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.

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!

Slipstream Craddock prevails at Fayetteville Stage Race

Jordan wins Stage 3, solo

Slipstream Craddock in control of Stage 3



Slipstream Craddock Junior Development continued their dominance of the Cat 2 races in Texas, winning all 3 stages, and taking 1st-4th in General Classification at the Fayetteville Stage Race.

61 starters in the Cat 2 field for Stage 1, a 70 mile road race, over rolling terrain. It was Slipstream Craddock rider, Imari Miller, taking the win in a sprint finish. Zeke Mostov was 5th. Noah Williams, Jordan Cullen, Michael Dessau, Adrian Costa, Carlo Villarreal, and Jonah Tannos finished in the field.

Stage 2 was a 9 mile time-trial, with Slipstream Craddock taking 1st - 4th:

1st Jordan Cullen 18:19

2nd Adrian Costa 18:59

3rd Michael Dessau 19:18

4th Zeke Mostov 19:22

Jordan's winning time was the fastest of the day for all riders by over 30 seconds, including the Pro/1/2 field.



Stage 3 was a 90 mile road race, also over rolling terrain. Slipstream Craddock raced with patience, and eventually Jordan got away with another rider with 10K to go. Jordan let the other rider do most of the work, to keep the rider from leap-frogging his teammates on overall GC. With 5K to go, Jordan attacked, and finished solo. Adrian Costa caught and passed the other rider, to finish 2nd solo. The rest of the team finished well, easily hanging onto 1st-4th overall on GC.

Congrats to Director Christian Williams and the team on another successful weekend of Texas racing!