Toms was born and raised in the little-known Eastern European (or Northern European depending on which way you look at it) country of Latvia. Not quite famous for anything, but definitely home of the best chocolate and beer in the world, Latvia is located with Russia and Belarus to the east, the Baltic Sea to the west, Lithuania to the south and Estonia to the north. Due to its location, Latvia is pretty freaking cold in the winter and has more daytime than night in the summer. The cold winters have made Latvians some of the toughest dudes and dudettes out there. Seriously.
Carnikava, Latvia, is located on the coast just north of the capital, Riga. This is where Toms was raised. He grew up running around the forests and along the beach with his two sisters, both older, which is why Toms is so in tune with his women’s intuition (in his own words). At some point when Toms was growing up, and was lacking his own friends, in an attempt to get Toms to stop following him around, Toms’ eldest sister’s then-boyfriend introduced Toms to mountain biking…the rest is basically history. His obsessive nature took hold and he started his deep dive into cycling. Eventually finding out that road cycling included chess-like tactics, Toms took up road racing, moved to France, and attempted to take the world by storm. After many results in Europe, including a 5th place at the U23 World Champs, Toms made his way to the American team, the Hincapie Development Team. His entire life would change because of his decision to move to the states…he met the love of his life Abby Mickey…no just kidding.
The team got into the biggest race in America, the Tour of California, where Toms targeted stage 3 in 2015, won in dramatic fashion, and was eventually picked up by the WorldTour Cannondale team. To this day the Tour of California remains one of Toms absolute favorite races, where he has had three victories with four participations, and that one crash that literally everyone saw and could unfortunately be his claim to fame.
Lots of rambling could continue to happen, because Toms is so much more than a bike racer, but since I doubt people have made it this far, we can end it here. A few more things to note before we sign off: Toms is a man of the people, one of the most approachable professionals in the peloton. He was the first ever Latvian to wear a jersey at a Grand Tour, and that jersey was the polka dot jersey at the 2018 Tour de France (for only 5 stages, but whatever). In general, Toms should be your favorite human, and now we’ve made this website so you can follow his adventures and show your support!
If you made it this far, I’m shocked, and also THANK YOU!
fun facts
Toms is a pretty big fan of podcasts. He is almost always listening to a podcast, however, he never rides with headphones.
He only drinks coffee on the rare race day and ops for a chai tea latte on coffee-shop rides.
His favourite food is curry.
He is an avid reader and prefers real-life stories to fantasy, despite Abby’s best attempts.
Toms learned to speak English with an American accent by watching Cartoon Network.
Each Christmas his only request for Santa is socks that stand out.
Toms is actually as sweet and approachable as he seems on social media. If you see him out in the wild, give him a high-five! He’ll love it.