INTERVIEW I 2022 CYCLE NEWS RIDER OF THE YEAR : ELI TOMAC
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BY ERIC JOHNSON I PHOTOGRAPHY BY BROWNDOG WILSON
Y
es, 2022 was a fantastic
year for the multifold
champion Eli Tomac. Now
viewed as an absolute veteran
of the sport, fans the nation
over rooted the Colorado native
on in both football and baseball
stadiums across the country as
well as at the sweeping natural-
terrain circuits of the U.S. in
what was indeed the single
greatest year of his storied racing
career. Going into the 2022
racing season, he had two goals
in mind: winning the Monster
Energy AMA Supercross
Championship and the outdoor
AMA 450cc Pro Motocross
Championships—mission
accomplished. He was also the
recipient of the fan-voted 2022
ESPY (Excellence in Sports
Performance Yearly) award
as Best Men's Action Sports
Athlete. But that wasn't all. The
cherry on top was helping guide
the U.S. Team to victory at the
Motocross of Nations. Yes, it
was a spectacular year for
Tomac. It really could not have
gone any better. As a result, the
Cycle News staff unanimously
named Eli Tomac our 2022 CN
Rider of the Year. It's been a
while since we had it so easy.
We caught up with Mr.
Tomac—who was back home
in Colorado with wife Jessica
and children Lev and Noah—just
days before his 30th birthday
and talked a bit about the 2022
season and then some.
"It truly was the best
year of my career from
start to end. It's hard
to do things with a
new team in year one
and to accomplish
what we accomplished,
but we did do it. We
made a great team and
a great motorcycle
for supercross and
motocross in 2022."
— Eli Tomac
