Adam de Vos is aiming to put on a lot of miles over the next few months.
The 21-year-old Oak Bay product just posted a pair of strong showings in the North American professional cycling circuit.
De Vos followed up a fourth-place GC showing at the San Dimas Stage Race in California (winning the white jersey as the top under-25 rider), by finishing fifth in the general classification at the Redlands Cycling Classic.
“These past two results have been by far the highlights,” said de Vos, whose previous career high point was representing Canada at the 2011 Junior World Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark.
The member of the H&R Block Pro Cycling Team said one of the keys to his success in Redlands was the confidence that he could challenge some of the really big names in cycling, such as former world tour riders Chris Horner, Phil Gaimon and Lachlan Morton.
“The other [factor] would be working really hard over the winter and following the guidance of my coach Chris Baldwin that allowed me to make a huge improvement over last year,” said de Vos, who had special praise for Oak Bay Bikes which has been supporting him since he started riding.
He is now gearing up for the Tour of the Gila race that runs from April 29 to May 3 in New Mexico, after which he will fly straight to Leon, Mexico for the Pan American Championships May 5 to 10 as one of six riders representing Canada.
The third-year microbiology student at the University of Victoria started cycling in his final year of high school following 10 years as a competitive swimmer.
“I love the travel aspect of cycling, I’ve raced in Belgium, France, Denmark, all over the U.S.A. and Canada,” said de Vos, adding his strength is a general classification rider.
“I’m working on improving my [time trials] which will allow me to place higher in stage races.”
His goal is to be on the world tour competing in Europe in the next five years.
“The dream would be to have a Canadian team In the word tour by that time.”
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