Paris Roubaix Juniors Re-cap - My hands are Effed-up



USA National Team: (L-R) Curtis White, Jordan Cullen, Tyler Schwartz, Miguel Bryon, Justin Oien, and Seth Veenbaas



Entering the famous Roubaix velodrome for the finish. You can see the 3 leaders on the far side of the velodrome. The group of 14 in the foreground include USA rider Justin Oien. Jordan is just entering the track a couple seconds behind the group



Post race. All 6 Team USA riders finished!

Jordan finished 18th out of 121 riders in the 2013 edition of Paris Roubaix Juniors, 34 secs behind the winner. Only 66 racers finished the brutal race.

After the race, Jordan stated "Good luck, bad legs." and "My hands are effed!"

Jordan's legs felt heavy and lethargic from the start of the race. They came around a little later, and he even made an attack later in the race, drawing out the eventual race winner, but they were bought back. He lost touch with the front group on one of the final tough cobbled sections, almost regaining them upon entry to the velodrome (as indicated by the photo above). Part of his chase was through the caravan, including bouncing off one of the follow cars.

During the race, he negotiated his way through at least a dozen crashes and pile-ups, where he managed to knock down a lady spectator, and ride over the hand of another rider.

The Juniors raced on the same course as the Pros, at the same time, doing half the distance. Therefore, after they finished, they had the privilege to stick around, and watch the spectacular finish of the Pro race. What an amazing experience.

The video below shows the front group whittled down considerably part way through the race. Jordan is the USA rider passing through the picture at 0:41 secs, with the blue helmet, and yellow sunglasses.

Jordan returns today to Williams Cycling Academy in Texas, in preparation for his next big race, The Tour of Gila in Silver City, New Mexico.

Success at Ster van Zuid-Limburg, 3rd Stage 2 TT, 4th Overall

Stage 1 - 105K Circuit Race

Stage 2 - 10K Time Trial

Stage 3 - 120K Circuit Race

Jordan finished 4th overall in his first race with the USA National Team this past weekend in the Ster van Zuid-Limburg 3-day stage race in Belgium. His stellar 3rd place finish in the Stage 2 10K time-trial solidified his overall position.

This was Jordan's largest race to date, with 170+ starters. He towed the line in stage 1 with his American teammates, Miguel Byron, Curtis White, Justin Oien, Seth Veenbaas, and Tyler Schwartz. Half way through the 1st stage, Jordan suffered severe right knee pain, and struggled to stay in the field. He said "Had to dig deeper than I ever have mentally, just to stay in the group." He finished 99th out of 173 finishers, in the same time as the main field. A solo rider broke away for the win, with the 124 rider deep field following 21secs later. USA riders Miguel Byron and Seth VeenBaas finished 8th and 13th, respectively. Stage 1 Results

Stage 2 was a 10K time-trial. Jordan could hardly walk after stage one. His knee pain was due to the saddle position on his USA team bike being set lower than the height he specified. Not a problem for the TT, since he brought his own TT bike to Europe. The knee didn't stop him from ripping a time fast enough to place him 3rd. USA rider Tyler Schwartz finished 7th. Jordan's time was just 8 seconds off the current European and Danish junior TT champion, Mathius Krigbaum. Krigbaum was 5th at last year's Junior World TT championship. Jordan's time was faster than Belgian's Nate Van Hooydonck and Brent Luyckx, who were 6th and 7th at last year's Junior World TT championship.

Jordan's time moved him up to 4th overall in the stage race general classification, with USA teammate Tyler Schwartz moving up to 7th overall. Stage 2 Results

The final stage was a 120K circuit race, with 3 1K climbs with 15% grade, and 35kph winds. Raising the saddle resolved most of Jordan's knee pain, but then he flatted 50K into the stage. Thankfully, his generous USA teammate, Curtis White, swapped wheels with him, a truly classy move. Jordan was able to catch up to the main field after a 15K solo chase. By the time Jordan regained the field, the riders in 1st and 3rd place overall had broken away, and were gone for good. Jordan finished in the field. USA rider Justin Oien won the field sprint for 3rd, taking the final time bonus, solidifying Jordan's 4th place overall. Tyler Schwartz maintained his 7th place overall as well. USA also finished 2nd on overall Team GC. Stage 3 Results

Congrats to the USA National Team on a great race, and good luck and Sunday's Paris-Roubaix!