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Cycling proves the right sport for Geneva grad Young

Editor's note: Three Geneva High School graduates since 2007 who all ran track for the Vikings - Tyler Hickey, Kevin McDowell and Eric Young - all have become Olympic-level athletes in other sports: bobsled, triathlon and cycling, respectively. We're looking back at how each of them got there this week, visiting today with Young.

Eric Young called it a "soft retirement," brought on by a combination of the pandemic and a bit of downturn in professional cycling.

But what a ride it was.

Young, a 2007 Geneva graduate, became one of the top cyclists in the country. While a student at Indiana University, he won the prestigious Little 500 three times.

His 10-year professional career included various championships in the U.S. and internationally. For the last few years, he turned his attention to track cycling, narrowly missing a spot on the 2020 U.S. Olympic team.

Young's last race came in January, and he's since started working on a two-year Master's program in biostatistics at Colorado University as he prepares for a new career.

"The cycling industry in the U.S. as far as racing had a hard time for a couple years," Young said. "Teams that were able to support riders were a bit worse than it was in the past. I thought maybe I should stop racing and do something else and then the pandemic hit and that was the final nail in the coffin."

Young ran the hurdles for the track team at Geneva and also played soccer and ran cross country.

During his junior and senior years Young started going on family bike rides with his parents, Steve and Carol, and brothers Kyle and Craig. He got his first road bike and began following the Tour de France.

His interest in cycling increased in college at Indiana. Besides the Little 500, he spent summers entering races around the Midwest and moved up the amateur ranks. After graduating he found pro teams looking for riders.

"It was great for me because I wasn't sure what I wanted to do after college anyway," Young said. "I was a bit tired of school and pretty excited when cycling came along and offered me a different avenue."

During his first year as a pro in 2011 Young won the U.S. professional criterium championship, and he repeated that victory in 2013.

From 2011 to 2016 Young also won races in Europe and Asia, won various stages on the Tour of Utah and regularly competed in the Tour of California, one of the biggest races in North America.

Around 2016 Young realized he had accomplished what he could in road racing and turned his focus to the indoor track racing that's held during the Summer Olympics.

His team came close to making the Olympics, placing 10th in the world in qualifying times. Only the top eight qualify, and it turned out the 2020 games were postponed because of the pandemic.

"It was a really cool experience representing the U.S.," Young said. "We raced in two world championships, and it was super eye-opening going against the best guys in the world. Super fun to be in that environment."

Among numerous countries around the globe, Young competed in Belarus and South America.

"That's 100 percent been one of the highlights," Young said. "Along with teammates and relationships, seeing the world has been such a great experience. I wouldn't trade the whole career for anything largely because of that. You can always look back and think I could have won this race or done a little better here but I wouldn't really change it because it was pretty awesome. I got to see a lot."

During the peak of his training as a professional cyclist, Young spent at least 30 hours a week on his bike, in addition to other workouts.

In retirement, Young's looking forward to riding for fun.

"In Colorado there's a lot of trails and I'll never be able to ride them all," Young said. "It's just a really fun way to see an area. It's nice not to have pressure of maintaining a level of fitness and performing at the next race but still having fun on the bike and seeing new places."

Young also enjoys thinking back to his high school days and the surprising turn that followed.

"To look back, I was not the best high school athlete at all," Young said. "I would not have been a collegiate athlete if I kept on running or playing soccer or anything. It's kind of amazing to me to look back on that and I was one of the few guys to find a way to be a professional athlete. It's neat. I just had to find the right sport."

Eric Young, a 2007 Geneva graduate, recently retired after a 10-year career as a professional cyclist. Courtesy of Eric Young
Eric Young, a 2007 Geneva graduate, recently retired after a 10-year career as a professional cyclist. Courtesy of Eric Young
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