MEET THE PROS
Let’s introduce you to the Pros that will be riding and coaching at the event.
Ian Boswell
A native of Oregon, Boswell rose through the ranks of American cycling with victories at the Nevada City Classic and Tour of the Gila to score a place in the World Tour ranks. An all arounder, or rouleur, he earned a berth in all three Grand Tours: Spain, Italy and France, and finished each. In 2021 he left road cycling and became a dominant force in the emerging gravel scene, winning the prestigious Unbound 200-mile event. Boswell lives in Peacham, Vt., and produces the popular Breakfast with Boz podcast.
Chloe Dygert
A 12-time UCI World Champion and two-time Olympic silver medalist, Chloe Dygert is perhaps the greatest female time trialist alive. A native of Indiana, her resume includes countless national and international victories both on the road and the track. In February of 2020, Dygert broke the world record in the 3000-meter pursuit during the qualifying rounds of the World Championships. She then went even faster in the gold medal round to win that title. In 2020 she suffered a high-speed crash at the road world championships that some felt could end her career. She came back 10 months later to drive the team pursuit squad to a bronze medal in the Tokyo Olympics. She will be wearing the rainbow jersey as the reigning World Time Trial Champion.
Chris Froome
4-Time Tour de France winner, Chris Froome, is a native of Kenya with British citizenship and is one of the greatest cyclists in history. As the first British rider to officially win a Grand Tour, he is one of just seven cyclists to have won all three Grand Tours (Italy, France and Spain). Despite his two victories in the Vuelta a Espana and a win of the Giro d’Italia, he is best known for four victories in the Tour de France. His ascendance to a fifth win was interrupted by a serious training crash in 2019. Despite a slow and frustrating recovery, Froome showed a return to form placing third on legendary Alpe d’Huez stage in the 2022 Tour.
Mari Holden
Having served as a racer, television commentator, team director and brand ambassador, Mari Holden is one of the most recognized American cyclists of her generation. She began cycling as a triathlete, finishing seventh in the junior world championships. But while attending the University of Colorado, she took up cycling in `1992. She tore through the sport, winning the national time trial championships in 1995 and 1996 and the road national championships in 1998. In 1999 she won both the road and time trial nationals. In 2000 she won the U.S. time trial title, went on to win the silver medal at the Olympics and just two weeks later won the World Championships. With a degree in philosophy, Holden could also articulate the athlete experience. She was elected to the board of USA Cycling and later served on the athletic advisory committee for the U.S. Olympic Committee and as an athlete ambassador for the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. She lives in Southern California.
Tim Johnson
Tim Johnson remains the only American cyclist to represent his country at the road, mountain bike and cyclo-cross World Championships. A native of Massachusetts, he took mountain bike prowess into the emerging sport of cyclo-cross and won a junior national championship in 1995. He would go on to win five more national titles in cyclo-cross. He also competed at the highest level of road racing both in America and Europe. Johnson developed a fan base for his adventures, advocacy and social media presence. His exploits included an uphill assault on New Hampshire’s Mount Washington in January. He launched several multi-day rides for executives to generate funds and awareness for People for Bikes, which successfully lobbied for improved cycling infrastructure. Johnson would later serve as the development director for the USA Cycling Foundation. He also played a pivotal role in the development of Strava, the online GPS enabled social media platform popular with endurance athletes.
Axel Merckx
By every measurement, Axel Merckx was a superb professional cyclist. He won a bronze medal in the 2004 Olympics and the 2000 Belgian national road championships. Merckx completed eight Tours de France, cracking the top 10 in 1998. His victories included the Tour de l’Ain, Grand Prix de Wallonie, and stages in the Giro d’Italia and Criterium Dauphine. The son of the legendary Eddy Merckx, Axel retired from racing in 2007, moved to British Columbia and applied his expertise to team management. He developed and ran Team Hagens Berman Axeon, a premier development team that produced countless national champions, Olympians and World Tour pros.
Magnus Sheffield
Velo-News listed Magnus Sheffield as its first pick of “Breakthrough Stars” of 2022. The quiet rider from Western New York made a mark winning the bronze medal at the junior world road championships. With the race calendar empty due to the pandemic, Sheffield focused his last year as a junior shattering the world 3,000-meter pursuit record by an amazing gap of 3 seconds. That got him signed for a European-bound program for 2021, where he quietly – but powerfully – supported team leaders. This earned him a place on Team INEOS/Grenadiers. He shocked the World Tour with a stage win of the Ruta Del Sol. Still just 19, he followed that up with a victory of the mid-week classic Brabantse Pijl. After finishing Paris Roubaix, the young man with Scandinavian heritage rode the Tours of Norway and Denmark, winning a stage and leading the latter until the final day to finish second overall. Sheffield also returned home mid-season to place second in the national time trial championships and third in road race. His 2023 season showed enormous promise until a high-speed crash in the Tour de Suisse resulted in a concussion.
Alison Tetrick
One of the most colorful personalities in cycling, Alison Tetrick came out of retirement from road racing and won the 200-mile Unbound gravel race in 2017. The granddaughter of a national champion, Tetrick was a collegiate tennis player and biochemist who entered the endurance world as a triathlete. After attending a USA Cycling Talent ID camp in 2008, coaches convinced her to focus on cycling. She rocketed through the ranks of domestic racing until arriving at the 2014 road world championships, where she helped drive to a bronze medal in the team time trial. But along the way there were a series of crashes, the worst of which occurred in 2010, and head injuries and ensuing bouts with mental illness. The enigmatic Tetrick walked away from the highest level of road racing in 2017 and went right into gravel. And she has stayed, finishing on the podium at Emporia again in 2018 and 2019. At age 38, she has become a cultural mainstay of gravel racing and raising funds to help women and juniors in the sport.
Rigoberto Uran
To understand Rigoberto “Rigo” Uran, one must try to comprehend the popularity of cycling in Colombia. Cycling may as well be the national sport in this South American country and Rigo is king. He has won stages in each of the three Grand Tours, 15 major World Tour wins, and a silver medal in the 2012 Olympic Road Race. His bold, win-or-die style contributes to the passion of his followers. He has won the Grand Prix Cycliste de Quebec, finished on the podium of some of the toughest stage races in the world, including Tirreno-Adriatico, Volta a Catalunya, and the Tour de Suisse. He’s proven equally brilliant in such one-day classics, having been on the podium of three editions of the Giro di Lombardia, one of the five “Monuments” of cycling.
Cam Wurf
Cam Wurf was labeled the “world’s most versatile elite endurance athlete” by podcaster and wellness guru Rich Roll. A native of Tasmania and longtime ambassador for Best Buddies, Wurf has achieved world-class status in three sports. Having competed in rowing at the 2004 Olympics, Wurf switched to cycling with immediate success. He earned a spot in the UCI World Tour in Europe and completed the Vuelta a España and Giro d’Italia. He then became one of the top triathletes in the world, setting the fastest bike time in two successive editions of Kona. Popular with fans and other riders, Wurf is referred to as the “Chief Motivation Officer” of every team he joins. For that, the INEOS Grenadiers recruited the Australian for both cycling and triathlon. Now 40, Wurf shocked not only pundits but also his fellow riders when he delivered a solid team ride in Paris-Roubaix, finished the grueling “Queen of the Classics”, and then laced up running shoes and ran a half marathon for training.
