at camp. I think also like just being a bigger guy, able to do a lot of power, it's a good a good thing, a team pursuit. I had a really good time. So it's surprising, but I do. I think what I enjoy most about cycling is the need to ride new places and doing long training rides. So I guess I have to say road. Road is definitely my favourite discipline. I really enjoy the training. Long zone 2 training rides on fun routes keep me motivated.

CN: One of your Project Echelon Racing teammates is also from Tennessee, Stephen Bassett, who has won the overall at Joe Martin Stage Race, was crowned US Pro Criterium champion in 2024  and won the silver medal at USPro Road Race Nationals when it was held in Knoxville. Did you ever ride with him when you were a teenager?

TF: He didn't know me, but I've known him for a while. I was a fan of his when he raced for Rally Cycling [2020-2021]. Last year, we raced together in a Tennessee race in Johnson City, and he destroyed me. [laughs] And then we went on a ride a couple of weeks later when I was in Maryville, near Knoxville. I just reached out to him on Instagram, and we went on a ride.

CN: What are some of your long-term goals?

TF: In three years, I would really like to win US Pro Nationals. Whether in the time trial or road race, an elite national title is a huge goal. I am not quite ready to say my goal is for the 2028 Olympic Games. I’m really enjoying the training [on track], but am still new to it and have not yet set any major goals. Right now, I race mostly road with an occasional gravel race, track races.