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.