Brent Bookwalter

Brent Bookwalter

Olympic Experience/UCI World Championships Results

• 65th place — 2011 UCI Road World Championships, road race, Copenhagen, Denmark
• 2009 UCI Road World Championships, road race, Mendrisio, Switzerland
• 2008 UCI Road World Championships, road race, Varese, Italy
• 2006 UCI Road U23 World Championships, TT, Salzburg, Austria
• 2002 UCI Cyclo-cross Junior World Championships, Zolder Belgium
• 2002 UCI Mountain Bike Junior World Championships, Kaprun, Austria

National Championship Experience

• Nine-time USA Cycling National Collegiate Champion
• 9th place — 2011 USA Cycling Professional Road & Time Trial National Championships, Greenville, South Carolina, road race
• 4th place — 2011 USA Cycling Professional Road & Time Trial National Championships, Greenville, South Carolina, time trial
• 1st place — 2006 USA Cycling U23 National Time Trial Championships, Champion, Pennsylvania

Career Highlights

• 22nd place — USA Pro Cycling Challenge, Colorado, General classification
• 3rd place — USA Pro Cycling Challenge, Colorado, Prologue
• 15th place Amgen Tour of California, California, General classification
• 1st place — 2009 Tour of Utah, prologue, Salt Lake City, Utah
• 2nd place — 2010 Giro d’Italia, Stage 1, Amsterdam-Amsterdam, Netherlands
• 2nd place — 2009 Redlands Bicycle Classic, prologue, Redlands, California
• 2nd place — 2009 Tour of Elk Grove, Stage 1, Elk Grove, Illinois
• 2nd place — 2008 Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah, Stage 5, Salt Lake City, Utah
• 4th place — 2009 USA Cycling National Road Championship
• 4th place — 2009 USPRO Championships, Greenville, South Carolina

Points of Interest

• Brent scored the best result of his career at the 2010 Giro d'Italia by finishing the 8.4km course in 10 min. 20 sec., just two seconds off the winning time set by Olympic gold medalist, Bradley Wiggins.

• His magnificent result at the 2010 Giro even outshined his teammate, world road champion Cadel Evans, who was also favored to win the Giro.

Personal

For Michigan-native Brent Bookwalter, taking the time to get a quality education did not slow down him down as a top-ranked racer. Of course his choice of school, Lees-McRae, the tiny North Carolina college with its prestigious cycling program probably didn't hurt things either. While he was a student, Brent earned nine national collegiate titles in both road and mountain bike for the Lees-McRae Bobcats and, shortly after graduating, he snagged the national title in the U23 road race. While he was still an undergrad, he earned an invitation to join USA Cycling's Development program where he trained and raced in Europe.
 
Since 2005 Brent has been a regular on the professional circuit, racing for teams such as Advantage Benefits Endeavour Cycling Team (2005), Priority Health Cycling Team (2006), and BMC Racing Team (2008). A brutal crash at Tryptique Monts et Chateaux in 2007 benched the racer for 11 months but Brent returned determined to prevail over the setback. He returned brilliantly. Proof of that came during the prologue stage of the 2010 Giro d'Italia when he finished just two seconds off the winning time to score the biggest result of his career thus far.
 
His brother and parents have been the strongest influencers to his career and have stood by him regardless of results, team colors, or performance. He also owes credit to a handful of  people from Michigan where he grew up.  From sponsors to friends to coaches and mentors, Brent was surrounded by a potent group of believers in his cycling career and he claims that he would not be where he is now without their support.