We are so excited to inform the following list of super professional athletes in our team. These are the role components to lead our team and boost the team’s reputation.
Michael Blatchford (USA)
It is absolutely wonderful to have Michael Blatchford in the Felt team. He is considered as the youngest and most dynamic American sprinter. He won US National Sprint Champion Michael Blatchford (Cypress, CA).
We all agreed that he is a fast, talented and cordial rider in the team. We provide him with the Felt TK1 to race and it is a custom set-up to accomodate the needs of this great rider.
The special thing from this world-class sprinter is he supports society so much. He is super warm-hearted when giving good things back to everyone surrounding. He also became the first junior to win an elite national title on the track at 18.
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Tim DeBoom (USA)
There are a lot of interesting things to say about this professional cyclist. He graduated with a major of Exercise Science from University of Iowa. During his early career period, he won 2001 Ironman World Champion and 2002 Ironman World Champion.
He is so excited about any 6 hour ride in the mountains. He is expected to gain more in the coming time. He appreciated his mentor “My swim coaches I had through high school pretty much set the stage for the discipline I have for training now.”
When being asked about the worst experience in race, he said “ I don’t like to think of any race as a “worst” experience, because, the ones that would fit the profile, I seem to learn the most from. That being said, I did have a wicked crash in St. Anthony’s one year that I never want to experience again.”
Tim would be definitely a potential and a bomb to explore during the next racing. We all wait for his performance.
Joscha Forstreuter (GER)
Joscha Forstreuter has decided to join the 2008 Felt team. He is considered as one of the most promising talents in the team.
He has not chosen racing as his professional in the beginning. He started in Biathlon which is thought to be suitable for him. However, he found out that he wanted to accomplish the unbeaten routes and he pursued professional racing quickly.
When he was 16, he spent much time on trail riding and jumping. He said: “In 2001, I participated in my first contest and my first race at the IFMA Bike Challenge. By 2002 I became an official member of the Rules Nicolai Team. Then I started the big international contests like the Adidas Slopestyle and Ride to the Lake.”
Thanks to his passion and hard-working training, Joscha is now considered one of the top European mountain bike freeriders.
He added “I am extremely excited to be a part of the 2008 Felt team. Between all the great people at the company, their award-winning Equilink suspension bikes and teaming up with Cam Zink, everything feels fantastic”.
Joscha also mentioned that “The staff at Felt is very professional and wide open to my feedback, opinions and experiences. I am really looking forward to this season and pushing the limits.”
Currently he is trying to recover from a knee injury then prepares to get himself fit races. It is really a challenge for him.
As planned, Joscha will participate in a mix of Equilink bikes including the Felt Virtue Compulsion and Redemption – all using Felt’s Equilink suspension platform. His first events should be the Winterberg Dirtmasters, the Megavalanche and the Adidas Slopestyle.
Sarah Hammer (USA)
This cyclist could inspire you a lot by her impressive achievements and something more about her characteristics. Sarah Hammer is now studying child development and the humanities but she has the constant passion in racing and cycling.
When she is in-season, she will train twice a day. Reigning and Two-Time World Pursuit Champion are the most respected prizes in her career. Besides, she also won Seven Times World Cup Gold Medalist and US National Record Holder (3K Pursuit – 3.30.2).
Sarah has been supported well from family. She found herself ambitious on racing but nice on other society projects.
Speaking of the worst experience, Sarah said “Any one with a crash. Even worse, any one with a crash and a 15 hour flight following!”. She also highly appreciated her important mentors “None of my success would be possible without my parents, Cliff and Randi.”
Michellie Jones (AUS)
The next competent cyclist in our team is Michellie Jones. She performed well in the last years with many honorable prizes.
From 1992 to 2002, she won the first ITU World Championship in 1992 then a bronze medal in the final ITU World Championship race in 2003. After that, she gained eight ITU World Championship podiums.
She has the favorite race to escape from Alcatraz and Ironman Hawaii. On top of that, Jones is considered as one of the most consistent athletes who won over 175 across Olympic, off-road and long-distance events.
Michellie is absolutely the best racer with perfect skills and behavior with sport. She was invited to join many other teams but finally, we succeeded in convincing her to join our team. It would be the good news to enhance the team strength and reputation.
Becky Gibbs Lavelle (USA)
Becky Gibbs Lavelle was born on December 5, 1974. She is a nice professional racer from CA. It is our honor to have her on the team as well.
Same as Michellie Jones, Becky loves to escape from Alcatraz. It is one of the most wondrous places.
When we mention her achievement, it would take time since she obtained plenty of important prizes: 2007 Wildflower Champ, 2006 Escape from Alcatraz Champ, 2005/2006 St. Anthony’s Champ, 2005 Chicago Champ, 2003 Pan Am Games, Bronze medallist, 5-time Pacific Grove Champ, 2003 LA Triathlon Champ
However, in her career, “Crashing… it’s happened only 3 times in over a 100 races I’ve done, but it’s never fun.” said she. When we asked about her key mentor in life, she told me that her husband Brian always inspired her with his dedication and determination to succeed in all he does. He’s also a great training partner.
Taylor Phinney (USA)
This next team member would absolutely grasp your attention since he was well-known by family tradition in road cycling and his ability in the sport as well.
Taylor Phinney was born on June 27, 1990. He is a super talented American professional road racing cyclist. He rides the DA and the F1.
His confirmation to enter the team is the biggest and most noticeable news in American cycling after the legendary: Lance Armstrong. Taylor was known as the gift son of Davis Phinney – America’s winningest cyclist ever.
Speaking of his father, he gained more than 300 wins in his career) and ’84 Olympic Road Race Gold Medalist Connie Carpenter. Being inherited by that talent, Taylor got both genes and tradition in his favor.
It is so exciting to know that only after 2 years in professional, he racked up an impressive array of wins: the Individual Time Trial at the Junior World Championships, the Senior National Championship in the Pursuit. Additionally, Taylor won the Tour de l’Abitibi – an outstanding Canadian stage race for juniors.
But we might be surprised when knowing that his first choice is soccer. He grew and changed the sport once he watched the Tour de France. After that, Taylor was chosen to join Jonathan Vaughters’ VMG/Felt/RGM U-23 Development Team.
Another cool fact about this cyclist is that they set him a cute nickname – “All-Twitch” by the combination of his mother’s famous slow-twitch fitness and his father’s fast-twitch sprint prowess. Taylor was still attending Boulder High School and has some favors: read Harry Potter and love his pasta with pesto sauce.
Andy Potts (USA)
Another promising racer on our team is Andy Potts. He was born on December 28th, 1976.
If you want to know about his full achievement, it might take time to list out: 2007 Ironman 70.3 World Champion, 2006 & 2007 USA Triathlon Triathlete of the Year, 2006 ITU World Team Champion, USA National Champion in two different sports 2007, 2004 US Olympian (after only 18 months in the sport) etc.
His career could be recognized officially since 1996 when he got the first impressive prize in racing. He said that the most favorite race is the Olympics.
Besides, he shared about his favorite training ride that “ Believe it or not, I love to ride my trainer. It is kind of strange but I love the consistency it gives me and the fact that I can watch my favorite sporting events at the same time can’t be beat”
He shared a funny moment in career: “My first World Cup (St. Anthony’s in 2003) I thought that it would be a smart thing to undo my chinstrap before I got off of my bike to save time in transition. Well, I didn’t know this was against the rules – so when I got to my bike rack an official was waiting for me with a 10 second penalty.
He added: “I stood there in transition while everyone ran past me. I wasn’t amused at the time but I (and lots of my friends) had a good laugh about it afterwards. Just like me to learn my lessons the hard way.”
Andy Potts is truly amazing at racing. We would expect more from this member to develop in coming time.
Darren Pokoj (AUS)
We want to introduce a young ambitious, experienced and skillful rider – Darren Pokoj. He is a brand new member to join our team this year.
During the last 2 years, Darren made a big reputation and gained a lot of attention from the specialists when he obtained the prestigious prizes in races and contests.
Though he is just 21 year old now, Darren showed his potential numerous times. He proved his talent by a huge presence at the Nissan Qashqai Challenge in Madrid, Spain. Therefore, he deserved to get the recognition for what he devoted.
When we talk about his career, you will see that he began in BMX 12 years ago. From 2004 and 2005, he, however, was known as a successful DH and 4X rider when he won various national and international 4X and DH competitions. One year later, he concentrated on freeride and slopestyle competitions.
Following that success flow, he won the slopestyle at the Red Bull Trailfox, becoming the “Vienna Air King,”. After that, despite riding with a broken ankle, Darren got 5th at the Adidas Slopestyle and 6th at the Red Bull District Ride in Italy.
Many people coolly appraised his talent because Darren is one of the most versatile cyclists as well. No matter which surfaces he rides, he has a flair and style few can match.
Jordan Rapp (USA)
Jordan is a nice American professional racer. He was born on June 28th, 1980. He is quite young but talented and professional.
He loves to race in Harriman Sprint Triathlon. Jordan said “It was my first race and the springboard that led to this whole adventure.”.
When being asked about his favorite mentor, the answer is Simon Whitfield and Joel Filliol. He added Simon Whitfield had been his biggest mentor in the sport as an athlete, and his coach Joel Filliol had been the biggest mentor in terms of teaching him how to prepare.
There are plenty of notable achievements in his life: 5th place Ironman Canada 2007 (Ironman debut), 2nd place Clearlake 101 2007, 1st place SOMA half-ironman 2007, 1st place American Zofingen 2005. He could be the next successful racer generation.
Emma Snowsill (AUS)
Emma Snowsil was born on June 15, 1981. She is a talented Australian-New Zealander.
Emma is studying in the 2nd year of a degree in Health Science. Although she is a young rider, Emma obtained a lot of prestigious prizes in racing.
We might know about her following prizes: Highest award winning woman in Triathlon History, 2006 and 3-Time ITU Women’s Triathlon World Champion, Commonwealth Games Gold Medal winner 2006, Australian Olympic team member 2004 (alternate), New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, London winner.
She shared that Lance Armstrong is the sport hero in her career. Aside from racing, she also likes basketball, Surfing, Skiing. Thanks to this, she can practise and become a versatile professional cyclist.
Craig Walton (AUS)
Craig Walton is an Australian professional road rider. He was born on October 10, 1975. His favorite race is Noosa International Triathlon. He also defines the Chillingham loop (a great scenic 120km loop he does at home on Gold Coast Australia) as his favorite training ride.
It is admirable when he got so many outstanding prizes and the great performance during his career: 2002 Triathlete Of The Year, 2000 Sydney Olympic, 5-Time Noosa International Triathlon Champion, 3-Time Chicago Triathlon Champion.
He has more prestigious prizes: 2-Time LA Triathlon Champion, Australian Long Course, Olympic Distance and Short Course Triathlon Champion. That was impressive.
He shared that his favorite mentor is Greg Welch. Also, he said that a head stem coming loose at the 2003 Alcatraz Triathlon was his worst injury.
When we asked about his funny experience, he admitted “Forgetting my bike shoes at the 2004 Tampa St Anthony’s Triathlon. I got to my bike from the swim leg and noticed I forgot my shoes and had left them back at the hotel so I had to Time Trial in my run shoes. Luckily enough I still won the race.”
Cameron Zink (USA)
If you are being asked about Cameron Zink, I believe you would say these 3 words: experienced, amazing and confident.
Cameron has spent more than half his life racing. He dominated for most of his career. He placed second in the very first race Semi-pro National race.
To share more details about his career, we would say the most highlighted things are Best Trick at the Adidas Slopestyle, a first and third at Crankworx. That would be great for any rider to get.
Additionally, he also won the TEVA Games Speed Trial, got third overall at the Adidas Slopestyle, third at the Sea Otter Dirt Jump Competition, fourth at the Red Bull Bike Battle, fifth at Monster Park, seventh at the Red Bull Rampage. Finally, he is a member of the US National Team, which was so cool.
Cameron Zink always considers friends and family as highest priority. He is not determined to get married soon. His nicknames are Cam-steez and Camshaft. He desires to get a lot of victory but he knows that winning is both the best thing and the hardest thing for each cyclist.
He has shared his favorite places are Whistler, Hidden Valley and Northstar. Besides, his favorite riders are Kirt Vories, Shaun Palmer, Kyle Strait, Nico V, Cam McCaul, Brian Lopes, Cory Bohan and Aaron Chase.
Cameron has hobbies: motocross, snowboarding, swimming, surfing, cliff diving, driving and XBOX and gym to enhance strength and health. You might hear that he could be a pro snowboarder or a freestyle moto rider as well.
He always tries to encourage young cyclists by advising them to focus on fundamentals. “Be aggressive yet patient. Confident, but not too confident.”