Euro Cross Camp blogs

See how CLIF BAR Development Team members Yannick Eckmann and David Kessler are enjoying their holiday cross racing trip in Belgium:

David Kessler's blog post.

Yannick Eckmann's blog post.

Great results for CLIF BAR Devo Team in Belgium

At the Noordzeecross in Middlekerke, Belgium, today, Yannick Eckmann rode to an amazing 2nd place, just 7 seconds behind. David Kessler came through with an awesome 11th place.

Results on cyclingnews.com

Nationals results

The CLIF BAR Development Cyclo-Cross Team turned in an impressive showing this past weekend at the US Cyclo-Cross Nationals in Bend, OR.

Starting off the weekend, the Junior 15-16 race was icy and exciting, with all four team members cruising into the top 10. Zane Godby took the hole-shot and led the race for several laps before a late-race crash set him back a few spots. Zane battled back for an incredible 2nd place ride. Curtis White rode steady all day and finished 3rd. Nate Morse helped the team set an early fast pace in the front group and finished 6th, and Zack Gould rode steady in the top-10 all day to finish in 10th.

In the Junior 17-18 race, Euro Cross Camp member David Kessler ended up down for the count with the flu, so he did not make the trip to Bend. Californian-via-Sweden Bjorn Fox showed all of his hard training and cold-acclimation paid off, with a strong race where he moved up every lap and just barely lost the sprint for 5th.

In the Under-23 race, all four CLIF BAR teammates got themselves into good position early, with Mitchell Hoke and Alex Howes contributing strong efforts to the chase group, and the Mullervy twins moving up steadily. In the end, all four would suffer untimely crashes and/or flat tires, affecting their finish placings, but they had great races. Conor Mullervy ended in 7th, Alex Howes in 8th, Mitchell Hoke in 13th, and Kevin Mullervy in 19th.

Sunday ended the Nationals weekend with Collegiate and Elite races. In the Division II collegiate race, Mitch (Colorado College) and the twins (Mesa State College) went to battle for their respective schools. All three were in on the action and finished well. Mitch took 3rd, Kevin 5th, and Conor 11th. In the Division I race, Brady Kappius took the hole shot and traded the lead with a Fort Lewis rider. Eventually Kappius had a crash and dropped to 3rd, but held on for a strong finish.

In the Elite race, TEAM CLIF BAR's Troy Wells took 13th, and Kappius came back for his second race of the day to get an impressive 23rd.

Yannick Eckmann is Junior USGP Series Champ!

On Sunday Dec. 6 at the final USGP race in Portland, OR, CLIF BAR Development Team's Yannick Eckmann continued the strong history of the team by capturing the US Gran Prix of Cyclo-Cross Series title for Junior 17-18. Eckmann battled again in the final USGP race with Cal-Giant's Cody Kaiser. The two raced neck and neck all season, with Kaiser winning many of the USGP races and Eckmann sweeping the New Jersey weekend. Eckmann's consistency paid off, with no finishes below 2nd place in the Series, and he locked up the overall title with a second place on Sunday in Portland.

Yannick Eckmann 2nd in Portland on Saturday

Yannick Eckmann, in the USGP Leader's Jersey heading into this final USGP weekend in Portland, took home a hard-fought 2nd place on Saturday, battling back and forth all day with Cody Kaiser (Cal-Giant). Kaiser is in second place in the Series points standings. After taking an early gap, Eckmann crashed, Kaiser took the lead, Eckmann returned, and the two sprinted to the line with Kaiser getting him by a wheel.

Robin Eckmann rode to a strong 4th place.

In the Elite race, Troy Wells showed good form coming back from sickness, finishing 13th; Brady Kappius suffered a rolled tubular but managed to come back up to 26th place.

David Kessler and Yannick Eckmann selected for Euro Cross Camp

CLIF BAR Development Team juniors David Kessler and Yannick Eckmann will be heading over to Belgium later this month for the 7th edition of the Euro Cross Camp - joining Elite Team CLIF BAR rider Troy Wells on the roster.

Cyclingnews.com story is here.

Past members of the CLIF BAR cyclo-cross program who have attended the camp include Jackson Stewart, Andy Jacques-Mayne, Ben Turner, Brady Kappius, Alex Howes, Jim Lennon, Troy Wells, Daniel Summerhill, and Cody Cox.

USGP #3 pics

Here are some pics of the Mecer cup.

Last weekend me and my brother and father traveled to Trenton New Jersey. It was the third USGP race we went to that year but this one was gonna be really muddy. We decided not to go to the course on friday to look at it because it was a little drizzling and it was really windy, so we went to our host house right away. The next morning when we got to our race you could see already that it was really muddy which I was excited about. Me and my brother looked at the course how and where we should ride it. We looked at it 2 or 3 times then we gave our bikes to the mechanics to clean them and that we could go warm up. We went on the road to warm up. We were pushing each other to go harder at the warm up so that we would get a good start. When it was time to line up we went down to the starting area. I was able to start in the first row because I picked a good number. When the gun went off then i was shooting out of my starting position and just sprinted as hard as I could. I got the hole shot plus I had a little gap to the other people into the dirt section. When I got onto the mud I gave them some more meters. I kept on hammering the hole time. I switcher my bikes like every half lap because it was so muddy and the bike would get heavier if you wouldn't change. One time when I cam in the pit my dad was holding a green, whitish bike, then I looked down at my bike and first said to myself that the bike my dad is holding isn't my bike. So I yelled at him that it isn't my bike in german. So at the time I got to him he hadn't switched it yet, s just threw my bike down and waited till he got my bike. It didn't take to long but the Jeffery Bahnson who was in second was closing down a lot, but when I got my bike I took of again and opened the gap up again. So I crossed the finish line in first place.1.Yannick Eckmann (Clif Bar Development Cross Team)
2.Jeffrey Bahnson (Thule / Van Dessel)3.Cody Kaiser (California Giant Berry Farms/Specialized)
4.Skyler Trujillo (Niner)
5.Robin Eckmann (Clif Bar Development Cross Team)
6.Matthew Spinks (Team Metra / Wendy’S P/B Cycles 54)
7.Jesse Keough (Clnoonan/Kam/Coast To Coast)
8.Gunnar Bergey (C3- Athletes Seving Athletes)
9.Joshua Lehmann (Sunapee/S&W/Continental Paving Racing Team)
10.Andrew Bennett (Team Redline)
11.David Kessler (Clif Bar Development Team)
12.Jeremiah Dyer (Hudz-Subaru Jr-Development Cx)
13.Jacob Arnold (Pioneer Racing)14.Chris Wallace (Kccx/Navigators Insurance/Verge)
15.Stuart Wight (Hot Tubes Development Cycling Team)
16.Kolben Preble (Hammer Velo)17.Cam Mancuso (Death Row Velo)
The second day was just an awesome day as the first. I started in the second row and i didn't get off the start as good as I did the day before. I was like in 8th or so. Then when we started going into the dirt I was starting to pass a lot of people. Then when I got to the front i just kept on hammering and nobody could hold my will at the beginning. jeffery Bahnson caught me again and then I just attacked again and got a gap again. The next lap again he was on my wheel again and then i just attack one more time and i was gone for the rest of the race. The race wasn't as muddy as before, it was just harder mud, so some section by running was faster. So i crossed the finish line in first with a nice gap to second.Also this time nothing went wrong in the pit either which was good but it wasn't as much switching bikes because the mud was drying out.
1.Yannic[Photo]k Eckmann (Clif Bar Development Cross Team)2.Jeffrey Bahnson (Thule / Van Dessel)
3.Stuart Wight (Hot Tubes Development Cycling Team)
4.Robin Eckmann (Clif Bar Development Cross Team)
5.Chris Wallace (KCCX/Navigators Insurance/Verge)
6.Cody Kaiser (California Giant Strawberries/Specialize)
7.Skyler Trujillo (NINER)
8.Matthew Spinks (Team Metra / Wendy’s p/b Cycles 54)
9.Jesse Keough (CLNoonan/KAM/Coast to Coast)
10.Andrew Bennett (Team Redline)
11.Joshua Lehmann (Sunapee/S&W/Continental Paving Racing Team)
12.Kolben Preble (hammer velo)
13.Gunnar Bergey (C3- Athletes Seving Athletes)
14.Jeremiah Dyer (HUDZ-Subaru Jr-Development CX)
15.Benjamin Wolfe (Mystic Velo Juniors)
16.Paul Lynch (CL Noonan/Coast to Coast/KAM)

I want to say a thank you to my Dad and to TJ who helped me out in the pit. I couldn't have done it with out them.

Yannick Eckmann Sweeps USGP Weekend, Takes Series Lead

Middle School 'Cross - 2009

Hello Everyone!!

This last week, many of the kids in the Boulder Valley School District, and other districts too, had no school on Wednesday due to Veterans Day. So our very own Ben Turner and the founder of Middle 'Cross Mike Eubank decided that on a day off, what's not better than having a 'cross race? With that being said, they organized a fun-filled non-competitive race at a local Middle School for kid’s grades six through eight. The Clif Bar Team was a supporter, so Yannick, Robin, Brady, Zane and myself decided to go and help out. I arrived right as the races were beginning and saw a "jaw dropping" seventy middle schoolers out on 'cross bikes! The event started out with a couple of warm-up laps and then some "hot laps" consisting of six racers followed one of the Clif Bar team members. Shortly there after, the real racing began. The race organizers created two groups of racer's; girls, and the boys. As the 6-7 racers approached the line the tension felt the same as a regular weekend race. Kids were shedding of their sweatshirts, making sure their shoes were tied, and putting their bikes in a viable starting gear. "BOOM!", the gun sounded, and the kids were off to the races. The starting straight was a 50-yard long grass field, followed by cornering around trees, riding through mini sandpits, and of course having to dismount for barriers! As the day went on, it seemed like the kids started having more and more fun. After the races, they would go around to the "Evol" burrito tent to gain some energy, head over to the Boulder Cycle Sport tent to get their bike tuned up, and of course, collecting stickers from all the sponsors. In the end, I talked to a lot of the kids at the end and they all said they had a great time and love cycling. At the end of the day, it's not who wins, or who's the best, it all comes down to having a passion for the sport and having fun!

Cheers,
Zack Gould

Photos Courtesy of Brandon Dwight