Chloe Woodruff and Judy Freeman will be back in the colors of the Crank Brothers Race Club for this season. The two American mountain bikers will focus on a mix of US Pro XCT and World Cup events.
After joining the team for the 2011 cyclo-cross season, Woodruff came on pedaling hard. In her first year racing 'cross, she earned a fourth place finish at her first USGP race. She even stood on the top step of the podium at a UCI race, the North Carolina Grand Prix. Her heart, however, is truly with mountain bike racing. Not only was she a two-time under 23 cross country national champion, but she was also named to the 2012 Olympic Long Team and competed for a place on the London Olympic Team.
Woodruff had an impressive 2012 season, which included breakthrough performances at the mountain bike national championships, where she finished sixth in the cross country and fifth in the short track. She carried that form through to the Missoula, Montana Pro XCT for a third place cross country finish and a win at the Ore to Shore 48-mile race in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
2012 was Freeman's first year with the Race Club. Last year, her season got off to an incredible start when she was named as one of the nine riders on the Olympic Long Team and was vying for a spot to the London Games. At the first race of the season, the Mellow Johnny's Classic, she finished in impressive second..
Some bad luck and injuries plagued her World Cup campaign, not only costing her a tooth, but also slowing down her progress in trying to qualify for the Olympics. However, once recovered, she rode to a fourth place at the Montana Pro XCT and won the final Pro XCT round at the Subaru Cup in Wisconsin.
Woodruff and Freeman will begin their 2013 seasons with three rounds of the US Pro XCT - all in California. They'll also race the Whiskey 50 and the opening two World Cup rounds in German and the Czech Republic in May.
The pair will race Scott Scale and Spark cross country bikes this season.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Thank you for reading 5 articles in the past 30 days*
