Eli's Dad

I can't even imagine how proud John must be. Eli was very deserving of that win!

John is kinda a big deal round these parts.

i alwyas heard his dad was a badass mountain bike rider,1st time ive seen a pic.thx for postin

He also makes some pretty sweet mountain bikes:

Tomac Bikes

Wow no doubt them some high end bikes.I got a fellow friend that gets into Mountain Bikes I'll have to show him this.Not sure he even knows who Tomac is.Thx

John is a badass, and a great dad.

I run his tires (John Tomac Kenda Nevigal) on all three of my mountain bikes.

Best handling tires on the market. IMO

RC of the dirt pedal pushin world!

The anti-Tony A.

I have never heard a bad word about the dude - even from the amateur-hater guys.

Don't forget he was a champion on the road also.
Anybody here see him race the 1st World Mt Bike Championship with drop (road style) handlebars? Crazy!

I'm sure this has helped Eli a tremendous amount. His dad not only knows him very well, but also knows what it takes to win championships. He knows personally what it's like to be on the rider's side of things and the mental aspect of it. That, combined with knowledge about his son, makes for a powerful coach.

Hopefully they will serve as guidance for other amateur parents on when and how hard to push your kids. Eli seems very mentally stable and strong, evidenced by his performance out front this weekend.

Others won't underestimate him for much longer. This win was no fluke.

eli's dad looks like barcia.......

I run them too. They are the best even though I rip the knobs off the sides..

The man is sick on the MTB

** Pretty sure dad John won 30+ at Loretta's a few years back, too !

n 1986, Tomac made two significant decisions: he relocated to Southern California, and left BMX competition in favour of mountain bike racing. He continued to ride for Mongoose. By the autumn of that year, he had won his first two major mountain bike events: the Ross Fat Tire Stage Race in Massachusetts and the Supercross Mountain Bike Exhibition race held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mongoose marketed a Tomac Signature Edition model in 1987, which reflected his increasing profile within mountain biking culture. Tomac achieved a few more notable wins during that year, including a second win in the Fat Tire Stage Race and three National XC Series rounds.

1988 brought Tomac national title-winning success. By achieving the highest combined points total from the National Off-Road Bicycle Association's (NORBA) Cross-country, Downhill and Dual Slalom championships, Tomac won the overall title of NORBA World Champion. He was ranked in first place in the Cross-country and Dual Slalom disciplines. The "World" status was a misnomer, however, as the NORBA championships were held only in the United States. The first true World Championships for XC and DH, sanctioned by the Union Cycliste Internationale, were held in Durango, Colorado, in 1990 where John placed 4th in the downhill. John is well remembered for riding road style drop bars on his Yeti mountainbike at this race which was a noticeable deviation from the other riders. This equipment decision was influenced by his recent experience riding for the 7-11 road cycling team in Europe where he was under contract.[2] Tomac's results and rapid rise to prominence earned recognition from U.S. cycling magazine Velo News, which voted him the world's best all-round rider of 1988.[3]

Tomac retained his overall NORBA title in 1989, and also won the NORBA DH Championship for the first time. In a season in which he competed at the highest level on both sides of the Atlantic, he added the German and European XC titles to his collection. In 1990, he joined Yeti Cycles' factory MTB team and the 7-11 road team, embarking on a busy program of events in Europe and the U.S. To facilitate his road racing career, Tomac based himself in Belgium, and regularly traveled between the two continents to compete in major road and mountain events. Although he failed to win any of the three individual NORBA series, he won the overall NORBA title for the third year in succession.

1991 saw a change of teams: from Yeti to Raleigh and from 7-11 to Motorola. A stronger mountain bike season culminated in UCI World Championship success in Ciocco, Italy, with Gold in XC and Silver in DH. In addition to that, Tomac won two events on his way to the UCI XC World Cup title, and added a second NORBA DH title to his 1989 win. The following year, he finished in fifth place at the DH World Championship held in Bromont, Canada, and had to settle for second place behind Switzerland's Thomas Frischknecht in the XC World Cup rankings (though there were two event wins again). An accident in which Tomac struck an errant spectator in the final event at Mount Snow, Vermont, prevented him from outscoring his rival and retaining the title.

In 1993, Tomac was the runner-up to Germany's Jürgen Beneke in the inaugural UCI Downhill World Cup and lost out to Frischknecht again in the XC rankings.[4] This was to be the last season in which Tomac would finish in the top three in the World Cup, but he continued to achieve notable results in the World Championships. In 1997, five years after his last World Championship medal, he finished second in the downhill event at Château-d'Oex in Switzerland.

Between 1994 and 1997, Tomac would win three more NORBA titles – two in DH and one in XC – as well as some notable individual events such as the Sea Otter Classic and Cactus Cup. He officially announced his retirement from racing at the Sea Otter Classic in 2000, but would later make an occasional return to competition. In 2004, at the age of 37, he won the famous Kamikaze Downhill held at Mammoth Mountain, California.[5] Then, for good measure, he returned in 2005 and won it again.[6]
[show]Major MTB results by year
1988 NORBA Overall Champion
NORBA National XC Champion
NORBA National Dual Slalom Champion
1989 NORBA Overall Champion
NORBA National Dual Slalom Champion
German XC Champion
European XC Champion
1990 NORBA Overall Champion
1991 Gold medal - XC World Championship
Silver medal - DH World Championship
XC World Cup champion
NORBA National DH Champion
1992 Second place in XC World Cup
1993 Second place in XC World Cup
Second place in DH World Cup
1994 NORBA National DH Champion
Cactus Cup winner
Sea Otter Stage winner
1996 NORBA National XC Champion
1997 Silver medal - DH World Championship
2004 Mammoth Kamikaze winner
2005 Mammoth Kamikaze winner
[edit] Road racing

From 1988 to 1991, Tomac dovetailed professional programs in both mountain biking and road racing. He was the 1988 USCF National Criterium Champion and was part of the winning team in the USCF National Team Time Trial Championship in 1989. Tomac spent much of 1990 competing in European events with the Motorola team. Although he failed to win any major road titles in a season in which he entered more than 100 road and mountain events, his schedule included the Ronde van Vlaanderen, the Giro d'Italia and the Paris-Roubaix. Tomac ended his participation in pro-level road racing at the close of the 1991 season, choosing instead to focus on his mountain biking career.
[show]Major road results by year
1988 USCF National Criterium Champion
1989 USCF National Team Time Trial Champion
[edit] Team ownership

In January 1998, John Tomac entered into a business partnership with Manitou founder and suspension engineer Doug Bradbury, whom Tomac had known since the 1980s. Together, they founded Tomac Bicycles, and launched a range of three full suspension bikes later that year.[7] Tomac spent the 1998 season competing on his new prototype design in DH events.

The brand name was later acquired by American Bicycle Group, which in turn sold it to Joel Smith, formerly a brand manager at Answer Products, in June 2006. He relocated the company to Nebraska and set in place plans to relaunch the Tomac brand with a new model range in 2007.[8] Tomac and Bradbury remain actively involved in the company and the design of its products.[9]
[edit] Family

John Tomac has a son, Eli who is an up and coming pro motocross rider in the US 250 lites class riding for the Geico Powersports Honda factory racing team. Eli is noted for being the first true rookie pro ever to win a pro motocross debut at Hangtown raceway on 5/23/10 under John's guidance.
[edit] Primary sources

* John Tomac's History tomac.com
* MTB Hall of Fame mtnbikehalloffame.com

[edit] Notes and references

1. ^ Tomac officially retired from professional competition in 2000, but continued to compete in selected events until 2005.
2. ^ MTB World Championship Archives uci.ch Retrieved on March 18, 2007.
3. ^ MTB Hall of Fame mtnbikehalloffame.com Retrieved on March 18, 2007.
4. ^ Men's Mountain bike World Cup uci.ch Retrieved on March 18, 2007.
5. ^ 2004 US National Championship bikemag.com Retrieved on March 18, 2007.
6. ^ 2005 US National Championship mbaction.com Retrieved on March 18, 2007.
7. ^ Tomac Forms Bike Company mountainzone.com, January 22, 1998. Retrieved on March 22, 2007.
8. ^ Tomac Brand Licensed to Joel Smith bicycleretailer.com, June 19, 2006. Retrieved on March 22, 2007.
9. ^ About Us tomac.com Retrieved on March 22, 2007.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Tomac"
Categories: 1967 births | Living people | American cyclists | Cross-country mountain bikers | Downhill mountain bikers | People from Owosso, Michigan | Bicycling Hall of Fame
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The boy's got pedigree, no doubt.

Is john Fricken Tomac baby

I love those tires too! Ive tried all different kinds and keep goin back to the nevi's.

picture from racer x, from a few yrs ago

I'll bet Eli is the first pro motocrosser who's father is in better shape than 90% of the riders on the gate.

I was at that race at the Purgatory Resort outside of Durango in '90 (the first mountain bike World's) and was at the '91 World's at Il Ciocco (just outside of Lucca, Italy) when he won the XC and got silver in the downhill.

He was an amazing mountain bike racer and a very gifted road rider as well. Through it all he stayed a very nice guy. Eli seems to mirror his dad: blazing fast on the track, a serious competitor, superb work ethic, and humble....the antithesis of what we see too often at the MX track today.

My recollection is that his Mom was also a top line women's pro mountain bike racer.

This is a great start to what I suspect will be a very good career.

X2...... an animal on a bike...

I thought the fact that John walked up and shook his son's hand, then hugged his neck and walked out of view of the camera was just the coolest thing. He let the team enjoy the moment with his son. He took a back seat even though it had to be a seriously proud moment for him. If only some other fathers would take note of the lack of 'WE'.

I would assume both his parents are very proud, and both, had a lot to do with him being the person he is.

I have a cherished autograph from John when I competed in the Sea Otter classic; sits right next to my recycled inner tube dog collar Scot Nicol of Ibis made me. My claim to fame is being on the same straightaway as the elder Tomac. My heart rate was about 190 and his was, oh, probably 50 bpm, as his Giant blew by.
And then we have dads like Tony....

Class acts no doubt about it. One of the best things to happen to the sport recently. Same for the Wilson family. Stoked for both those kids and families.

Would imagine that is because he isn't living vicariously through his son and is content to remain behind the scenes.

The guy was a beast on a bicycle and will always be a legend in the cycling world.

One of the coolest things about JT , when he was racing pro on the road in Europe he had the balls to walk away from the "program" when it was introduced to him even though he was a young kid trying to make it in the upper echelons of pro cycling.

John's classiness makes TA look like an even bigger douche.