Track and field injury 'best thing to happen' that led Jonas Walton to junior Hour Record and new road focus

This past year 20-year-old Jonas Walton won the Canadian U23 time trial national championship and a pair of gold medals on the road at USA Cycling Collegiate nationals. Walton can thank his parents Dana Gygory Walton and Brian Walton, both accomplished cyclists in their careers, for dual citizenship.

Jonas is the middle of three children for the cycling couple. Dana Gyory Walton has won eight world titles at UCI Masters Track World Championships, five of them coming in 2011 when Jonas was seven years old. Jonas' father was the 1998 Canadian road champion and a two-time Pan-American road champion, riding professionally across 11 years with 7-Eleven and Saturn. 

However, even with a deep pedigree in the sport of cycling, Jonas did not gravitate to racing right away. He was hoping to compete in college in distance running, but was, literally, sidetracked towards cycling. His role models are all Canadian cyclists, but he is a fan of many sports.

"My family and I are massive Baltimore Ravens fans," he admitted when he sent some photos to Cyclingnews for the piece. "The Ravens beat the Steelers in the first round of the playoffs. I'm not going to jinx it, but... big hopes this season."

As a teenager Jonas had huge success on the track, in 2022 in Mexico, he set the World Junior Hour Record, going better than the previous mark of 49.1km and extending the distance to 50.993km. That was special for the family too, as his father won a silver medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games in the Points race.

He's one of the new signings this year for Project Echelon Racing, a US Continental team which begins the 2025 season in two weeks at the Mallorca Challenge one-day races in Spain. Jonas Walton spoke to Cyclingnews about his new team, his path across Canada and the USA as a junior racer and where he thinks the road will lead. 

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Cyclingnews: Tell us about your family, with roots in Canada and the United States and how you get into competitive cycling.

Jonas Walton: My hometown would be Westminster, Maryland. My mom's side of the family is all from Maryland, and my dad's side is all from Vancouver, western Canada. I am the last of my three siblings to start cycling. My older sister and younger sister started racing a year before me (perhaps they paved the way for me to start). Their first race was the 2019 Junior National Championships. They both did it for fun with only 2-3 weeks of training and held their own. 

Now, they have decided they want to start racing again, and their first race together will be in February (2025). I'm sad I won't be there (I will be in Mallorca), but I'll be back and already have some races on the calendar for us all to do.

CN: And what about another family member, your dog?

JW: I have a hairless dog named Bastille. He's the biggest sweetie pie.

CN: In what other sports besides cycling have you been active, especially when you were younger? What sports and pro athletes do you follow as a fan?

JW: I used to run track and field for as long as I can remember, mainly 3000m, 1500m, and 800m. However, around my junior or sophomore year in high school, I started getting extreme knee pain. A very sudden and sharp growth spurt messed up my knees. I went to one doctor who told me something I didn't want to hear, so I went to another. He said the exact same thing - that as long as my growth plates were open, I would not get better. So, my hopes of running D1 in college were over. 

However, both doctors told me I could do one of two things... start swimming or cycling. It turns out getting injured was the best thing ever to happen because I never would have started cycling, and it turns out it's way more fun than running.

CN: So your parents, accomplished racers, did not steer you into cycling right away? How did they inspire you as a child to be active? 

JW: Considering my parent's history with cycling, most people assume they got me into cycling, but it wasn't further from the case. I owned bikes growing up, but my parents never pushed me to race. It was just something we did for fun. Nothing crazy; when I was little, I thought 5-plus miles was insane. I only did my first ride over 10 miles when I was 15. Then, a few weeks later, my parents convinced me I could quadruple that to 40 miles, and it took a while, but I loved it. I think we stopped at least four long times, and the main thing I remember was wanting to try to do it again but faster.

CN: You have raced the last two years on the Continental level with Team Ecoflo Chronos, a team out of Canada. What do you see is different about the change to Project Echelon Racing?

JW: The difference is the organization and the higher level racing I get to do. A lot of Conti teams aren't made equal, and t his one is definitely a lot more serious. You do a lot more high level races too.

CN: You have said there is a lot you want to learn from the older riders on Project Echelon Racing, like positioning in pack racing. What other skills are you looking to develop for road racing?

JW: I really want to sit on more experienced guy's wheels and watch them race, see how they move through a field, conserve energy, and learn when they know a break is or isn't going to go. There have been a few times when older guys on past teams, specifically Edo Goldstein, have asked me why I would follow or make moves when the peloton wasn't letting anything go. I still haven't figured out the feeling of the peloton when the big teams decide when something can or can't go. So maybe the older guys can teach me to sense that "feeling".

CN: You mentioned you are looking forward to racing against other Canadians in the pro peloton at European events in 2025. For riders like Hugo Houle, Michael Woods or Derek Gee - who are all with Israel-Premier Tech - what skills do they exhibit that you would like to emulate?

JW: I think all of those guys are big engines who can use their TT abilities in road races. Hugo Houle and Derek Gee, specifically, both have won the elite Canadian time trial national championships. Hugo Houle has won a stage of the Tour de France by going solo. Derek Gee has a number of breakaway results and a top 10 on GC at the Tour. Michael Woods also has a stage win of the Tour from a breakaway. They really succeed at long-range attacks and use their big engines to put distance on the field, and I'd love to try the same.

CN: Of that trio of Canadian riders, is there one in particular you follow? And have you ever met him? 

JW: I really like watching Derek Gee. I got to race alongside him at the World Championships this year in the mixed-team relay. I went out the back pretty quick, but he made sure our #1 rule was to "have fun". It was a great experience, and hopefully, next time, I'll have a better day so I can provide more support.

CN: The UCI Road World Championships will be in Montréal in 2027. Are you eyeing that for U23 competitions already? How big is that for your personal goals?

JW: It's a ways away. I would love to start eyeing it, but there are too many important races to come, and I'm too busy even to consider it right now. It would be a dream come true to race a home national championship (exceptionally rare for a Canadian), but right now, I am 100% focused on my races coming up this spring.

CN: Tell us where you go to college and what do you enjoy studying?

JW: I go to a college near Charlotte, North Carolina - Belmont Abbey. There's definitely a belief in cycling where some people think you need to "fully commit". However, if I only rode my bike, I would have far too much free time, and I think I'd go crazy if I weren't busy. Between racing, classes, homework, travel, meetings with professors discussing work while I'm away, and collegiate/Project Echelon team responsibilities, I've definitely kept myself busy. 

I also found out I really enjoy Economics (my major), and my minor in Data Analytics has only further indulged my love for cycling. I'll graduate in 2026, so that's coming way too soon, and I couldn't have enjoyed my time here more.

CN: What do you like doing in any free time you have? 

JW: I have a passion for cooking. The only thing I don't like about college is that I can't bring any cooking equipment. If I don't get cycling-related gifts, my family usually gives me cooking-related ones. So when I'm back home, I usually do the cooking—anything from pasta from scratch, a medium-rare steak, or ramen with homemade broth. I'm usually back home when on college breaks, so this is another way I stay busy when I have too much free time.