Derek Bouchard-Hall (born July 16, 1970) is a former US professional cyclist, whose career highlights include winning the gold medal in the team pursuit at the 1999

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

, winning the 2000

United States National Criterium Championships The United States National Criterium Championships are held annually and run by the national governing body, USA Cycling. The event has formerly been held at venues including Denver, Colorado, Downers Grove, Illinois, and Glencoe, Illinois. The 201 ...

, and competing on the 2000 US Olympic team in

Sydney, Australia Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and List of cities in Oceania by population, Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metro ...

. In September 2023, he was named CEO of POC.

Early life

Derek Albert Bouchard-Hall was born at the naval base in

Port Hueneme, CA Port Hueneme ( ; Chumashan languages, Chumash: ''Wene Me'') is a small beach city in Ventura County, California, surrounded by the city of Oxnard, California, Oxnard and the Santa Barbara Channel. Both the Port of Hueneme and Naval Base Ventura ...

, where his naval officer father was based. He spent most of his childhood in Norton, MA, where he graduated as valedictorian from Norton High School in 1988. Though a successful runner in high school, a foot injury led Bouchard-Hall to pursue cycling at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

. Bouchard-Hall graduated from Princeton in 1992, with a degree in Architectural Engineering, then moved to the West Coast to attend

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

. Bouchard-Hall graduated from Stanford in 1994 with an MS in Structural Engineering and began his professional cycling career, signing with Team Shaklee. Shaklee teammates introduced Bouchard-Hall to

track cycling Track cycling is a bicycle racing sport usually held on specially built banked tracks or velodromes using purpose-designed track bicycles. History Track cycling has been around since at least 1870. When track cycling was in its infancy, it wa ...

, and he soon began to train with the US track cycling team. From 1996–2000, Bouchard-Hall divided his cycling calendar into training and competing for both his professional road cycling team and for the US National track cycling team.

Career

In 1998, Bouchard-Hall moved from Team Shaklee to the newly formed

Mercury Cycling Team The Mercury Cycling Team was an American professional cycling team. It was founded in 1992 as an amateur team by John Wordin and Thurlow Rogers, with Whole Foods , Mrs. Gooch's Natural Foods Markets as the lead sponsor in 1992 and 1994. Before Mer ...

, where he competed both domestically and internationally. It was as a member of the Mercury team where Bouchard-Hall achieved his greatest road successes, winning the

in 2000 and competing in

Paris–Roubaix Paris–Roubaix is a one-day professional bicycle road race in northern France, starting north of Paris and finishing in Roubaix, at the border with Belgium. It is one of cycling's oldest races, and is one of the 'Monuments' or classics of the ...

Gent–Wevelgem Gent–Wevelgem, officially Gent–Wevelgem – In Flanders Fields, is a road bicycle racing, road cycling race in Belgium, held annually since 1934. It is one of the classic cycle races, classic races part of the Flemish Cycling Week, run in late ...

, and

Critérium International The Critérium International was a two-day bicycle stage race held in France every spring from 1932 until 2016, typically the last weekend of March. It was formerly known as the Critérium National de la Route, first run in 1932. For many years ...

. In 1999, Bouchard-Hall was a member of the gold medal winning team pursuit squad at the

Winnipeg, Canada Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,60 ...

. In 2000, Bouchard-Hall achieved another career highlight when he was selected as a member of the US Olympic team, to compete in the track cycling team pursuit event, after winning the US National Championship in the team pursuit with

Erin Hartwell Erin Wesley Hartwell (born June 10, 1969) is an American cyclist from Philadelphia. He won the silver medal in the Men's track time trial in the 1996 Summer Olympics and a bronze medal in the Men's track time trial in 1992 Summer Olympics ...

Mariano Friedick Mariano Friedick (born January 9, 1975 in Tarzana, California) is an American former professional cyclist. Major results ;1993 : 2nd Road race, UCI Junior Road World Championships ;1994 : 2nd Team pursuit, UCI Track Cycling World Championships ...

, and Tommy Mulkey. At the

2000 Sydney Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

, Bouchard-Hall and the US team pursuit team finished in 10th place. Bouchard-Hall continued to cycle for Mercury until the 2002 cycling season, when he announced his retirement at the age of 32 during the US Road Championships in Philadelphia, PA., in June. At the time, Mercury was ranked #1 in the NRC team standings. Exterior and Common Iliac Endofibrosis Toward the end of his cycling career, Bouchard-Hall began experiencing pain and loss of strength in his left leg when he was training. After months of various medical and physio examinations, and through his own extensive research, he sought the advice of a vascular surgeon at the

Mayo Clinic The Mayo Clinic () is a nonprofit American academic medical center focused on integrated health care, education, and research. It employs over 4,500 physicians and scientists, along with another 58,400 administrative and allied health staff, ...

Rochester, MN Rochester is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Olmsted County. Located on rolling bluffs on the Zumbro River's south fork in Southeast Minnesota, the city is the home and birthplace of the renowned Mayo Clinic. Accor ...

. Bouchard-Hall underwent surgery at

Stanford University Medical Center Stanford University Medical Center is a medical complex which includes Stanford Health Care and Stanford Children's Health. It is consistently ranked as one of the best hospitals in the United States and serves as a teaching hospital for the ...

to correct the problem in the winter of 2000, which ultimately led to his most successful year as a professional cyclist. In 2002, however, the pain and numbness in his leg returned, and, rather than risking a second highly invasive surgery, he retired.

Post-cycling career

From 2002–2004, Bouchard-Hall attended

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

, graduating with an MBA in 2004, and began working in management consulting, first in Boston and then, in 2006, for

McKinsey and Company McKinsey & Company is a global management consulting firm founded in 1926 by University of Chicago professor James O. McKinsey, that offers professional services to corporations, governments, and other organizations. McKinsey is the oldest and ...

in London. In 2009–2010, he served as interim director of the US Small Business Administration's

HUBZone HUBZone is a United States Small Business Administration (SBA) program for small companies that operate and employ people in Historically Under-utilized Business Zones (HUBZones). The HUBZone program was created in response to the HUBZone Empower ...

program, in Washington, DC, before returning to London in the summer of 2010. In October 2011, Bouchard-Hall has been an executive with

Wiggle Ltd Wiggle is a European online sports retailer, selling cycle, run, swim and outdoor equipment and apparel. It is based in Portsmouth, England. The company is part of the WiggleCRC group, which also includes Chain Reaction Cycles. History The o ...

, one of the world's largest internet retailers of cycling, running, and triathlon equipment. Bouchard-Hall went on to serve as President and CEO of

USA Cycling USA Cycling or USAC, based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, is the national governing body for bicycle racing in the United States. It covers the disciplines of road, track, mountain bike, cyclo-cross, and BMX across all ages and ability leve ...

from 2015-2018, and more recently held the post of CEO of Assos of Switzerland from 2019-2023.

Personal

Bouchard-Hall is married with two children and resides in Ticino, Switzerland.

Results

Professional Cycling Resume 1994 * 1st in Prologue Tour de Toona, United States of America 1995 * 3rd in National Championship, Track, Points race, Elite, United States of America, USA * 2nd in National Championship, Track, Elimination, Elite, United States of America, USA * 2nd in National Championship, Track, Scratch, Elite, United States of America, USA 1996 * 1st in Prologue Norman, United States of America * 1st in Stage 3 Wichita Falls Race, United States of America * 5th in National Championship, Road, Criterium, Elite, United States of America, Downers Grove (Illinois), USA 1997 * 1st in Prologue Stage Race Norman, USA * 1st in Stage 2 Merced, USA * 3rd in Stage 1 Redlands Bicycle Classic, Highland (California), USA 1998 * 1st in Los Gatos, USA * 2nd in Prologue Redlands Bicycle Classic, Highland (California), USA * 3rd in Stage 1 Redlands Bicycle Classic, Highland (California), USA 1999 * 3rd in Downers Grove, USA * 1st in Stage 4 Fitchburg Longsjo Classic, USA * 1st in Merced, USA * 1st in Prologue Tour of Willamette, USA * 2nd in Stage 2 Merced, USA * 1st in Pescadero, USA * 2nd in National Championship, Road, Criterium, Elite, United States of America, Downers Grove (Illinois), USA * 3rd in Stage 6 Trans Canada, Canada 2000 * 1st in Downers Grove, USA * 2nd in Natchez, USA * 1st in National Championship, Track, Team Pursuit, Elite, United States of America, USA (w/Erin Hartwell, Mariano Friedick, Tommy Mulkey) * 1st in Santa Rosa, Criterium, USA * 3rd in Milton, USA * 1st in Pescadero, United States of America * 2nd in Stage 4 Cascade Classic, Bend (Oregon), USA * 3rd in Stage 6 Cascade Classic, Bend (Oregon), USA * 2nd in Stage 1 Tour de Toona, USA * 3rd in Stage 3 Tour de Toona, Hollidaysburg (Pennsylvania), USA * 1st in National Championship, Road, Criterium, Elite, United States of America, Downers Grove (Illinois), USA 2001 * 1st in Extran Challenge, USA * 1st in Stage 1 Valley of the Sun Stage Race, USA * 2nd in Snelling, USA * 1st in Tour of the Hilltowns, USA * 1st in Attleboro, USA * 1st in Stage 5 Wendy's International Cycling Classic, USA * 2nd in General Classification Wendy's International Cycling Classic, USA * 1st in Concord, USA * 1st in Bow, USA * 2nd in National Championship, Road, Criterium, Elite, United States of America, USA 2002 * 1st in Cantua Creek, USA * 3rd in Dinuba, Criterium, USA

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bouchard-Hall, Derek 1970 births Living people Cyclists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic cyclists for the United States American male cyclists Harvard Business School alumni Stanford University School of Engineering alumni Princeton University School of Architecture alumni American track cyclists Cyclists at the 1999 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1999 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in cycling