Our beautiful sport of cycling is unique in that it venerates its champions by requiring them to dress up accordingly. The World Champion wears the rainbow jersey. The leader in the Tour de France wears the yellow jersey. So important is the champions’ jersey that sanctioning bodies have codified a hierarchy of jerseys: the World Champion who is leading the Tour de France wears the yellow jersey and not the rainbow jersey. The rainbow jersey does trump a continental jersey. And you’re only allowed to wear a champions’ jersey in the same discipline as you earned the privilege. And only until the next championship race.

For example: Lawson Craddock wore his BikeExchange kit in the 2022 Giro d'Italia except for stages 2 and 21. Those were time trials, and Lawson is the US time trial champion, so he wore his Stars-and-Stripes, BikeExchange branded skinsuit. Then he wore his BikeExchange skinsuit again on June 23 of that year, at the Time Trial US Nationals. He won the title again, so for the rest of 2022 and until the US Nationals in 2023, he was once again wearing the Stars-and-Stripes.

That's part of the culture and traditions of cycling: champions wear the champion's jersey when they're eligible and that kit is available. The Ann Arbor Velo Club have commissioned State Championship jerseys (pictured above) and are making them available to our State Champions to demonstrate that we are a racing club, we’re taking our racing seriously, and we’re taking our state champions seriously. We’re providing these jerseys not just as a prize, but also with an expectation: that our State Champions wear these jerseys at eligible races. Of course, if an AAVC State Champion wants to wear a skinsuit, and no State Champion skinsuit is available, we’re not going to force them to wear a jersey instead. But we want to see as many AAVC State Championship jerseys at future races as we’re allowed to put in there!

Our 2022 state champions:

• Women Juniors 11-12 Road Race: Katie Wolgast

• Women Juniors 13-14 Road Race: Maja Kwaiser

• Men Juniors 9-1 Road Race: Zayd Kamdar

• Men Juniors 11-12 Road Race: Donald Smith

• Men Juniors 13-14 Road Race: Braden Tall

• Women Cat 3 Road Race: Kari Alsager

• Men 45-49 Road Race: Jeremy Zeigler

• Women Juniors 11-12 Time Trial: Amalia de Jong

• Men Juniors 9-10 Time Trial: Gavin Brayman

• Men Juniors 11-12 Time Trial: Donald Smith

• Men Juniors 13-14 Time Trial: Braden Tall

• Women Juniors 13-14 Crit: Katie Wolgast

• Women Juniors 13-14 Crit: Maja Kwaiser

• Men Junior 13-14 Crit: Braden Tall

• Men Junior 15-16 Crit: Ansel de Jong

• Women Novice/Cat 4 Crit: Emily Pogson

• Women Pro/1/2/3 Crit: Kari Alsager

• Gender Expansive Cyclocross: Sam Hansen

• Men Juniors 9-10 Cyclocross: Ivan Melow

• Men Juniors 13-14 Cyclocross: Donald Smith

• Women Novice Cyclocross: Taryn Surtees

OUR 2023 STATE CHAMPIONS:

• Women Juniors 13-15 Time Trial: Amalia de Jong

• Men Juniors 13-15 Time Trial: Braden Tall

• Men Junior Team Time Trial: Ansel de Jong, Conan Bellows, Miro Bellows, Tadej Katanski-O’Brien

• Women Junior Team Time Trial: Amalia de Jong, Kira Horning*, Neva Horning*

• Women Cat 4 Time Trial: Emily Haller

• Women Juniors 13-14 Crit: Katie Wolgast

• Men Juniors 9-10 Crit: Cameron Stocker

• Women Juniors 13-14 Cyclocross: Katie Wolgast

• Men Juniors 9-10 Cyclocross: Ivan Melow

• Men Juniors 11-12 Cyclocross: Conan Bellows

• Men Juniors 15-16 Cyclocross: Braden Tall

• Gender Expansive Cyclocross: Sam Hansen

• Women Novice Cyclocross: Karin Rand

• Women Singlespeed Cyclocross: Kari Alsager

• Women Sport Cyclocross: Karin Rand

*: non-AAVC riders.

Only AAVC Members who win a State Championship race while wearing AAVC kit are eligible to receive these jerseys.