Lawson Craddock wins men's US time trial title

Image 1 of 20

Lawson Craddock (EF Education-Nippo) won the time time trial at the USA Cycling Pro Road Championships on Thursday in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

Craddock finished the 34.9-kilometre course in Oak Ridge, Tennessee in a time of 41:33. In a replication of the last edition of the USA Cycling Pro Road Championships in 2019, Chad Haga (Team DSM) finished second. Tejay van Garderen (EF Education-Nippo) completed the podium in third.

Haga was 17 seconds slower for the silver medal with a  time of 41:51, while van Garderen was another 29 seconds back for bronze in 42:03. Joey Rosskopf, who took back-to-back wins in 2017 and 2018, clocked a time of 42:09 to finish fourth. 

“Being able to come here and win the time trial is truly special for me, I’m excited,” Craddock said after the race.

“At the beginning of this year, I wanted to come back and give it a crack. When that spot opened up on my schedule this year, it’s been my focus for the last couple of months.”

A total of five WorldTour riders started the time trial and other than Rosskopf flying the orange colours of ProTeam Rally Cycling, the international-level riders took the top spots, including Will Barta (EF Education-Nippo) finishing fifth. The top two riders were the only two to crack the 42-minute mark, but being one of them was little comfort to Haga.

“I could not have gone faster today, it was the perfect race for me, it was just that one guy was faster,” said the second-placed Haga. “It’s bittersweet because he’s a friend, so I’m happy for him, but I didn’t come for second place. I’ll just have to try again.”

Van Garderen, who has announced that his retirement after 12 years in the pro peloton will come on Sunday, however, was pleased to be able to deliver a farewell from the podium in his final days of competition.

“It’s not very often I’ve come and raced the Nationals. It’s a huge honour, I wish I would have come and raced it more times in my career. The reception I’ve gotten from the crowd has been really moving. There’s no better way to end a career than in front of the fans who have supported me for the past 12 years. It feels great to be on the podium,” van Garderen said.

How it unfolded

The sun continued to shine in the afternoon after 22 women completed the opening time trial championship for the day at Melton Hill Reservoir in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. A total of 46 men departed in five waves on the three technical laps covering 34.9 kilometres. 

Stephen Vogel (Project Echelon), who was the sixth rider to start, led the first two waves of riders with the best first intermediate split time of 14:13. In the third wave Drake Deuel (Team California) rode a lap at 14:20, but both were overtaken by WorldTour rider van Garderen, who led the way with 13:50. 

Van Garderen had the best time of riders in the first three waves by almost a full minute with his time of 42:03. Deuel was second at that point at 43:00 and Vogel was third at 43:04. Michael Garrison, younger brother of defending champion Ian Garrison (Deceuninck-QuickStep) was fourth with 43:06.

By the time the fifth and final waves of riders hit the course, Zach Gregg (Project Echelon) had gone through the second time check in 28:34, the third-best time to that point. When the pair crossed the finish line, Gregg was fifth-best with a time of 43:12 and Williams was sixth in 43:37. The final wave featured four WorldTour riders and two riders from ProTeam squad Rally Cycling. Matthew Riccitello (Hagens Berman Axeon) and Brendan Rhim (Evo Pro Racing) represented Continental teams.

From that group, Magnus Sheffield (Rally Cycling) put down the second best first intermediate time with 14:03, but then the sub-14 minute men, four of them, rolled through the line to contest van Garderen’s time – Craddock with the best split at 13:44, followed by Haga in 13:47, then after van Garderen’s standing 13:50 time it was Rosskopf at 13:52 and Will Barta (EF Education-Nippo) at 13:57.

Craddock stormed through the second time split 20 seconds faster than van Garderen, while Haga was just 14 seconds better than the early best time. Rosskopf had the fourth-best time, another three seconds behind van Garderen, and EF’s Will Barta fifth best, 12 seconds off a podium finish. Haga, who won an ITT stage at the 2019 Giro d'Italia, didn’t have enough left in the tank to overtake Craddock on the final lap, who will next race in the road race Sunday and then focus on the Olympic Games.

“The most special thing I have is what I have at home with my wife and two kids. They’re in Europe right now. That’s the number one priority for me, but making the Olympics was a big goal of mine well before my professional career started and I was able to realize that this year. Things are definitely starting to click for me this year,” added Craddock.