Coaching Industry Pioneer CTS Celebrating 20th Anniversary in 2020

January 28, 2020

(Colorado Springs, CO – January 27, 2020) – CTS, a pioneer brand in the endurance coaching industry, celebrates 20-years of guiding and inspiring 20,000-plus athletes since its founding in 2000.

The company moves into its next era with a bigger vision to use its brand of coaching to change lives, and ultimately the world, through the power of movement, healthy habits, knowledge, and inspiration.

Founded by 1999 US Olympic Committee Coach of the Year Chris Carmichael and home to 56 professional coaches, CTS created many of the practices and tools that formed the foundation of the endurance coaching industry. CTS was one of the first to offer a remote-based coaching subscription service and push for widespread acceptance of cycling power meters. (Additional examples of innovations are included in the fact sheet below.)

“Sports science, technology, and the lifestyle and career pressures faced by endurance athletes are always evolving,” said Carmichael. “What hasn’t changed are the fundamentals of inspiring athletes and improving performance. CTS has always prioritized the human-to-human relationship between athlete and coach, and the services we can provide, the level of customization, and the goals athletes are striving for elevate every year.”

20 Years Leading Industry Growth

In 2000 there were only a handful of career coaches in endurance sports. Carmichael saw an opportunity to use the internet to empower coaches to reach and communicate with enough athletes to make coaching their full-time profession. His history coaching Olympians, cycling and triathlon world champions, and Tour de France riders drove innovation and provided proof of concept for the value of personal coaching to the cycling and triathlon communities. A sample of notable athlete coached by Carmichael or CTS can be found in his full bio.

At a time when many cyclists trained by heart rate, CTS was one of the first to push for widespread acceptance of power meters. In 2000, there was only one commercially available power meter product for directly measuring a cyclist’s workload. By 2026, the cycling power meter market value is projected to exceed $500M.

Similarly, CTS was at the forefront of coaching ultramarathon runners, including Dean Karnazes and Western States Endurance Race Champion Kaci Lickteig. The CTS Ultrarunning Coaching Staff has grown to more than a dozen coaches, and the number of ultrarunners has increased 345-percent over the past decade.

As the company readies for its next decade of innovation, the demand for personalized coaching solutions is only growing.

CTS was at the forefront of a growing trend for athletes to target supremely challenging endurance events that often include extensive travel. Since 2010, CTS coaches have guided amateur athletes to great achievements and personal bests in epic bucket list events taking place around the world.

“Epic endurance events have a transformative power that shapes the identity of athletes who train for and compete in them, and those athletes earn entry into tight-knit athlete communities brought together by a shared journey,” said Carmichael. “Supporting our athletes in these events is one of the fastest-growing and most rewarding facets of the work we do at CTS because it enables us to further our human-to-human connection with our athletes while supporting their successes with leading edge programs and technologies.”

CTS supports teams of athletes competing in the ABSCA Cape Epic in South Africa, Trans Andes in Chile, Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc in Switzerland, and Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii. CTS participation and promotion of events like La Ruta de los Conquistadores in Costa Rica, Dirty Kanza 200 in Emporia, Kansas, the Leadville 100 Race Series in Leadville, Colorado, and SBT GRVL in Steamboat Springs, Colorado have helped fuel growth in participation and sponsorship revenue.

To kick off their 20th year, on January 29 CTS will launch the weekly TrainRight Podcast, hosted alternatingly by top cycling coach Adam Pulford and trail running coach and ultra endurance runner, Hillary Allen. Shows and guests will focus on providing actionable advice and guidance athletes can use to improve personal performance.

Carmichael and the CTS Coaches are united in their perspective that the person-to-person coach-athlete relationship is the primary driver for athlete success.

Looking to the future, CTS sees the excessive reliance on technology, including artificial intelligence, as the greatest threat to human performance and wellness. “The coach is key,” commented Carmichael. “Technology will continue to play a fundamental role in coaching, but if anything, people are seeking greater human connection and at its core, coaching is about connecting with and inspiring athletes to achieve more than they believe possible.”

About CTS

A pioneering company in the endurance coaching industry CTS has improved the performance of more than 20,000 athletes since 2000. Founded by renowned coach and author Chris Carmichael, and home to more than 50 professional coaches, CTS seeks to change lives and ultimately the world, through the power of movement, healthy habits, knowledge, and inspiration. The company provides personal coaching, training camps, and Endurance Bucket List experiences to athletes of all ability levels. For more information, visit www.trainright.com.

CTS 20th Anniversary Fact Sheet

Company Information
Founded: April 2000 by Chris Carmichael
Coaching Staff: 56 professional coaches
Locations: Colorado Springs, CO; Brevard, NC; Santa Ynez, CA
Website: https://trainright.com

CTS was one of the first in the endurance coaching industry to:

• Use ecommerce to sell coaching online
• Share training prescriptions and feedback within a web browser
• Introduce methods formerly only available to elite athletes (power training, altitude training, periodized nutrition) to amateurs
• Standardize training intensities and terminology so coaches spoke the same language
• Establish an internal education program to develop coaches and monitor performance
• Create an Athlete Services Department to professionalize customer relations
• Popularize ‘Bucket List’ endurance challenges that serve as tools for self-identification

About Chris Carmichael

• 1984 US Olympian, Cycling
• Raced professionally for the 7-Eleven Professional Cycling Team
• Competed as a member of the first US team to race Tour de France in 1986
• Coached the 1992 US Olympic Cycling Team
• As National Coaching Director for US Cycling, led the “Project ‘96” sports science initiative before the 1996 Olympic Games
• Named 1999 US Olympic Committee Coach of the Year.
• Authored 8 books on training and sports nutrition
• Inducted into the US Bicycling Hall of Fame
• Received USA Cycling Lifetime Achievement Award
• Full Bio