Ben Jacques-Maynes

Team: Priority Health Presented By Bissell

Resides: San Jose, CA

Family: Wife Goldi and Son Chase

Bio: Ben grew up in Berkeley, Ca and as far back as he can remember he was always biking around. Starting with BMX and moving into mountain bikes, Ben, along with his twin brother Andy, could be seen riding through the hills searching for challenging terrain. At age 12 the brothers started racing, progressing through the ranks to national competition by the mid-1990’s. Ben went to college in Santa Cruz in 1996, and discovered the strong cyclocross scene there was exactly what he needed to reinvigorate his love of cycling and competitive drive. Ben (and Andy) made the US National Team for cyclocross 3 years later, racing Espoirs in St. Michelgistel, Holland at the 2000 World Championships. This experience was a major turning point in Ben’s career: he saw just how hard you can work, what a cycling culture truly is, and found renewed focus and dedication to succeed at the national and even international level. Ben soon started road racing for training and fitness, but found fast progression through the ranks and was racing at a national level almost immediately. Ben raced the inaugural San Francisco Grand Prix in 2001, and was soon after offered a contract with the newly forming Sierra Nevada Team. Ben remained with the team for five years, gaining experience at the national level and growing into the rider he is today (he has also picked up 3 collegiate national titles while studying economics and environmental studies at UC Santa Cruz). Ben joined the Priority Health Cycling Team Presented by Bissell for the 2007 season and immediately proved his worth with a podium at the Tour of California and a major push of spring racing including five wins and the overall NRC lead (as of June 1).