Not a year goes by that Tim Johnson doesn’t impress American cyclo-cross fans with an extraordinary performance. And it’s always been this way. Since he rocketed onto the international ‘cross scene with the first-ever U.S. medal at a UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships, bronze in the Under-23 race in 1999, Tim has gone from strength to strength and largely helped define the meteoric growth of the sport in North America.
Tim started his cycling career as a mountain biker and his current role as co-captain of OUCH/Maxxis Professional Cycling Team, but its been the racing in the months of September through January that have defined the Massachusetts native’s career. Tim’s list of significant ‘cross wins borders on the ungainly – Junior, Under-23, and Elite U.S. National Championships, overall titles in the U.S. Grand Prix of Cyclo-cross and New England Championship Cyclo-cross Series. And it’s not just the wins, it’s how they’re won. A master of the adverse conditions, Tim shows an unflappable confidence on the bike when the racecourse turns wet, muddy, snowy, or a combination of all three.
Wearing the coveted stars-and-stripes National Champion’s jersey in 2008, Tim put together a massively successful season for Team Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com. Despite suffering a knee injury midway through the season, Tim won three stops of the U.S. Grand Prix of Cyclo-cross and the overall series title, finished second in the inaugural North American Cyclo-cross Trophy Series, and collected a mess of important individual race wins. For 2009-10, Tim will tackle a full North American schedule before heading over to Europe in January for a run at the 2010 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in Tabor, Czech Republic.
