Retirement for former WorldTour rider Leah Kirchmann lasted a brief few months, and it appears she never skipped a beat in the transition back to the peloton. The accomplished Canadian signed a lucrative contract to race for the Denver Disruptors, one of two US domestic elite squads formed by the National Cycling League organisation, providing her with an opportunity to remain in North America for the entire season.
She led the Disruptors with a huge points haul at the inaugural Miami Beach Invitational to boost the team to the top spot of the 10-team NCL Cup, 139 total points and a 44-point lead over second-placed Miami Nights. Two weeks later and back at a standard US-bred criterium competition, the start of the American Criterium Cup, Kirchmann helped her teammate Erica Zaveta reach the podium at the Athens Twilight Criterium, and finished fourth herself.
“It’s been quite a while. But then this opportunity came up with the NCL, to come and race the new series, and then also come back to crit racing,” Kirchmann told Cyclingnews in Athens about her return to racing.
“You know, I actually got my start in crit racing. Way, way back a lot of years now, I started [BC] Super Week. And yeah, I raced a lot of the crits with Colavita, then Optum. I probably haven’t done too many crits since 2015.“
It has indeed been eight years since Kirchmann showcased her speed on North American soil, riding four seasons with Team Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies. Back in 2015, she won the opening crit of the Gateway Cup, finishing second overall in the omnium, and sprinted to stage victories at Joe Martin Stage Race and Tour of California, finishing second in the GC at the latter.
She then took on a seven-year stint with the Team DSM programme, which saw her wear the first maglia rosa at the 2018 Giro d’Italia Donne when the team won the opening team time trial, and later that year was fourth overall at the Challenge by la Vuelta. She also finished second at La Course (2019), third overall at the Tour of Norway (2019) and second overall at Festival Elsy Jacobs (2021). A three-time Canadian National Champion in the time trial, Kirchmann competed at two Olympic Games: Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and Tokyo in 2021.
“Last year, I decided that I had raced a lot of years in Europe. I made the Olympic team, raced in a lot of World Championships. You know, I’ve accomplished a lot in my career. I felt pretty satisfied with what I had accomplished with my career,” Kirchmann…
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