Head Coach Julie Carter has announced the commitment of Kevin Urban to the cycling program for the 2020-2021 season.  The Hainesville, Illinois native brings five years of experience in four disciplines to the team.

Urban started riding at the age of 13 when his uncle gifted a Santa Cruz Super Light mountain bike to him.  Not long after, while visiting his local bike shop, he was introduced to the local NICA league and team.  Head Coach Dave Bender welcomed Urban and his sister and a week later, Urban raced his first Wisconsin High School League race.  From there, he was introduced to several other disciplines.

One of Urban's biggest career highlights came in his first year of track racing.  It was his last event as a Cat 4 rider before moving up, so he decided to give it his best.  The result was a victory in all five of his races that night.

"I will never forget the crowd cheering me on as I won my last race of the night with the announcer going crazy," he recounted.

Urban has been a member of Adapt Cycling for Road, Track, Mountain Bike, and Cyclocross, and the Composite Illinois Team, and he participated in the NICA/Wisconsin High School Mountain Bike League.  He lists his favorite athlete as Jeremy Powers, a retired, three-time national cyclocross champion and pro cyclocross racer.

"I was first introduced to Jeremy Powers through his Behind the Barriers and The Book of Cross web series that provided a chronical of a 'day-in-the-life' of a pro cyclocross racer," Urban said.  "Those videos introduced me to cyclocross and to racing cyclocross."

Urban was asked about what he loves about the sport of cycling.

"There is no bench, everyone is involved in the sport," he responded.  "That's the mentality I took and it helped me to push myself to get better and better every year.  It was the drive I had to be a contender at every race, grow myself, and become the best I can be."

Urban has a younger sister named Paula, he had an obsession with LEGOs as a young kid, and he is a part-time mechanic at the INTENT Bike Shop.  He graduated from Grayslake Central High School this past spring and will major in Pre-Physical Therapy at Lindenwood.