Zach McDonald Interview in Cyclocross Magazine
Zach McDonald just finished up his third trip to Belgium with EuroCrossCamp. Photo Courtesy of Matthew J. Clark/www.Str8films.com
Jamie Mack of Cyclocross Magazine had a talk with EuroCrossCamp Alum Zach McDonald at the end of ECXC VII. Read the entire article on CXMagazine.com
Cyclocross Magazine has had the pleasure of talking to a few of the younger racers that attended EuroCrossCamp this year. As the camp winds down, I spoke with one of the camp veteran’s, Zach McDonald, almost a year after we last interviewed him after his break-out performance at the 2009 Roubaix World Cup. At 19 years of age, McDonald has been known to ‘cross fans for a couple of years now; he’s already been through the camp three times, twice as a junior and this year as a U23.
In 2008, Zach swept through the Junior races at the Mercer and Portland USGP’s and then capped the season by claiming the US Junior National Title in Kansas City. McDonald used the camp, as he had the previous year, for experience and as a strength-building warm-up on the way to the World Championships.
2009 saw similar success throughout the year. Local wins and podiums at USGP’s and other races indicated that McDonald was adapting well to the new surroundings after stepping up to U23. Unfortunately, an early mechanical would take away McDonald’s chances at the U23 national title, but a strong showing in the Collegiate race put another national championship jersey on McDonald’s back.
As he has the past two years, McDonald again made the trip across the Atlantic to the house in Izegem, Belgium that serves as the USA Cycling base in Europe. I caught up with McDonald at the tail end of his stay, just before he left for an extended training trip to Mallorca, Spain with Troy Wells, to see how the camp was treating him.