Jeff Pierce

Continuing a long career in elite sports and business development, Jeff Pierce succeeded Founder Chris Carmichael as CEO of CTS in July 2022. Prior to CTS, Pierce held several senior leadership roles in the publishing, cycling, and telecommunications industries.

Jeff Pierce was a member of the iconic 7-Eleven Professional Cycling Team, where he was a teammate of CTS Founder Chris Carmichael. A veteran of seven Grand Tours, Pierce won the final stage of the 1987 Tour de France in Paris, one of only two American riders to win on the Champs Elysees (Greg LeMond won the final time trial and overall in 1989). During his 22-year cycling career, Pierce competed for Schwinn, 7-Eleven, and Chevrolet-LA Sheriff.

After retiring from cycling, Jeff moved into the publishing industry in sales and marketing positions with Bicycling Magazine and Men’s Journal. Soon, he combined his knowledge of elite cycling and marketing and took a sports marketing role with GT Bicycles. In 2000, Pierce was instrumental in creating a partnership with the Lotto – Addecco Pro Cycling Team to get the team on GT Bicycles for the Tour de France.

Business Education

Jeff’s business career truly flourished during the years he spent with T-Mobile from 2013 - 2017.

Following a short stint with USA Cycling as Vice President of Athletics, Jeff moved to T-Mobile, initially in a partner sales role. Later, as Senior Manager of Online Partners, he created and deployed T-Mobile as the exclusive carrier partner for the first Google phone launch.

From 2009 – 2013, Jeff made his mark at T-Mobile as Director of National Retail, during which time he achieved 25,000-plus new points of distribution for T-Mobile prepaid phones. Notably, Jeff expanded distribution by identifying small- to medium-sized retail partners. This led to an 298% increase in prepaid airtime revenue for the company. It also positioned the $60M prepaid business unit for acquisition.

Recognized for his keen eye for data analytics and strategy, Jeff spent his final years with T-Mobile as the Senior Marketing Manager for Channel Strategy and Development. In this role, he led a team that studied and analyzed purchasing and usage trends. The team was instrumental in employing data/tools to discover insights, trends and patterns in the market, and Jeff was awarded the “Bottom Line Award” in recognition of the most significant impact on company finances for efforts in new product development.

Return to Elite Sport

In 2018, Jeff returned to his roots in elite sports by stepping into the role of Director of Sport Performance at USA Cycling. Throughout his career in telecommunications, he had stayed close to the sport of cycling. He was a member of the USA Cycling Selection Committee from 2002 through 2017. The committee is responsible for the selection of athletes to represent the United States at the World, Olympic and Pan American Championships across all cycling disciplines – Road, Track, Mountain Bike, BMX and Cycle Cross.

In his new role as Director of Sport Performance, he led the selection process and developed long range strategies and performance plans to create medal-capable USA Cycling teams. During Jeff’s 4-year tenure, Team USA won 23 Olympic and World Championship medals including 10 Gold in Road and Track.

A Sporting CEO

Since its inception, CTS has been a coach-led company designed to put athletes first. As Founder Chris Carmichael looked to wind down his own career, it was important to him that the company’s next leader had a deep understanding of endurance sports and personal coaching. When announcing Jeff as the new CEO of CTS in July 2022, Chris commented, “It was important for me to find a leader who can take the company forward as technologies and the coaching industry change. Jeff brings fresh and data-driven ideas for business development, and a strong record for organizational leadership and delivering consumer value. He also has a genuine connection to coaching and endurance sports. That combination is hard to find and it’s what makes Jeff Pierce the perfect person to lead CTS forward.”