Cycling champion Antonio “Tony” Cruz, who is of Mexican descent, was born in Long Beach California, on October 31, 1971. He developed a strong love for bicycles early on in life. Two of Cruz’s biggest influences in this regard were his father and uncle, both of whom were avid cyclists.
Cruz competed in his first cycling race at the age of 12. He lost that race but has since more than made up for it. A major breakthrough for Cruz took place in 1999, when he finished first in that year’s United States National Criterium Championships race.
Cruz’s subsequent achievements as a professional road bicycle racer included finishing fourth on stage 16 of the 2004 edition of the Vuelta a España (Tour of Spain), one of Europe’s three major long-distance cycling stage races; and winning the Tour de Nez cycling race in Reno in 2004 and 2006.
Cruz, who now retired from professional racing, lives in Long Beach with his wife and their three children. He has been formally designated as that city’s Bicycle Ambassador. “Bikes changed my life for the better and helped me develop some great skills, a strong work ethic and a very high level of fitness,” Cruz has asserted. “I still spend a lot of time with my pops and my cycling and racing buddies.” Cruz further stated, “I also spend time in schools and with youths hosting bicycle clinics and bicycle rodeos. It’s pretty special to me to be able to give back to the sport that has given so much to me.”
Photo Credit: Thomas Ducroquet (licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en)
For more information on Antonio “Tony” Cruz, please check out https://www.procyclingstats.com/rider/antonio-cruz-1 and https://allkidsbike.org/ambassador/tony-cruz/
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