A chat with Jonny Sundt, Kelly Benefit Strategies/Medifast Pro Cycling Team

Whenever I have to describe Pro road racing to a non cyclist the thing they can not wrap their head around is how much of a team sport it is. For every rider on the podium there is an army of flogged lieutenants barely among the living in the team car that got them there. A good team rider is a rare breed; they rarely get to race for personal glory, preferring to push themselves far beyond what most people would consider the edge. All in the name of the team. A good road captain is vital, Lance had Eki, KBS/Medifast has Jonny Sundt aka “El Gato”. I was lucky to be part of a composite team for a week long stage race in Mexico with Brother Sundt. Off the bike he had us in stitches with stories of the races he’s raced, the 2×4’s he has ducked, and the people he has met. On the bike he was pure class and taught our guys a lot about how a Pro rides.

COTBR: Have you accepted The Big Ring as your personal savior?

JS: Other than a few off seasons when I rode with a powermeter I have been a disciple for 18 years.

COTBR: We saw you make a return to cyclocross this season can we expect to see El Gato getting even dirtier this season?

JS: Yes! I have always been a crosser, and I always will be. I feel like I have been wandering in the desert for the last couple of years like Moses, but it is time to set my people free. The forces that have kept me mostly on the road will be parted like the Red Sea. KBS/Medifast is cool with cross racing, and also employ brother Spinelli who has been blessed by Saint Richard of Sachs with cross support. Every time I go to a cross race I feel like I am home again.

COTBR: It seems like your team is a lot more rounded this year and you have riders that can win all kinds of races (crits, stage races, etc). How does your role change depending on the race?

JS: Our DS Jonas Carney did a great job of building a well-rounded squad, and bringing a GC guy like Bajadali and a sprinter like Cando to top it off is awesome. My role is pretty much the same. Just harder and more. GC guys need the same help sprinters do, just at a different spot on the course.

COTBR: Tour of California was not blessed with good weather this year, how do you deal with 7 hour stages in the rain?

JS: I quit. Excuses, no matter how true, or many, are just that. Props to the guys who got through that week.

COTBR: Got any irrational food fears? I am terrified of Kraft Mac and Cheese.

JS: Eggs. Fine for baking, but alone they are gross

COTBR: What race do you look forward to all year?

JS: Philly. It’s just rad when they shut down one of the biggest cities in the country for a bike race.

COTBR: Flour or corn tortilla?

JS: Flour

COTBR: Who would play you in the Hollywood mega budget production of “El Gato the Musical”?

JS: Justin Timberlake (That’s Mandy’s answer. I was going to go with Donny Wahlberg)

COTBR: What result are you most proud of?

JS: The “negative” results USADA sends me in the mail every time I get tested

COTBR: Favorite Medifast food? You should tell them The Rev wants fish tacos.

JS: The Chocolate Mint snack bar. Easy to take on a ride, and tastes like the Thin Mint Girl Scout cookie, but without being guilted into buying it by some little brat.

COTBR: What does The Big Ring mean to you?

JS: It’s a lifestyle. Go with the early move………….. hell, START the early move. Riding five hours then showing up at the Tuesday night crit to dish out helpings of pain like a sadistic lunch lady.

Selling my 39t inner ring on Ebay at the end of the season, and where it asks condition writing “unused”

COTBR: If you could change one thing about pro cycling what would that be?

JS: Give it all of NASCAR’s sponsors.

COTBR: Thank you Brother Sundt looking forward to seeing you on the ‘cross circuit.

El Gato 1, El Chupacabra 0