Genevieve Jeanson and Tinker Juarez will be among the five cyclists competing for Floyd’s of Leadville Racing (FLR) in 2022. The newly-launched off-road team will target select gravel and mountain bike races across North America.
“After taking a couple years away from bicycle racing, we felt the timing was right to get back into it. Bicycle racing is where our core customers spend their energy and attention and we felt that being at the races would be an important step to further grow our brand,” said Floyd Landis, CEO of Floyd’s of Leadville CBD which is the title sponsor of the off-road team.
“Our aim with the program is to create a family feeling, and develop a racing culture that emphasizes the experiences and stories we will share together, more than racing results. We are looking forward to connecting with all cyclists out there.”
Will Geoghegan as Team Principal and Paul Thomas as Team Director will direct a five-rider team that includes three-time UCI Master’s cross-country mountain bike World Champion David ‘Tinker’ Juarez, 2021 Unbound XL champion Taylor Lideen, along with Anne Donley, under-23 mountain biker Victor Cashes, and former road cyclist Geneviève Jeanson. Landis and David Zabriskie will guest ride for the team at certain events next season, according to a team press release.
Juarez, 62, transformed a successful BMX career in the 1970s and 80s into a cross-country and mountain marathon racer. He is a two-time Team USA Olympic Games member, three-time NORBA national cross-country champion (1994, 1995, 1998), gold medal winner at the Pan Am games (1995), three-time UCI Master’s World Champion in cross-country, and five-time NORBA National 24-hour champion.
He was also the last American pro male to win a UCI World Cup cross-country race, until Christopher Blevins (Trinity Racing) took a historic win in September at Snowshoe, West Virginia.
“Tinker has eternally evolved his passion for bicycle racing, first from BMX to MTB then moving his focus to endurance and ultra-endurance events. Since 2001, he has set the standard for endurance racing excellence, competing in a mix of events that other racers can only fantasize about. Tinker remains one of the most recognizable racers anywhere in the world. For 2022, he continues his epic racing odyssey with FLR, where he endeavors to be at the front of the most challenging races on both Gravel and MTB,” the team stated.
Jeanson, 40, returns to racing on the gravel cycling scene following an absence from the sport for more than 15 years. She confessed in 2007 to using erythropoietin (EPO) during most of her career and subsequently issued a reduced 10-year ban for cooperating with an investigation conducted by the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) into her allegedly abusive former coach Andre Aubut and Montreal-based physician Maurice Duquette. Both were handed lifetime bans.
In an interview with Cyclingnews in 2015, Jeanson detailed allegations of verbal and physical abuse as a teenager and an adult, as an athlete and in her personal life outside of sport. Referencing her own experiences in an open letter to the the UCI that expressed her concern about abuse in sport, Jeanson wrote, “As you may recall, I retired from professional cycling in 2006 following a failed EPO test. In my situation, the 'omertà' surrounding the abuse I endured by my coach, and the ongoing EPO use were inextricably related.”
Floyd’s of Leadville Racing wrote regarding Jeanson joining the team, “Geneviève Jeanson returns to bicycle racing in 2022 for FLR. There may have never been a more talented yet also misconstrued racing cyclist. With a bright mind and open heart, Geneviève joins the FLR family and seeks the chance to have fun, race hard, and experience the inclusive spirit of gravel racing. FLR is providing her that chance and supporting her 100% in this endeavor. Everyone deserves to be happy and live their best life, especially Geneviève.”
Lideen, 32, was named as one of the 60 athletes selected for the inaugural Life Time Grand Prix series in 2022. He began racing in endurance mountain biking in 2015 and his career highlights include winning this year’s Unbound Gravel XL, winning at 24 Hours in Old Pueblo Solo (2018) and placing second at 24 Hour World Championships (2018).
Donely, 44, started racing in 2010 and has won multiple Colorado State road and criterium titles, as well as national titles in criterium and on the track. On the gravel racing scene, she has finished in the top 10 at Belgian Waffle Ride San Diego, Cedar City, and Lawrence and also at Gravel Worlds.
"If we aren't laughing and having a good time riding, why else are we doing this?! Really the camaraderie is what I'm looking for,” she said.
Cashes, 21, competes in under-23 mountain bike racing with Team USA and this year finished 13th at the Sea Otter Pro Men’s cross-country event, and finished 22nd at the inaugural Big Sugar Gravel. Floyd’s of Leadville will support Cashes in his development in gravel and mountain bike races.
Floyd’s of Leadville Racing confirmed that it will debut at the Gravel and Whine event in Temecula, California on January 29. Team staff and athletes will also get together at an opening team training camp held from February 5-13 in Temecula.
The team have confirmed its plans to compete at the Belgian Waffle Ride Quadruple Crown events (BWR), the Life Time Grand Prix Series (LGP), and the Southeast Gravel Series (SES), along with gravel and mountain bike events such as 24 hours in the Old Pueblo and the Borah Epic MTB and Gravel.
Floyd’s of Leadville Racing have partnered with Go4Graham Foundation, a community based movement to shred the stigma surrounding mental health and to promote mental wellness through physical activity, connection. and education. The team aim to help raise awareness for anyone in need of help in overcoming the barriers of fear and stigma and get connected to the help they need.
Tentative gravel and mountain bike calendar 2022
- 24 Hours of Old Pueblo – Tucson, AZ
- Gravel Battle - Clinton, SC (SES)
- The Mid South Gravel - Stillwater, OK
- Sea Otter MTB – Monterrey, CA (LGP)
- Greenwood Gravel Grinder - Abbeville, SC (SES)
- Valhalla Gravel - Walhalla, SC (SES)
- Belgian Waffle Ride #1 – San Diego, CA (BWR)
- Belgian Waffle Ride #2 - Asheville, NC (BWR)
- Borah Epic Gravel & MTB - Hayward WI
- Unbound Gravel - Emporia, KS (LGP)
- Tyron Gravel Grinder - Tryon, NC (SES)
- Crusher in the Tushar – Cedar City, Utah- (LGP)
- Leadville Trail 100 MTB - Leadville, CO- (LGP)
- SBT GRVL - Steamboat, CO
- Grinduro – Charlevoix, Quebec
- Falling Creek Gravel - Zirconia, NC (SES)
- Belgian Waffle Ride #3 – St. George, Utah (BWR)
- Chequamegon MTB – Cable, WI (LGP)
- Doownweerg Gravel Race - Abbeville, SC (SES)
- Sea Otter Scarecrow Gravel Grind - Horseshoe Resort, Ontario
- Big Sugar Gravel - Bentonville, AR (LGP)
- Belgian Waffle Ride #4 – Lenexa, KS (BWR)
- Afgravelstan 1.0 - Las Vegas, NV
