U.S. junior cyclocross National champion Matthew Crabbe won his first race in Europe, grabbing glory on the first day of his four-event swing with the Eurocross Academy (ECA). 

Buford, Georgia, the 16-year-old used his last lap sprint to beat Belgium's Bus Vande for victory in the Men's U17 race at Park Cross, Belgium, on Saturday. He said he and his ECA teammates were in the last 3 rows, and he had to work particularly hard at each corner to pass the riders and move forward.

"Our main goal was to learn as much as we could here, so there was no expectation of results. Winning my first race was a great reward," said Crabbe, who spoke to Cyclingnews from a break at camp in Ruinen, the Netherlands, on Wednesday.

"The race is aggressive, punchy and especially hard. I didn't expect a win, but the last two laps got very hard and I remembered all the work I put in the last five years and it motivated me."

Of the 9 U.S. riders competing in the Belgian race, including 15-16 Junior Women's Pan American Champion Idalington's 3rd place, all over the next day after 16th place, the group will race in Almero, Netherlands, Linton will take silver and Crabbe will finish in 6th place." It was a great experience.

A "full immersion" block of two weeks of racing for junior athletes aged 15-16 years selected for the Euro Cross Academy, travel in the Netherlands 11 May 23-24

During the race, the Academy offers training rides, networking and cultural experiences. It's a great place to start.Monday included a group video conference with Niels Vandeputte, winner of Ham's X2O Trofee series Flanderiencross.

"It was certainly cool to meet him. He had a lot of good information, he was not so dominant as when he was a junior, but honed what he was good at, becoming a podium candidate in elite races from the top 10 riders as a junior. It was good to learn about Perserverance," Crabbe said of his interaction with Vandeputte.

Crabbe has won 7 U.S. junior titles in track, Road and cyclocross. Before leaving for Europe, he recorded a cross win out of 10 races, including a victory in the Elite Men's Open Division in the Major Taylor Cross Cup and a victory in Fincraft Junior Cycling in the domestic Cyclocross.

Crabbe has been part of three summer camps in the ECA and the US, but this was his first trip to Europe. When he returns to the U.S. next week, he will prepare for the U.S. Cyclocross National Championship, which will be held in Louisville, Ky., on May 12-15. After the rest period, he will continue hot tube cycling on the road in 2025.

The Eurocross Academy aspires to young student athletes aged 14-20 years, through summer domestic preparatory camps and European competition opportunities, and Sikh online application forms using international competition are usually available every spring.

Click here to make a donation to help fund the Eurocross Academy: Eurocross Academy.

Junior Ashlyn Barry and Enzo Edmonds are both category 2 level riders who won the title in less than 30 minutes at the USA Cycling Madison Track National Championships last Saturday. 

at Lexus Velodrome in Detroit, Michigan. The 17-year-old men's Junior won at 15-18 Madison, followed by the men's Elite Open Category Contest.

Defending champions Danny Summerhill and Brendan Lim finished in silver in the Elite race, and a pair of Kyle Perry and Aaron Beebe, who won silver last year, won bronze. 

In the Men's 15-18 Madison race, Barry and Edmonds ran off and wrapped the field to win. In the 180-lap Elite Men's race, the young duo fought 6 teams and won an exciting victory in the sprint.

Barry, who is racing for Ef Education-ONTOO on the road, won gold at the National Championships last weekend and won the Men's Junior Road and Time Trial events. 

He also won a silver medal in the Junior Critical. Barry has dual Canadian and U.S. citizenship and moved to a U.S. cycling license earlier this year. He lives in Toronto, Canada with his parents Michael Barry, a Canadian olympian, and Deirdre "Dede" Demet-Barry, a U.S. Olympian.

Edmonds, a New York resident who races for Hot Tube development on the road, won 8 medals on May 4 at the U.S. Cycling Junior Track National Championship and took victories in elimination races and scratch races.

Rhim (Project Echelon Racing) won the Elite Men's scratch race in Detroit that same weekend, with Summer Hill winning the bronze medal. The 29-year-old Rhim won three medals at the Elite Track Nationals in the summer: Omnium, Scratch Race and Elimination. 

When he won Madison's title last year at Summerhill (REIGN Storm Racing), a road, cyclocross and track veteran, Rhim was the first to race Madison, a crowd favorite, in hand-throwing motion for a rider exchange.