The CCH Future team breeds tough drivers. One of them is Aku Koivistoinen from Helsinki, Finland, who specializes in cyclocross and will soon turn 20.
Koivistoinen won the Finnish CX championship in Elite last year. Fast forward to last weekend, when he rode the World Championships in U23 class. The race went well, and the season continues in Belgium until the end of February.
In Belgium, Koivistoinen wears the colors of the team Van den Plas - Hepa (see them on Instagram), and he will probably continue in the same team next season as well.
This summer season 2023, Koivistoinen will participate Finnish races more or less for training purposes.. There is at least one event that he will take as a race, though: "65th Hyrylän ajot", the renowned event with long history, and organized by Cycle Club Helsinki, Aku's own club.
"It would be nice to win the Hyrylä race. The route suits me well. I was already second in the first year of category 2. The next year I had a flat tire and last year there was another problem. Now would be a good year to win gold," says Koivistoinen.
His development as a cyclist has been fast. Koivistoinen decided to focus on cycling only in 2019. The classic weekly club training race "Pepe's tempo" was among his first tests. Back then that 10 km time trial took 16:20. Now his record on that demanding route is 12:47, which gives him a place in Top10.
Cycle Club Helsinki has been a natural choice for Aku Koivistoinen as he lives Helsinki, the capital of Finland. Especially the youth team "CCH Future" has given good support.
"We spar with each other really well. Our training is really hard. Everyone's success also supports the others. The desire to win and a strong team develop the whole Future team enormously," praises Aku Koivistoinen his domestic teammates.
Aku Koivistoinen gives kudos to CCH and its officials for all the support he gets. In particular, his coach Mikko Leisti plays a big role.
"Even though I am here in Belgium and the local team takes care of the practical matters, we are in contact with Mikko a couple of times every week in terms of coaching," describes Aku Koivistoinen on a Google Meet call.
Separately, Aku Koivistoinen would also like to thank CCH's Elite and Kat2 drivers for their training and race support and good tactical tips.
Cycle Club Helsinki will arrange plenty of races again this year, including national CX Championships 2024. Our event program will be published in week 7. So very soon you'll find from the Kalenteri (Calendar) section e.g. when and where "Hyrylän ajot" will take place.
