Derek bouchard-hall biography

The disappointment comes from we'd like it to be more, but we do have 70, people out there participating in a lot of events, and I think that's great. CN : I think a lot of people see you as a reformer coming in. There have been some issues in the past, you know, with US Postal and some accusations made against Steve Johnson that maybe he knew more about that than he let on.

Do you see yourself in that role coming into the organisation? On doping, it's going to be absolutely clear where USA Cycling's stance is. There will be no doubt whatsoever that we are staunchly against it. And we are working on a few things right now, where we are trying to make the penalties more severe, more testing, more education and really being the voice of moral authority.

I myself competed during that era.

Derek bouchard-hall biography

I experienced what it was like to try and compete clean and then felt the moral outrage that one feels at being cheated by that. But today I also understand how awesome it is to compete clean. That's something that I'm just in a great position to do, given my history, and I think everyone who is in a leadership position in the sport from that era was really challenged by that.

And there aren't very many managers who have come out of that without having to face some criticism: could you have done more, should you have done more? That era is passed. Doping is still a problem, but I have the benefit of coming into it fresh and new, with my particular history. I've been staunchly for clean cycling all along. That puts me in a powerful position.

Does that make me a reformer? I don't know. But there's going to be no doubt on that particular issue where we stand. Hopefully we see some interesting things that come going forward. There are other elements where just change of leadership brings a fresh look at things. And I absolutely, along with the board and Bob Stapleton in particular, are taking a business-minded approach of being very critical about what resources do we have, how are we allocating them, is that a fair allocation, is it defensible, are we happy with it, what are our goals, can we achieve them.

If we can't, let's get more resources. We're going to take that very critical approach to it, and I hope that's how I will be seen, as to not having any particular bias toward one group. We're about amateur, we're about elite, we're about all five disciplines. We've got limited resources, how do we use them while at the same time saying we need more, what can we do?

And I'll be going at that as hard as I possibly can. CN : You said earlier that cycling in the US was pretty healthy. How is the organisation, USA Cycling. How would you grade USAC's health? DBH : There are a lot of great individuals who have a real passion for the sport, but there's room for growth and maturity, there's no doubt about it. A lot of the time I spent as a management consultant I saw that in clearly high performance organisations, really everybody is focused on their role and held to high standards.

And if they don't meet them then a change needs to be made, and I intend to do that. There are some areas where we're not happy where the organisation is. I don't think we have enough focus, for instance, on the racer experience, because our organisation isn't structured that way and we'll make some adjustments to that. There are changes that need to be made to reach those aspirations.

The organisation is not at the level where I want it to be, but it has matured a lot. I was part of the organisation in , and now I see it 15 years later and it is far more mature and it is a much better organisation. But there's room to grow. And I absolutely will and have been making some changes. I think it's a great opportunity.

CN : Is there anything else that you'd like to add or that you really want people to know? Originally from Massachusetts, Bouchard-Hall began his cycling career while attending Princeton University, where he took a degree in architectural engineering in He graduated from Stanford in with an MS in structural engineering, and then embarked on a pro racing career that involved stints with Shaklee and Mercury.

It was in Mercury colors that Bouchard-Hall won the national criterium championship at Downers Grove in ; during his tenure with the Mercury squad he also raced Paris-Roubaix, Gent-Wevelgem, and Criterium International. July 16, Archived from the original on April 18, September 22, June 12, Daily Peloton. June 13, August 25, June 11, Archived from the original on May 13, April 28, Retrieved May 12, Since taking over from Steve Johnson, Bouchard-Hall has thrown his support behind the Race Clean program, an anti-doping effort aimed at the amateur ranks.

The program has resulted in an unprecedented number of non-professional athletes being suspended. Under Bouchard-Hall, the two separate national racing calendars were merged into one and pared down this year , but there is a second series in the works that would be a 'stepping stone' to the Pro Road Tour. The year-old has been tasked with shoring up the federation's membership, which has come under threat from the increasing popularity of gran fondos, gravel grinders, Zwift and other non-traditional competitive formats.

Bouchard-Hall has taken a more open approach to governing, and wants the cycling public to ask him anything.