Todd Wells

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Todd Wells was born December 25, 1975 in Kingston, N.Y. He fell in love with the bicycle at an early age starting with BMX from the age of five through sixteen. After graduating high school he picked up his first mountain bike and has been on a tear ever since. He found his way out to Durango, CO where he attended Fort Lewis College and began a pursuit of his career in cycling.

Wells won two Cross Country Mountain Bike Collegiate titles for Fort Lewis College and the inaugural Semi Pro NORBA National Series title in 1996 before taking a break from his studies to become a full time professional cyclist with the Specialized Mountain Dew team.

His initial professional career was short lived as he decided to hang up his wheels at the end of the 1998 season and finish his collegiate studies at the University of Arizona. In 2000 he graduated from the University of Arizona with a B.S. in Management Information Systems and immediately started working for I.B.M., a company he interned with during his time as a student.

Wells quickly realized that being a bike racer was better then having a “real” job and started training once again with his sights set on returning to the professional ranks. Some good results landed him a contract with the Mongoose Hyundai team and he was back on the circuit full time by the end of 2001.

By 2008 he was back where he started with the Specialized team and his results seem to get better with age. He has won nine National Championship titles across four disciplines. In 2011 he took on some endurance races and racked up wins in both the Leadville 100 and La Ruta de Los Conquistadors.

2012 might have been his best season yet with his third trip to the Olympic Games where he placed a career best 10th. He also managed to win his second PROXCT series title, second Pan American Championship title and stood on the podium at the Windham World Cup.

When Todd isn’t racing all over the world you can find him in one of three places; hanging out with his wife Meg and dog Winston, grinding it out on the golf course or hitting the dirt jump trails around Durango or his winter home of Tucson, AZ.

Achievements

2012 Marathon National Champion
2012, 2010 PROXCT National Champion
2012, 2010 Continental Champion
2012, 2010, 2001 Short Track National Champion
2012 Olympic Games 10th
2012 Windham World Cup 4th
2011 US Cyclocross National Champion
2011 La Ruta de los Conquistadores Champion
2011 Leadville Trail 100 Champion
2011 US Cross Coutry Mountain Bike National Champion
2011 Sea Otter Classic XC 1st Place
2011 World Championships 7th
2004, 2008 Olympic Games Team Member

Jet Lag

July 22, 2010

Last weekend couldn't have gone any better for me. I've won National titles before in Cross and Short Track but never the XC and the Short Track title came a long time ago. I had Meg and Winston there and both my parents and Meg's parents. I was so pumped after winning the XC that to get the Short Track win also was amazing. It was one of those times when I felt in control the whole time and was never worried about cracking. I guess I'm going to have to play golf the day before all my important races now.

The new Carbon Epic 29er was the perfect tool to get the job done. It is a huge advantage having a super light full suspension 29er that weighs less and works better then most 26ers out there.

I had a picture of a bunch of the Durango locals in their Stars and Bars jerseys but I can't seem to upload photos from the Hotel Suisse. There were so many jerseys that went back to Durango though it's hard to keep them all straight.

I went back to Vail with the family on Sunday night and before I could get settled I was packing to fly out to Switzerland on Tuesday morning for the next round of the WC. The trip went relatively smoothly, I flew out of DIA, I had a ticket waiting for me at the airport and didn't have to scramble to try and buy one last minute. My upgrades went through at the last second and I I got to sleep most of the way from DC to Zurich. Benno and Dylan collected me once Lene arrived and we came up to Champery yesterday.

Champery has to be one of the most beautiful venues we visit all year. It is like staying in a Swiss postcard. The course is the most demanding of the year I think. They have changed it a bit for this year and it has seen quite a bit of racing since they had the WC here last year and the Swiss Cup here already this year. The lap it very short, less then 15 minutes so it gets plenty of use. There are two main climbs, 1, two or three minutes and the other closer to a minute. They are super steep and I'm pinned to the nose of the saddle trying to get traction. They are also the only smooth parts of the course. The rest of the time is spent on gnarly roots and the tires don't see the dirt much, just wood and rocks.

The new descent they added is super steep and I can barely make the sharp corner halfway down. I only made it once yesterday with out taking a foot out. After that it's a big drop to a steep descent that I fear I'm boing to burp my tires off the rims every time I hit it. It's a real bike handlers course and will be super technical if it rains.

It is good to be back together with the team again. Burry is stuck in SA right now though and will only get in on Friday since his Visa expired yesterday and Claire lost her passport and just found it again after her flight already departed. She is in route today though. Scmooz and Lene made it yesterday though along with the rest of the staff and our in house team guy Geoff who has been to the Tour, some World Cup triathlon with 400,000 spectators and now the MTB World Cup before heading back to Morgan Hill.

I'm running a little late today since I was wide awake from 4am-7am last night and just woke up in time to miss breakfast. The shutters here in Europe are awesome for sleeping let in zero light. The river in town is great for ice baths too. I get some funny looks from the school kids and the guys that work at the auto repair shop came out to laugh at me for a while too. The things we do to get faster.

Time for me to get going so I can get on the course before it starts to rain. It would also be nice to get back in time to watch the Tour, today should be a great day. To watch, probably not much fun to race except for about 5 guys.

I wonder what Winston and Meg and doing right now.....

Stats for Todd Wells are coming soon.
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