John Lieswyn (born 18 August 1968 in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

) is a former American professional

road bicycle racer Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most common ...

Biography

Lieswyn started his road racing career in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

in 1985, and raced for the University of Florida's Cycling Club (Team Florida). After graduation from college in 1990, he raced three seasons for the US National team in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. Lieswyn turned professional in 1993 for

Coors Light Coors Light is a 4.2% (US) ABV light beer brewed in Golden, Colorado; Albany, Georgia; Elkton, Virginia; Fort Worth, Texas; Irwindale, California; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was first produced in 1978 by the Coors Brewing Company. The Canadia ...

. He returned to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

in 1995, scoring numerous top ten results and winning the

Delémont Delémont (; fc, D'lémont; german: Delsberg, ) is the capital of the Swiss canton of Jura. The city has approximately 12,000 inhabitants . History The area of the municipality was already settled in the middle Bronze Age. Fifteen urn buria ...

(

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

) mountain stage of the

Regio-Tour The Regio-Tour is a multi-stage road bicycle race held between France, Switzerland and Germany. It was first held in 1985 and since 2005 it has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. Famous riders like Laurent Brochard, Jan Ullrich ...

. After taking a break in 1996, he focused on the US domestic scene with over 40 major wins. In the pre and post US-season, he competed in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, notably taking three stage wins in the

Herald Sun Tour The Herald Sun Tour is an Australian professional bicycle race held in Melbourne and provincial Victoria, sanctioned by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). The first tour was held in October 1952 as a six-day event. It is now held annually ...

(

), and overall victory at the Southland Tour (NZ), the Nature Valley Grand Prix in Minnesota, and

Tour de Beauce Tour de Beauce is a men's elite professional road bicycle racing multi-day event held each June in the Beauce region of Quebec, Canada since 1986. It is the oldest stage-race in North America, and is a Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)-rated 2. ...

(

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

). He finished second in his last USA professional race, the 2005 San Francisco Grand Prix. His fifth and last time representing the USA National Team was the 2005 World Road Cycling Championships in Spain, where he was a domestique (worker) for the USA team sprinters. He retired from racing at the end of the 2005 season and moved to New Zealand to work as a transportation planner. Lieswyn has a master's degree in transport planning from the

University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was ...

, which he completed in 2012. In 2012 he returned to the USA and lived in Davis, California; before returning to New Zealand in 2015.

Selected palmarès

;1989 *1st

Tour of the Gila The Tour of the Gila is a cycling stage race for both men and women located in New Mexico, United States. It is sponsored by the component maker SRAM. The "Gila" began in 1987. Beginning in 2012, the men's Gila has been added to the UCI Americ ...

(NM, USA) ;1991 *1st USA National Team Time Trial (100 km) *3rd National Championships, Road, Amateurs (USA) ;1995 *1st Delemont Stage,

(Switzerland/France) ;1999 *1st Chris Thater Memorial Criterium (N.Y.) *Stage win,

(Australia) ;2000 *3rd Overall U.S. Pro Cycling Tour *2nd US National Time Trial Championship ;2001 *1st Stage 3, Tour of Willamette (OR, USA) *1st KoM, Tour de 'Toona (PA, USA) *1st Road Race, Fitchburg Stage Race (MA, USA) *1st Chris Thater Memorial Criterium (NY, USA) ;2002 *1st Overall,

Tour of Southland The Tour of Southland is a road bicycle racing stage race held in the Southland region of New Zealand. From 2005 until 2009, the Tour of Southland has been part of the UCI Oceania Tour however the 2010 event was held as a National Tour. The To ...

(New Zealand) *1st Overall and Stage 2,

Nature Valley Grand Prix The North Star Grand Prix is a men's and women's road bicycle racing stage race held each June in Minnesota, United States, as part of the North Star Bicycle Festival. An event was added in North Mankato in 2016. The North Star Grand Prix is on ...

(MN, USA) *1st Overall,

Copa América de Ciclismo The Copa América de Ciclismo is a single-day road bicycle racing event held in Brazil. From 2001 to 2007 and in 2009 it took place at Autódromo José Carlos Pace, in São Paulo. The 2008 edition was held in a street circuit around Flamengo Pa ...

(Brazil) ;2003 *1st Overall and Stage 1,

, Quebec (Canada) *1st Stage 4,

Redlands Bicycle Classic The Redlands Bicycle Classic is a cycling stage race located in Redlands, California, United States that has been held since 1985. It consists of three road races, an individual time trial and a criterium A criterium, or crit, is a bike race ...

(CA, USA) *1st Shelby Criterium (NC, USA) *Stage win, Superweek *9th Overall,

Tour de Georgia The Tour de Georgia was a U.S. professional road cycling stage race across the state of Georgia. The race began in 2003 and was contested six times until 2008. It was one of the three events in North America ranked as Hors Classe (2.HC) stage rac ...

(GA, USA) ;2004 *1st Overall,

International Tour de Toona The International Tour de Toona was a stage bicycle race held in Central Pennsylvania in July from 1987 until 2011. The event became the largest pro-am cycling event in North America and had stages spanning Blair, Cambria, Bedford, and Somerset ...

(PA, USA) *1st Overall,

(New Zealand) *1st Overall, Tour of Tobago (

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

) *1st Points Competition, Wachovia Series Lancaster *1st Points Competition, Wachovia Series Trenton *1st Stage 3,

(PA, USA) *1st Stage 5,

(MN, USA) *1st Stage 2, Tour of Kansas City (MO, USA) *1st Overall,

Gateway Cup The Gateway Cup is a four-day criterium cycling race held in St. Louis, Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennesse ...

(MO, USA) *1st Greentree Festival Criterium (MO, USA) *1st Giro della Montagne (MO, USA) ;2005 *1st Overall and Stage 2,

(MN, USA) *2nd

San Francisco Grand Prix The San Francisco Grand Prix was a road cycling race held in San Francisco, United States in early September. It was as a 1.HC event and in 2005 part of the UCI America Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing compe ...

(CA, USA)

References

External links

Diary Entries on cycling News
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lieswyn, John 1968 births Living people American male cyclists American emigrants to New Zealand Sportspeople from Pittsburgh University of Canterbury alumni