With two wins in Spain already deposited for this early spring, Team AlUla Jayco looks to continue their Spanish conquests at Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Del Sol, February 14-18. US rider Lawson Craddock makes his season debut to drive the ‘engine room’, and support GC efforts of Alessandro De Marchi.
For Craddock, the year begins his 14th professional season, and 11th on the WorldTour level. The 31-year-old Texan had proven his versatility in stage racing for Team Giant then EF Education before moving to Jayco in 2022. It never seemed to disturb his quiet demeanour when his role was described as a support rider. The two-time US Pro time trial champion said you may not see him ‘put up my hands at the end of the day’ but that’s not what drives him.
“The team considers me to be part of their engine room, which is a group of guys that the team will put into really any kind of race or situation. It’s kind of the group of guys that do the grunt work, the dirty work, you know, riding the front, spending a lot of time in the wind, being there late for the leaders,” Craddock told Cyclingnews from his home in Texas before beginning his third season with Jayco AlUla in Spain.
“The team definitely puts a lot of emphasis on that group of riders, and the guys that we consider the engine room have a lot of fun, working for each other. We're really fortunate that we're on a team that has such great leaders. We have guys that can win across any stage, really. Whether you're the leader or part of the engine room, that role is appreciated from top to bottom.”
So far this year, Craddock’s teammates have proved his point about winning just about anywhere. Among the sprinters, Dylan Groenewegen won Clàssica Comunitat Valenciana 1969 and Michael Matthews followed the next day with an uphill victory at Gran Premio Castellón. At the AlUla Tour, Simon Yates grabbed the GC with a hilltop victory on the fifth and final day of racing, while Caleb Ewan took the win on stage 1 of the Tour of Oman.
It’s the first time Craddock has lined up for the five-day stage race in southern Spain, which has been around for 99 years. It’s one of the early-season events where the warm weather and varied terrain provide a solid measurement of winter training and assessment for the upcoming Classics. Last year Tadej Pogačar won the overall, and this year his teammates Tim Wellens and Juan Ayuso led the charge for UAE Team Emirates.
The 2024 Ruta Del Sol kicks off with a very hilly stage in the province of Granada between Almuñecar and Cadiar, followed by an uphill finish in Alcaudete on stage 2 across cobblestones. There is no time trial this year, as the final three stages take in just over 160km each and flatter terrain for bunch finishes.
For Craddock, it’s time to assess his fitness and help his teammates again.
“Most of my program is based around being around guys who can win races. I'm at a point in my career where that's kind of what's important to me, and what drives me. I want to be a part of success,” Craddock said.
“I'm on a team that has riders that can win big races, so my objectives are pretty simple this year - just be reliable and be consistent throughout the entire spring, and then hopefully be there for a couple of stage wins during the Tour.”
Of his 10 starts in Grand Tours over his career so far, Craddock landed on the podium on stage 11 of the 2019 Vuelta, having survived in the breakaway for the 180km stage only to fade in the final sprint. Just the day before he was fourth in the ITT to Pau. At the Vuelta in 2021 and 2022, he carried the stars-and-stripes jersey to a pair of ITT top 10 stage finishes as US Pro national champion. Last year he was fourth on stage 15 at the Tour de France to Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc.
“For sure, the Tour is a special breed. It's the one race that everyone really wants to be at because it's the one race in our sport that everyone in the world knows about. We had a great Tour last year. We didn't get the stage where we wanted but we had Simon [Yates] fourth overall. It's a big target for me again,” he said.
“Obviously, there might be a day here or there where I can get in a breakaway and go for a result, like the Tour last year. But overall, I think my program is just being around guys that can win races.”
There’s a long way to go before Craddock can think about the Tour. At present, he is happy to be on a team on which he has felt the most comfortable in his career.
“I'm in my third year within the team and I kind of wish I had the opportunity to join the team earlier. I'm in a great spot. The team has a lot of belief in me and a lot of faith in my abilities,” Craddock confirmed.
“They've also given me a lot of reasons to believe in myself. So that's been really big. And that didn't necessarily exist in the past. So I'm very happy. They’re a bit more relaxed, a bit more fun. That’s how they present themselves to the outside, and that’s exactly how they do things from the inside too.”
