He's there for his team leader, Rigoberto Uran, the veteran Colombian who finished second overall in the Tour last year and aspires to move up one more step. He is holding on for the people who helped him rebound after a 2017 season essentially lost to overtraining syndrome. Honestly, I'm really happy that through a negative situation, I've been able to make it about something bigger than just me."Ĭraddock is clinging to the end of the rope in 170th place, an hour behind leader Greg Van Avermaet of Belgium and 17 minutes shy of the next-closest rider as of Sunday morning. "But just still being in the race is really encouraging. "I'd prefer not to be the lanterne rouge," Craddock said from the EF team bus on Thursday, alluding to the caboose nickname conferred on the last-place rider in the Tour. And Craddock said he hasn't really raced on cobbles since he was a U-23 rider. The jouncing, treacherous stony roads can undo riders even when they're in peak form, let alone one who is dealing with near-constant physical distress. That attitude will be of utmost importance Sunday as the Tour riders take on 15 separate sections of cobblestone surface totaling more than 13 miles of the 97.2-mile Stage 9 course from Arras to Roubaix. Tour de France 2018 - Race news, stage schedule, coverage and analysis.The ultimate sports cliché of taking things one day at a time has never been more applicable or necessary for Craddock, who is actually taking the race one segment of road at a time as he guts out the pain and discomfort with positive thinking. Team chiropractor and physical therapist Matt Rabin checks in with Craddock in the evening after the stage finish and in the morning before he remounts, debriefing him on how his body feels and leading him through stretching and activation movements to loosen and limber him up from the inevitable stiffness that sets in overnight.īut the most important tool in the 26-year-old Texan's kit is his mindset. He's managing pain with acetaminophen and ibuprofen, which is "what I would give someone who wasn't doing the bike race - it's not sexy, but it works," said EF Education First-Drapac team doctor Kevin Sprouse. There's an array of things holding Lawson Craddock and his fractured scapula together in his quest to reach what amounts to his intermediate finish line Sunday, on the eve of the first rest day of the 2018 Tour de France.Īn elaborate web of two-tone green argyle physio tape fans out over Craddock's left shoulder and bicep.
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