Throwback Thursday: Junior Men, 2004 Cyclocross National Championships

Even though cycling can be a lifelong sport, it’s no surprise that cyclocrossers come and go. Life has a habit of getting in the way of a largely-recreational pursuit, especially for racers who get their start early and then later find other life priorities like college and other cycling disciplines. Some rising starts disappear as quickly as they appear, and we’re left wondering where the Walker Fergusons and Matt Kellys of the world are now. Thus it’s impressive to see the names of riders who took the start of the 2004 USA Cycling Cyclocross National Championships in Portland, Oregon, and see how many of them continued to race their bikes at a high level.

The race heavily featured a slew of future cycling stars, many of whom are still involved today. Racers like Tejay Van Garderen (8th in 2004), Peter Stetina (5th), and Alex Howes (13th) are now rising road racing stars and contesting the 2014 Tour de France.

And while Internet directeur sportifs were crediting Lars Boom’s cyclocross skills for his commanding victory in Stage 5 of the 20014 Tour de France and calling for other racers to give ’cross a try, we’ve got proof that all three Americans have high-level experience navigating bumps and slick surfaces.

Lars Boom was an animal …… showed his Cyclocross roots today. pic.twitter.com/pb7a6CQ70n

— PuffaJones (@PuffaJones) July 9, 2014

Other notables from the 2004 race include Bjorn Selander (1st) who raced the Giro, CXM Contributor and movie star Adam McGrath (9th) who still lines up in the Northwest, and Brady Kappius (3rd) runs a component business and is one of the top singlespeeders and Colorado racers. Further back, Adam Switters (14th) raced professionally in the 2008 Tour of Utah, and Austin Carroll (18th) has been a familiar face at the USA Cycling Elite Track Nationals year after year. Michael Hosey (19th) has been racing on mountain and cyclocross bikes for Marin. And not to be forgotten (who can forget his gestures?), Colt McElwaine (27th), is now a popular commentator for BTBTV.

And that guy in second place? Nick Weighall won the U23 National Championships and podiumed in multiple UCI races. Where is he now? Grab a now-mailing Issue 25 for our feature on the former champion. That’s over a third of the 30 finishers in the 2004 race, and not the only racers who continued to impress in cycling. See someone else worth a call-out? Drop a comment below.

2004 USA Cycling Cyclocross National Championships - Junior Men Results - Portland, OR