Michael van den Ham comes to Winnipeg with confidence

This weekend is the Canadian Cyclocross Championships in Winnipeg. Last year’s third place winner in the men’s elite division, Red Truck-Garneau p/b Easton’s Michael van den Ham is ready to step up to the top step. He comes as part of a strong team–Canada’s first pro purely cyclocross squad–that includes Raphael Gagné; Smithers, BC’s own Craig Richey; and Natasha Elliot.

Michael took time to answer a few CCM questions in the busy week leading to the nationals.

What’s your goal for this weekend?
To be honest, my goal for this weekend is pretty much the same as it was last year. I’d be content with a top-5, happy with the podium. That said the big difference between last year and this year is that I believe I’m capable of winning. Last year I really had no idea what to expect. Twelve-months later and I know it’s a course that suits me, I know I have the strongest team in the race alongside me, and I know that I’m on good form. I’m certainly not going in expecting to win or even expecting to podium, but I know that I have as good a shot of putting on the jersey at the end of the day as anyone else out there.

Does being the UCI number one ranked Canadian put you under any pressure?
Not really. The ranking is pretty neat to have but there are so many Canadians between 90 and 110 on the UCI rankings that it I could lose that ranking just as quickly as I got it. Obviously I would love to keep the ranking, but my goals for nationals haven’t changed because of it.

How do you like the Winnipeg course compared to say, South Surrey, BC where I first met you?
Well, I love the mud so I guess the Surrey course had the upper hand there, but I think in every other way the Winnipeg has set a new standard on what a national championships should be. What makes the Winnipeg course special is that it is exciting to watch. The way the course designers built it means that gaps are small and the race is never decided until the very end. As a racer, I guess I like a mud-fest where gaps are huge and placings can be secured just by riding harder than other people, but as someone who wants to see the sport grow I think the Winnipeg course is much more exciting.

Hoping for the muck again?
Absolutely. I have no idea what the Winnipeg course will look like in the rain, but I do know that I’ll like it.

What has your year with Red Truck-Garneau been like so far?
For me, that season has just began, but so far so good. Having and running a team has certainly made me busy, but I’m very happy with how the team has come along, how my form has come along, and with a couple results I’ve landed this year.

The highlight has been racing at the front of the Providence Day 1 and ending up in 9th. The lowlight has probably been going out too hard in Vegas and blowing to the moon. I was miserable for the last 30 minutes of that race! You can even watch Sven (Nys)and Wout (Van Aert) lap me on the coverage.

Has your spring injury affected the beginning of your ‘cross season?
I think it hindered me in someways, but in the long run was beneficial to my season. I broke my scaphoid on May long weekend at a road race in Enumclaw, but was very fortunate to be out the cast in six weeks rather than the 12 weeks the doctors told me it could be. After speaking to (former Master 40-49 National Champion) Ian Auld of Matrix MSK in Calgary and my coach, Shaun Adamson, I realized that I would be able to log plenty of base miles while in cast. I actually got on the bike just two-days after the crash and put in some of the longest weeks I did all year while wearing it. While this meant that I came into the season without as much top-end as I normally would from, I think it’s given me a depth to my fitness that was lacking last year.

What’s your rig this year? Still the Trek Boone?
No Treks this year! We are on the brand new Garneau Steeple-XC ‘cross bike, which might be the nicest feeling ‘cross bikes I’ve ridden. Garneau has been the clothing and helmet sponsor for Trek Red Truck for the past couple of years and were a completely natural fit as a bike sponsor and co-title sponsor of our team.

What was the inspiration for issuing your own line of gear this year?
As I’m sure you’ve heard time and time again, bike racing is an expensive sport. Even with a lot of sponsors stepping up to make Red Truck – Garneau p/b Easton Cycling the most well supported ‘cross team in Canada, I would be lying if I said it paid for my entire season, never mind for food, rent, and all those other necessary things. At the same time, planning my three-month cyclocross season in Belgium meant that working throughout the season, as I’ve done in the past, simply wasn’t going to work, so I needed to supplement that income from somewhere else.

I’ve put out my hand before and have always come away amazed with the generosity of the cyclocross community, however I realized that I couldn’t rely on altruism to build my cyclocross career. I realized that I needed to build a more sustainable model. After seeing what my good friend Mark McConnell had done with Hotsauce, realized that self-branding and creating products could be a great way to do this and MVDH Cyclocross was born. The goal behind MVDH Cyclocross is two-fold; on one hand, the goal behind MVDH Cyclocross to give all those people in the cyclocross community who have been supporting me all these years something tangible for their support; on the other hand, the goal is to create unique products that people want to buy even if they haven’t the faintest idea who I am.