Bend's Boswell picked for USA Cycling's junior worlds team

USA Cycling this week chose Bend's Ian Boswell to represent the United States at the UCI Junior Men's World Championship Road Race.

Fellow Oregonian Jacob Rathe (Portland, Hammer/CMG Racing) will join Boswell at the Moscow race, along with Lawson Craddock (Houston, Texas/Hot Tubes), Nathan Brown (Covington, Tenn./Hot Tubes), Gavin Mannion (Dedham, Mass./Hot Tubes) and Ryan Eastman (Petaluma, Calif./All Sport-Team Swift).


Boswell's impressive second-place overall performance at the recent Red River Gorge UCI Elite Junior Stage Race in Kentucky paved the way for his selection to the team -- and for an extended stay away from his home in Bend.

"He's been gone since about February," Boswell's father, Grant, said. "He's been home about three weeks since then."

Ian Boswell has been in Europe training and racing with the USA Cycling development program based out of Izegem, Belgium. He's also been racing around the United States with his Hot Tubes elite junior cycling team.

"They are like the Astana of junior cycling," Grant Boswell said.

It's no exaggeration. Hot Tubes riders, directed by Toby Stanton, snagged the top-four spots at the Red River Gorge race, with Rathe claiming the fifth spot after winning the "Queen" stage. That kind of team dominance earned Hot Tubes' riders four of the six available spots on the USA Cycling worlds team.

"For Ian it's been a huge exposure," Grant Boswell said. "The teamwork there is phenomenal."

Also not an exaggeration. Ian Boswell last month made the front page of the New York Times website in a photo where he was trailing Lance Armstrong and Levi Leipheimer at the Nevada City Classic.

But Ian's been working at it for awhile. Originally coached by legendary endurance athlete Steve Larsen, the 18-year-old elite junior now has a unique barter-system deal with current coach Bart Bowen, who won multiple national championships in the '90s while riding for Saturn and other domestic teams. Now in Bend, Bowen runs a local sports performance lab.

"He essentially coaches Ian for free," Grant Boswell said. "Ian babysits and does yardwork. Bart's pretty cool."

Ian Boswell graduated high school in Bend a semester early and plans to attend junior college in Chico, Calif., next fall.

"He'll got to school part time, work part time and ride his bike," Grant Boswell said. "Chico is an awesome place to train. It sits at the base of the Sierra Nevadas at sea level. So you've got flats and you can climb 5,000 or 6,000 feet right out your back door."

Grant Boswell, a former professional triathlete who finished third in the 1984 Ironman and first in the Australian Ironman in 1985, said Ian plans to send out some race resumes and see if any U23 teams "pop up."

"I really want Ian to go to college," Grant Boswell said. "So I'd like him to start getting some credits. Then when spring comes and things start heating up, we'll see."

You can read Ian Boswell's blog HERE.

RESULTS
2009 Red River Gorge Invitational
Overall Classification
July 14-17, 2009

1.Nathan Brown (Covington, Tenn./Hot Tubes)
2.Ian Boswell (Bend, Ore./Hot Tubes
3.Anders Newbury (Fairfield, Vt. Hot Tubes)
4.Lawson Craddock (Houston, Texas/Hot Tubes)
5.Jacob Rathe (Portland, Ore./CMG Racing)

USA Cycling Junior Men's Road Team
2009 UCI Junior Road and Track World Championships
Moscow, Russia
August 11-15, 2009

Lawson Craddock (Houston, Texas/Hot Tubes)
Nathan Brown (Covington, Tenn./Hot Tubes)
Jacob Rathe (Portland, Ore./CMG Racing)
Gavin Mannion (Dedham, Mass./Hot Tubes)
Ian Boswell (Bend, Ore./Hot Tubes)
Ryan Eastman (Petaluma, Calif./All Sport-Team Swift)