Junior Evan Cooper will head to Madison, Wisc. next month for the USA Cycling Collegiate Road National Championships. Cooper is the sole rider representing Tufts at Nationals, which will run this year from May 6-8 near the University of Wisconsin.
Although Cooper will face nearly 100 other cyclists from mostly Div. I schools, the Tufts rider still believes that he can perform well against the best collegiate cyclists in the country.
"My goal is for the podium," Cooper said. "I want to finish in the top three and earn a medal."
The college cycling season begins in early March and continues until the end of April. Tufts cyclists earn points for finishing in the top 20 in each Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference race, and at the end of the season, the athletes with the most points get the opportunity to travel to Nationals.
At Nationals, Cooper will be competing in the 45-mile road race, which features several steep hills each lap.
"It should be a race of attrition," Cooper said. "It'll be more of a race of survival than one where somebody just runs away with [the win].There's a lot of climbing, so I think it should be pretty challenging."
While many Tufts students are looking ahead to the end of the school year and the fun that this weekend is sure to bring, Cooper has kept his focus on preparations for the competition. Through continued hard work, he hopes to be at his strongest heading into the biggest race of the year.
"I'm going to train hard this weekend and probably not have fun at Spring Fling," he said.
