2016 U23 National Champion Tobin Ortenblad had a breakthrough weekend in Rochester, finishing fourth at the 2016 Rochester Cyclocross Day 1 C1 race at the new Genesee Valley Park, and then using securing another top five finish, mere seconds behind the winner, Jeremy Powers in the C2 on Sunday.
The U23 Champion’s strong weekend has him sitting in fourth in the USA Cycling Pro CX rankings behind leader Powers.
Lee Barber caught up with the 2016 U23 Cyclocross National Champion before his second race of the weekend for a quick interview. Ortenblad is one of only three Americans to beat the dominant Powers over the last two seasons, and the young rider hopes to jump up to be one of the top Elite pros this season and consistently battle Powers and others for the win:
“I’ve been doing a lot of training the last two months to make that jump to that front group… I’ve kind of flirted with that front group a bit this past year, but I’ve never actually been able to perform up there.” -Ortenblad after his Saturday C1 fourth place
See the full interview below, and see our interviews with Caroline Mani, Rebecca Fahringer, and Jeremy Powers here.
