Team USA Announced for Junior Track World Championships

Team USA for Junior Track Worlds

Headed To Jr Track World Championships

Based on his performance at US Jr Track Nationals, Jordan has been selected for the World Championship National Track Team. He will be competing in the 3K Individual Pursuit and 4K Team Pursuit. His Slipstream Craddock teammates Michael Dessau and Jonathon Schilling have also been selected.

The Junior World Track Championships are next week, Aug 7-11, in Glasgow, Scotland. Jordan is qualified for Level 2 funding from USA Cycling, providing half funding of the $4000 trip fee. He still needs to raise $2500 to cover the other half plus baggage fees.

Jordan has setup a gofundme site for family, friends, and fans to donate to his World Championship Campaign. Any help you can offer is greatly appreciated!

Repeat at US Junior Track Nationals

Repeat US Junior National 3K Individual Pursuit Champion

Rolling to a 3:31.333 in the Individual Pursuit

Repeat US Junior National 4K Team Pursuit National Champions

Rolling to a 4:35.015 in the Team Pursuit

3:29.10

Jordan celebrated his 18th birthday by annihilating his personal best 3K pursuit time by 6 seconds, clocking a 3:29.10. That's an average speed of 51.6 km/hr or 32.1mph.

He was lifted to this new district track record by the current record holder, Dan Casper, in a grudge match at Thursday Night Lights at the NSC Velodrome in Blaine, MN. Casper also set a personal best of 3:32.97.

Most of Jordan's family was present to witness this historic pursuit, which made it even more exciting.

The 2 pursuit champions are good friends, working to lift each other to new heights for the upcoming National and World Track Championships. Good luck to both! 

Junior Nationals Road Race

This year's nationals road race was a very enjoyable, and extremely challenging race. With a large climb every lap, coupled with a screaming descent, the race was guaranteed to split.

With such a strong team, we knew that it was possible to have multiple riders in the front group. The first lap was uneventful, with the group rolling around very relaxed. The fireworks went off the second time up the Blue Mounds climb.

The eventual winner of the race, Logan Owen (California Giant Berry Farms), attacked at the base of the climb. This caused a small split with myself, Justin Oien (MRI Endurance), Curtis White (Hot Tubes), and Geoffery Curran (Get Crackin') to get a small gap into the descent. It all came together into a small group at the bottom of the descent. I was extremely lucky to have two strong teammates in the group (Michael Dessau and Zeke Mostov).

The group worked well together for the following lap, but coming into the climb, every one was watching a single rider, and this allowed a group of 5 to slip of the front, and stay away for the remainder of the race.

The final lap was just a relaxed ride, for what remained of our group, before the final time up the climb. Going into the climb the final time, I knew riders would go early, blow up on the finishing section, and fade back hard. So I played the waiting game, and sat at the back of our group until 500 to go, I jumped, and was able to come in 10th place.

I am extremely happy with not only my performance, but the excellent rides from everyone on Slipstream-Craddock! Huge congratulations to Logan Owen on riding a near perfect race and coming away with the win, it was well deserved!

2013 USA Junior Road Nationals Success!!!

Slipstream Craddock sweeps the Jr 17-18 Time Trial Podium: (L-R; Zeke Mostov - 2nd, Michael Dessau - 1st, Jordan Cullen - 3rd)

Jordan finished an impressive 3rd in the USA Road National Time Trial Championship out of 115 riders. Even more exciting, his Slipstream-Craddock team swept the podium, with Michael Dessau 1st, and Zeke Mostov 2nd.  The team also placed Jake Silverberg in 8th, and Jonathon Schilling in 11th. Amazing performances!

Jordan followed that up with a 10th place finish in the Road Race, on a very challenging course, worthy of the national championships. His team gave them his full support, with Mostov and Dessau both finishing in the top 20. Congratulations to Logan Owen on dominating the road race, and winning his first National Road Championship!

The team capped the week off with the Criterium, where they rode aggressively, culminating in another podium, with Michael Dessau  finishing 3rd. More congrats to Logan Owen on taking his 2nd National Road Championship.

Both Zeke Mostov and Michael Dessau have met the automatic selection criteria for the 2013 Junior Road Worlds in Florence, Italy late September. Congratulations and good luck!

Jordan came into his final Junior Road Nationals with confidence, but no expectations. Needless to say, he was thrilled with his performance. He finished on the Time Trial Podium at each of the last 5 Jr National Championships, and finished with a total of 9 top 10 finishes overall. Congratulations to Jordan on his great cycling success!

Up next are US Junior Track Nationals in Trexlertown, PA July 24th-28th. He will be competing in the 3K Individual Pursuit, 4K Team Pursuit (with Dessau, Mostov, and Schilling), and the Madison (with Dessau). Jordan and his teammates are shooting to qualify for Junior Track Worlds, Aug 7-11 in Glasgow, Scotland.

Back in the Game

Lots of people have been inquiring "Why no updates on Jordan since Paris Roubaix?". Those close to Jordan knew, but we chose to let him heal and recover on his own terms, in preparation for his final US Junior Nationals.

As many of you know, Jordan sustained a use injury to his right knee while racing in March/April for the US National Team. Given this is his final junior season, with aspirations of going pro, he felt a lot of pressure to maintain a rigorous training program in spite of the injury. Unfortunately, this led to a series of setbacks, limiting his ability to train effectively for 5 weeks after his return from Europe. This ultimately led to his return home from Texas, a cortisone shot, and more rest.

His training program to build for road nationals started with 2 - 30 minutes rides a day on May 13th, less than 8 weeks before the event. This included several physical therapy sessions, developing the habit of extensive stretching 3-6 times per day.

After 3 weeks, Jordan started racing again in local Minnesota critierums. As nationals approached, a couple of his teammates came up to stay with us. This proved to be invaluable for all 3 of them, as they lifted each others spirits, and re-discovered their love of the sport together. The visit culminated with the 3 of them performing very well at a couple local Time Trials, providing them an excellent lead into Junior Nationals in Madison, WI.

I extend a personal thank you to all Jordan's family and friends for supporting him through this recovery process.