Chris Carmichael

Chris Carmichael (born October 24, 1960, in Miami, Florida, United States) is a retired professional cyclist and cycling, triathlon and endurance sports coach.

After getting his start in South Florida, Chris competed for the U.S. National Team at the Junior World Championships in 1978 before moving to Europe to race with the Dutch amateur team Gazelle as well as with the U.S. National Team.

He was a member of the 1984 U.S. Olympic Cycling Team, the 7-Eleven Professional Cycling Team (1985–1987), and the Schwinn-Wheaties professional cycling team (1988–1989).

After making steady progress in Europe, he qualified for and was selected as a member of the 1984 U.S. Olympic Cycling Team.

Following the 1984 Olympics, Chris turned professional for the 7-Eleven Professional Cycling Team.

In 1985 he embarked on the team's first block of European racing, including Milan–San Remo, Tour of Flanders, and the Giro d'Italia.

With 7-Eleven in 1986, he was a member of the first American team to race the Tour de France.

He was forced to abandon the race on Stage 12 in the Pyrenees due to illness.

In the winter of 1986, Chris suffered a broken femur in a cross-country skiing accident.

He raced a shortened season in 1987, but a series of knee surgeries kept him from returning to full strength.

In 1988–89, Chris raced domestically in the U.S. for the Schwinn-Wheaties Professional Cycling Team before retiring at the end of the 1989 season.

He started coaching with the United States Cycling Federation (now USA Cycling) in 1990, was the U.S. Men's Road Cycling team coach for the 1992 Olympic Games and the U.S. Olympic Cycling Team Head Coach for the 1996 Olympic Games.

In 1990, Chris was a guest coach at a United States Cycling Federation Junior Development Camp.

Realizing he had an aptitude for coaching, Chris made the transition to full-time coaching.

Chris believed young cyclists needed to race and live in Europe to become successful professional cyclists so, in preparation for the 1992 Olympic Games, he led a group of young American cyclists, including Lance Armstrong, George Hincapie, Freddie Rodriguez, Kevin Livingston, Chann McCrae, and Bobby Julich on a campaign of racing and training in Europe.

Chris was the U.S. Men's Road Cycling team coach for the 1992 Olympic Games.

In a sworn written deposition for the lawsuit, Armstrong stated that he "told Chris Carmichael in 1995 of his use of PEDs."

He was named the U.S. National Coaching Director in [year] and led "Project ‘96", a multi-disciplinary effort to put the most technologically and physiologically prepared team on the start line at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia.

Project ’96 led to major advances in aerodynamics – including the GT Superbike – as well as altitude training, heat acclimatization, and hyperoxic training.

Many of the sports science advances made during Project ’96 are still in use at the elite and amateur levels of endurance sports.

Chris was the Head Coach of the U.S. Olympic Cycling Team in 1996.

In 1997, he joined the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the international governing body for cycling headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, as Olympic Solidarity Coaching Instructor.

He is well known for being the personal coach to cyclist Lance Armstrong – as well as George Hincapie, ice-hockey player Saku Koivu and swimmer Ed Moses.

Athletes under his tutelage have reportedly won a combined total of 33 medals at the Olympics, World Championships, and Pan American Games.

AIC had sought to recover $3 million it had paid Armstrong as bonuses for winning the Tour de France from 1999 to 2001.

The suit was settled for an undisclosed sum one day before Armstrong was scheduled to give an oral deposition under oath.

Chris Carmichael founded Carmichael Training Systems, Inc. (CTS) in 2000 and was the company's CEO until 2022.

In July 2022, he stepped down from the CEO position, which was filled by Jeff Pierce.

He remains Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors and functions as the "Chief Endurance Officer" and a coach for the company he founded.

Some cyclists he had trained later sued USA Cycling (USAC) for doping them and named him and fellow coach Rene Wenzel in their allegations, Greg Strock in 2000, and Erich Kaiter in 2004.

Both reportedly made out-of-court settlements with him but the case against the USAC continued as of April 2006.

In November 2013, Lance Armstrong settled a lawsuit with Acceptance Insurance Company (AIC).