At age 17 Evan Huffman officially became a cyclist. Huffman grew up in a small town near Sacramento called Elk Grove with his parents and two younger siblings. By 6 Huffman was swimming competitively and completed his first triathlon at age 10. During high school he focused on swimming and cross-country before he caved to a friend’s suggestion and entered a bike-only race. Admittedly he says “(I)…really liked it a lot”. What he really meant was he was crushing everyone, and that tends to make anything fun.

When asked about his first crit experience, Huffman recalls:

“I guess it was 2007, I did my first cycling race and I got 3rd place. I didn’t even know what happened. I was in the breakaway and was like ‘Is the race over?’ They were like ‘Yeah, you got third place.’ I was like ‘Oh, sweet!’ I was just riding like crazy on the front, dropping people. I was in a break with 2 guys from Davis Bike Club, I pulled them around the whole race and then they smoked me at the very end because I didn’t know any better.”

For the remainder of ’07 he focused primarily on triathlons and traveled around the country to participate in various tris, while only doing a handful of races. Finding a place on the podium after most races he figured he might be on to something. So Huffman took a break from triathlons and dove into cycling.

“I was already on the Lombardi Sports triathlon team, and they had been talking me into doing more cycling races so it just kind of all worked out. I decided to just focus on cycling for the next year and see how it went and I ended up doing pretty well. I liked it a lot.”

Huffman’s put in a lot of miles on the bike since then, and has gained a lot more experience beyond Elk Grove, CA. We asked Evan a few questions about himself and cycling to get to know him a little better.

YCT: What kind of rider are you?

EH: All-around rider, but probably a better time-trialer than anything else. I’m pretty big to be a climber, and I just don’t have a great sprint (but not bad). Obviously coming from a triathlon background I really like time trials and just longer road races in general, too.

YCT: What are some of your hobbies outside of cycling?

EH: I love listening to music, just normal stuff, hanging out with friends, watching TV. I don’t have a lot of time with all the training.

YCT: What performance or achievement are you most proud of?

EH: Definitely have to say winning Juniors 17-18 Nationals Road Race in 2008. It was kind of a surprise to myself and everyone.

YCT: Did you follow the normal upgrade path through the racing categories?

EH: I went through the ranks pretty fast, obviously, I mean I just started (to race) a few years ago. I started in 2008 as a Category 4, and I went from a 4 to a 2 in about 3 months.

YCT: How do you feel about riding for the Yahoo! Cycling Team in its inaugural year?

EH: I’m pretty excited about it. It definitely has potential to be pretty big in the next few years if we do things right and win some races. It’s definitely a step up from where I was last year. Lombardi Sports was a good team, but I am thrilled to be on the Yahoo! Cycling Team. I think it’s cool, we have a really good group of guys that already know each other. We’ve all raced on different elite teams around NorCal and I think it’s going to be good.

YCT: How do you feel about having some older riders on the team?

EH: I think it’s important to have the guys that have been at it for awhile to learn from. Even if you’re physically stronger, they’ve been around for longer and know the ins and outs of racing. Not every race is won by the strongest guy, you have to have a good team and know when to go hard and when to let up and be smart, and that comes from experience learning what to do and what not to do from other guys that you see winning.

YCT: What do you like most about being a bike racer?

EH: I like the aspect of being outside and enjoying the outdoors, like doing long training rides alone where it’s just you and the bike and there’s no cars and you’re in the middle of nowhere. Racing also gives me the constant opportunity to challenge myself and improve.

YCT: What race has been a favorite of yours?

EH: I haven’t been racing long enough to have a favorite race, but I really like the longer harder races, I’m not a big fan of the four corner crits. Copperopolis is a really cool race, the roads aren’t as bad as everyone says, especially after riding on some of the cobbles over in Europe.

YCT: Can you talk a little bit about your experiences in Europe?

EH: Right after I won nationals in 2008, I went there for a couple of weeks with Ben Sharp and the Junior USA Cycling Team. We stayed in Belgium and did a few races and I rode pretty well, so they asked me back. In 2009, the following year I had a 10 week stay, and I had a pretty bad crash about two weeks in. I didn’t break anything, but I had really bad road rash. I took about a week off the bike and I was pretty shook up. It was another week after that before I started racing, and I spent the rest of the trip trying to get back on form. It was hard enough already moving up from the Juniors to U23, it’s such a different level. All the races are longer and the competition is tougher. So with the crash it was a tough trip, but I came back fitter than I left and it was a good experience and I learned a lot. I met some cool people and we had a great time at the house.

YCT: How is the racing different over there?

EH: It’s a lot more aggressive, guys will yell at you and push, but I don’t know if it’s that much different than here in that respect. But the overall level of racing is way harder, there are a lot more people that race over there because the sport is more popular. There’s more competition, everything is a little bit faster, there’s a lot more attacking. There will be races, you look at the course and you think it will be a field sprint, but then the race blows apart and splinters the pack whereas over here it would just stay together. If you aren’t paying attention the race will be over before you know it, there will be guys up the road. A couple of races I was just sitting in the back and halfway through the race I’d move up to the front racing like normal, and then you find out there’s 20 guys up the road you didn’t know about.

YCT: What are your goals for 2010?

EH: I want to do some bigger races. One of the things I’m excited about with the Yahoo! Cycling Team is that we are going to be doing a lot of the NRC (National Race Calendar) races. It’s tough to do that without good team support. I am looking forward to getting more experience, and maybe even some results at some of the smaller local races. Mostly I just want to see the team doing well because that’s good for the sport and everyone involved.

YCT: What are your long term goals for cycling?

EH: The dream, the ultimate plan would be to get on a ProTour team and do it up, race in Europe full time. But I’m only 20, so a couple more years of racing will be a better indicator if that’s even possible…but I think right now I’m on the right track.

YCT: Who are your favorite riders?

EH: I am a big fan of Tyler Farrar. I got a chance to ride with him over in Belgium when I was there. He lives only about an hour from the team house. He was super cool and really down to earth, just like a normal guy. It’s cool, too, because he went through the USA Cycling U23 program too so I can see how well it can work. I was cheering for him in all the big races and it was great to see him do so well last year. I think it’ll be a lot closer between him and Cavendish this year.

YCT: Who is going to win the Tour de France?

EH: I think it’s going to be closer this year. I have to lean towards Contador, but he’s at a bit of a disadvantage because he lost his team. I think it’s going to be him, Andy Schleck, and Bradley Wiggins. I don’t think Lance is going to do it. I remember I was watching the Giro and squinting at my TV and was like ‘Is that Bradley Wiggins? What is he doing with those guys? Why is he climbing so good?’ He’s got a new team and he’s one of the leaders, so he’ll be motivated to do well.

YCT: Who will win the U23 Paris-Roubaix this year?

EH: Taylor Phinney won it last year, and there’s a good chance that he could probably do it again. Last year was only his first year doing the race and his first year as U23, so it’s even more impressive.

YCT: Who is the best U23 rider in America?

EH: Tejay van Garderen is the best American, but I don’t know if you’d consider him an U23 rider in America because he’s been based out of Europe for the last two years riding for Rabobank and now he’s on Columbia-HTC. Outside of that, I’d have to go with Taylor Phinney. He’s proven himself as a time trialist and he’s so young that he has the potential to do a lot of great things.