SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (October 6, 2021) – DNA Pro Cycling capped off a successful 2021 season with 1st and 2ndplace in the USA CRITS Series Final at Winston-Salem. Erica Clevenger won from a solo breakaway while Maggie Coles-Lyster topped the field sprint for second. Coles-Lyster secured the Primal Best Young Rider (U25) Jersey, and the team earned the season’s HelloFresh Team Competition title.
Clevenger and Coles-Lyster will be returning to the team in 2022 as part of an 11-rider international squad.
“I’m so excited to build on the momentum from the season,” Clevenger said after the Winston-Salem win, “Obviously, last year was a real challenge, and even this year in the US it was a slow start compared to Europe. It’s been a crit-heavy season, so we had to shift our views. I’m excited to show what I have in 2022 with DNA Pro Cycling and use my legs for more road racing when it comes back in the US next year.”
“It was pretty amazing to end the season this way,” Coles-Lyster said after clinching the USA CRITS young rider title and winning the second day at Winston-Salem. The Canadian sprinter emerged this year as a consistent force of strength for the team, with frequent podium visits in her first full season racing on a UCI Continental team. She finished second in both the overall standings in USA Crits and on the USA Cycling Professional Road Tour calendar.
“I’m really excited to continue with DNA Pro Cycling, especially after capping off with a race like Winston-Salem,” Coles-Lyster added, “We know what we’re capable of and we’re learning how to execute the perfect race. Taking that forward with this squad into next year is pretty epic.”
Joining Clevenger and Coles-Lyster, as returning riders in 2022, will be Brenna Wrye-Simpson, Nicole Shields, Kimberly Lucie, and Mia Manganello Kilburg. Kilburg will once again play double duty with a hopeful return to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics in long-track speed skating after earning a bronze medal in 2018.
DNA Pro Cycling is thrilled to welcome five new riders in 2022.
Coloradan Daphne Karagianis joins DNA after successfully garnering individual and team results over the last 6 years with UCI and domestic elite teams including Illuminate and LA Sweat.
Up-and-coming U23 riders Kaitlyn Rauwerda and Kira Payer, who finished 2nd and 3rd respectively in the U23 GC at this year’s Joe Martin Stage Race, are looking forward to further growth under DNA. Rauwerda is a 4X Canadian junior track champion and has held provincial road, criterium, and time trial championships as a junior. Payer, who raced with the US national team in Europe as a junior, had a break-out collegiate season at Fort Lewis in 2019 with wins in multiple disciplines including criterium, road racing, and Fat Bike Worlds (U30). She is USA’s reigning U23 national time trial champion.
Mexican rider Anet Barrera will be joining DNA in 2022 after coming off a successful season with a 5th in GC at the Joe Martin Stage Race and 4th in GC at the Vuelta a Colombia Femenina. She is Mexico’s 2019 National Road Race Champion (Elite and U23). Hailing from Colombia, Diana Peñuela joins DNA with an impressive list of results including stage wins at the Joe Martin Stage Race and Tour of the Gila. She also supported a great many team-wins during the last 10 years racing as a professional with UnitedHealthCare, Alé Cippolini, and Team Tibco-SVB.
“I’m really excited to be building on our successful season, next year is an important milestone for us: it’s our 10th year as a professional team,” said team co-owner and director Catherine Fegan-Kim, “We have built a strong, balanced roster, with talented young riders matched with experienced, respected veterans.”
DNA Pro Cycling Team 2022 UCI Roster (*new riders)
- Anet Barrera* (Jalisco, Mexico)
- Maggie Coles-Lyster (British Columbia, Canada)
- Erica Clevenger (Colorado, USA)
- Daphne Karagianis* (Colorado, USA)
- Mia Manganello Kilburg (Utah, USA)
- Kimberly Lucie (Arizona, USA)
- Kira Payer* (Colorado, USA)
- Diana Peñuela* (Caldas, Colombia)
- Kaitlyn Rauwerda* (Ontario, Canada)
- Nicole Shields (Waikato, New Zealand)
- Brenna Wrye-Simpson (Oregon, USA)
Sarah Kaufmann, Hanna Muegge, and Quinn Bradley who have all been with the team for several years will continue riding dirt and asphalt with DNA’s ambassador program.
The team, which competes on road, mountain, and gravel, is a UCI Women’s Continental Team and USA CRITS D-1 Team. The team’s website is www.DNACyclingTeam.com. Official social media properties of the DNA Pro Cycling Team are: facebook.com/k4racing; instagram.com/dnak4; and twitter.com/DNA_K4.
