Lawson Craddock Tokyo-bound as the 2021 U.S. national time trial champion
The EF Education-Nippo rider won the stars and stripes jersey, while teammate Tejay van Garderen finished third, in his final race against the clock as a professional cyclist.
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Lawson Craddock (EF Education-Nippo) was the fastest against the clock in at 2021 U.S. national time trial championships and will go to the Olympics as the 2021 U.S. national time trial champion.
Teammate Tejay van Garderen had posted the early best time through the two intermediate time checks, but when Craddock came through, he bettered van Garderen’s times by 5 seconds and 20 seconds, respectively.
“Making the Olympics was a big goal of mine for… well before my professional career started. And I was able to realize that this year and that’s such an incredible opportunity and something I can take with me for the rest of my life,” said Craddock. “Things are definitely starting to click this year for me, and I’m excited to move forward and get the year going.”
USA Cycling announced last week that Craddock will represent the United States at the Olympics in the road race and the time trial, while yesterday Van Garderen, 32, said he is set to retire at the conclusion of the national championships weekend.
https://twitter.com/EFprocycling/status/1405608922011078662
Chad Haga (Team DSM) finished in second, riding through both of the time checks in the same relative position to the EF Education-Nippo teammates.
Joey Rosskopf, also riding with consistent pacing throughout the race, finished just off the podium in fourth, some nine seconds behind van Garderen, and some 30 seconds adrift of Craddock by the finish.
Early in the day, Halakela KOM leader Drake Deuel was second through the finish line behind van Garderen, however, when the top end of the race came through the time checks, the former Harvard rower was dropped down the leaderboard by the faster professional cyclists who slotted in ahead of him.
2021 USA Cycling Men’s Elite Individual Time Trial National Championships Results
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- Lawson Craddock (EF Education-Nippo), 41:33
- Chad Haga (Team DSM), at 00:18
- Tejay van Garderen (EF Education-Nippo), at 00:30
- Joey Rosskopf (Rally Cycling), at 00:36
- Will Barta (EF Education-Nippo), at 1:00
- Magnus Sheffield (Rally Cycling), at 1:02
- Drake Deuel, at 1:27
- Stephen Vogel, at 1:31
- Michael Garrison (Hagens-Berman-Axeon), 1:33
- Zach Gregg, at 1:39