Jordan Victorious in Lauwe

Jordan wins the Lauwe Kermis

The 17-18 squad of Slipstream Craddock recovered very nicely from a dissappointing race yesterday. Jordan and teammate Jonathon Schilling made a breakaway of 6, then shed 3 of them, finishing in a 3-man sprint. Jordan 1st, Jonathon 3rd.

Recap from Jordan's perspective:
"I took off solo on the first lap, and was away for 2 laps. Then a group of 7 bridged up to me with teammates Jonathon Schilling and Chris Keeling. Later Keeling was dropped from the break, so Christian (Slipstream Craddock team director) told me to hit it and try to drop the others. Only Schilling and USA rider Justin Oien could follow. The 3 of us rotated for 8 laps. With 1 lap to go, Schilling and I started attacking Oien, but couldn't shake him. I led out the sprint and beat Oien in a bike throw. Schilling 3rd."

Results can be viewed here.

Update from Belgium

Action shot from the Kruishoutem  Kermis

Cooling Down Post Race

Placing flowers they've won at the local chapel

A few of the Argyle Army - Jordan, Imari, Noah, and Zeke

Jordan has had a couple of tough races this week. Slipstream Craddock teammate Noah Williams scored a podium finish on Thursday, Aug 9th. Sunday's race did not go as well, with Imari Miller having the best finish on the team - 12th place.

Jordan finished 35th on Thursday, 71st on Sunday. He's hungry for another good result.

Thursday's results can be viewed here.

Sunday's results can be viewed here.

Enjoying Belgium

Photo Op with Andre Greipel

Touring Brugge

Jordan's First International Win

Jordan's day in Belgium came today at the Lierde Kermesse. His Slipstream Craddock team rode their best race so far this season, resulting in Jordan taking his first international cycling victory. The race was 16 laps on a circuit for a total of 90Km. His team raced patiently, and placed Jordan in a breakeaway late in the race. He had several teammates make bridge attempts to join the breakaway, with Mino Giunta eventually making it across. Mino was the rider that Jordan gave his wheel too at the Junior Nationals Road Race. Mino made good on that favor and then some, helping Jordan attack and get away solo for the win. Slipstream Craddock director, Christian Williams was instrumental in orchestrating their race from the sidelines.

In the podium ceremony, it was none other than Classics cycling legend, Peter Van Petegem, who presented Jordan with the victory flowers. Jordan didn't recognize who Peter was until Christian told him.

Jordan has been blessed this year to race with a great team, with a great director. Us parents are so proud of his accomplishments, and so happy he is getting this international experience with his Slipstream Craddock family!

Jordan is interviewed following his victory. Peter Van Petegem is on the far right.

Peter Van Petegem and a very proud Jordan

Results with timing can be found here.

Jordan's First International Podium Finish

The 17-18 year old squad of Slipstream Craddock completed their first international race this past Sunday in Belgium, the Deinze Kermis. Jordan made the breakaway group of 7 with 80K to go. His team rode brilliantly in defense, with Jordan winning all the primes and finishing 3rd overall from 93 starters. 2nd place was 18 year old Frenchman Quentin Jauregui, who earned a Bronze medal at the 2012 Junior World Cyclocross Championships. A great result for the team, especially considering it was their first road race since Junior Nationals in June.

Results with timing can be found here.

Local News Article on Jordan

Hudson Star Observer Article

A Dream Come True

Jordan's First National Championship: 17-18 Individual 3K Pursuit

Slipstream Craddock Goes 1-2 in the 4K Team Pursuit National Championship

These guys are truly something special

National Championship Jersey and Gold Medal - 7 years of hard work pays off

3K Individual Pursuit National Championship Results

4K Team Pursuit National Championship Results

Jordan turned 17 years old on Wednesday. The next day, he achieved his dream of earning a National Championship in the 3K Individual Pursuit on the Track. The following day he earned his 2nd Stars and Stripes as a part of a 4 man crew in the 4K Team Pursuit. An amazing 3 days in Trexlertown, Pennsylvania.

This was Jordan's first Track Nationals. The favorite to win the 3K Individual Pursuit was Jordan's Slipstream Craddock teammate, and defending national champion, Greg Daniel. Jordan's championship ride is best summed up in his own words, “Just going in, I wasn’t sure how I would pace it,” he admitted. “In training, I never did a full 3K. My dad was calling out the splits, and they were faster than I wanted going in, but I felt good, so I decided to go with it.” Jordan won by 2 seconds in a time of 3:35, from a field of 21 racers.

The 4K Team Pursuit is a race where 4 teammates start together, each rider taking short pulls on the front in a single paceline. Their finish time is measured from the front wheel of the 3rd rider from the team to finish, so they are allowed to drop one rider. A good team can ride a time faster than the fastest individual on the team could ride alone. This requires practice and discipline. The strongest rider has to moderate their effort to maximize the contribution from the rest of the team.

Slipstream Craddock fielded 2 pursuit teams, "Slipstream Black" and "Slipstream Blue". The Blue team was first on the track of 7 teams, and rode a flawless race, finishing with all 4 riders in an impressive time of 4:45. Their time held up as the next 5 teams finished, with the closest 7 seconds off the pace.

The Slipstream Black team went 2nd to last. Their fastest time from training was well off the Slipstream Blue time, but they set an aggressive lap schedule, targeting a time of 4:36. Their start was flawless, and they started ticking off each of the 12 laps right on schedule. Each rider took their turn on the front for half a lap, except for Jordan who took full lap pulls. They were setting the fastest intermediate time splits. Then late in the race, they had a bad exchange, gapping one of their riders. That rider dug deep, making it back into formation to take one more pull before leaving it for the other 3 to finish it off. They hit their target time exactly, almost 20 seconds faster than in practice.

Only one team was left to spoil the 1-2 finish for the Slipstream Black and Slipstream Blue. The "Young Medalists" team ticked off laps, matching Slipstream Blue's splits, but falling off the pace of Slipstream Black. It went down to the wire, finishing just 1 second off Blue's pace, slotting into 3rd. Elation in the Slipstream Craddock camp!

This was the culmination of the efforts by Slipstream Craddock team director, Christian Williams. It was poetic that his son, Noah Williams, was a member of the Gold Medal Pursuit team. It was Noah's first National Championship Gold.

A sincere thank you go out to all of Jordan's sponsors, supporters, and fans who helped him achieve his National Championship dream!