Thursday, April 15, 2010

Paris-Roubaix Juniors






What an experience! Just to be competing in Paris-Roubaix is a dream to most people and until last Sunday it had always been one for me. Now it's a reality. I was able to not only race in Paris-Roubaix, but I was also one of the front runners. After about 90 kilometers out of the 125 I was one of the only ones that was able to stay with the World Champion, Jasper Stuyven, of Belgium along with Daniel Mclay of Great Britain. We were later joined by a Russian rider. We stayed away until the end of the race and fought it out for the win on the famous Roubaix velodrome. I was able to take third place in the sprint with Stuyven winning by about half a bike. It was incredibly close between me and Mclay, but he nipped me with a bike throw. For the podium we stood on the same podium that the pros stand on, and with the pro race being the same day there were tons of fans all around the stadium. It was definitely a moment I'll never ever ever forget! The team did an absolutely amazing job, and I honestly would not have been able to do what I did without them. About one kilometer from the first section of cobbles (one of the most crucial points in the race) I flatted, but one of my selfless teammates, David Kessler, stopped and gave me his wheel. I was then able to make it back up to the peleton with the help of Peter Taylor and Matt Libscomb who basically motorpaced me up to the pack. For the rest of the race Juan Carmona was an excellent teammate by helping me move throughout the pack and giving up his water for me and my other teammate, Ryan Eastman. It really was a team effort and a team podium place. Also, without the encouragement and advice from our team director, Ben Sharp, we couldn't have done it.

Photos of the race:
http://www.velofotopro.com/coureur;6873;1;CRADDOCK-Lawson.html#

Video of the finish on facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/video/video.php?v=412383343178&ref=mf

Video of the finish and podium on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZW9T7KMdr0

2 comments:

Graeme said...

Way to go Lawson! It is great fun to watch, read, and gear about your fantastic journey in European racing. Keep up the great work!

Graeme

Unknown said...

Awesome Lawson...can't wait to see you riding with a Pro team!

Carlos
Sportsduo.com