Team Signs Keegan Swirbul as Stagiaire

American joins team for Portuguese calendar.

Keegan Swirbul comes with a backstory. From junior world champion in skiing and uploading parkour videos to the internet, to being scouted by Axel Merckx and getting offered a spot on Axeon without ever having raced a road bike, to then riding on Floyd Landis' team and taking GC top tens in the Tour of Utah, Tour de Beauce and Tour of the Gila - it's been a wild ride and he's only 25.  

Now Swirbul is riding for Rally Cycling as a trainee for the remainder of the 2020 race season. The 25-year-old American from Basalt, CO will bolster the general classification squad taking part in the Volta a Portugal starting this week, after a brilliant debut performance at the GP Torres Vedras where he secured a GC top 10 in his first race in over a year. 

Performance director Jonas Carney added Swirbul to the lineup after following his progress for the past three years. 

"Keegan is a big talent, but he's had some struggles over the last few years. I have kept an eye on him and his progress pretty closely. I don't feel like he's been able to reach his potential. Hopefully, our team can help him get there."

Swirbul said,

"First off, I have to give MASSIVE thanks to the team for giving me this chance to come race with them. All the riders and staff have been incredibly welcoming to me and I've been amazed at how dialed the whole operation is. The equipment and kit is top-notch and all the staff goes above and beyond the call of duty so that's been amazing."

Looking ahead, Swirbul is excited to get back in the mountains where his strengths lie. 

"I'm super excited to hit up the Volta a Portugal because it has some very long and hard climbs and even a mountain top finish at 2,000 meters - which hopefully will suit Gavin and the rest of the team well."

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