(Photo: Getty Images Sport)
2019 Vuelta a España Stage 11 – Lawson Craddock
It is the closest Lawson Craddock has ever been to winning a Grand Tour stage: 3rd place. A spot on the podium, a decent consolation prize for a rider who thought he had the legs to win, as Craddock said himself in a post-stage interview. He believed he could win, perhaps he showed his cards too early.
Making it into the breakaway can either be the hardest or easiest job a pro cyclist ever has. On a hilly day such as this, the fight for the breakaway for short but hard. An early climb on the profile made sure of this.
Fight for the Breakaway:
10:38
Avg Power: 413 W
Avg HR: 171 bpm
Max HR: 181 bpm
(Steep section of climb: 4:45 at 491 W)
(Over the top of climb: 3:27 at 447 W)
After infiltrating the day’s breakaway, Craddock worked well with his fellow escapees for over 100 km before the real racing began. During this section, Craddock’s heart rate rarely rises above Zone 2 (endurance pace), yet the breakaway’s gap to the peloton grows to over 15 minutes.
Building the Breakaway’s Advantage:
2:34:40
Avg Power: 239 W
Avg HR: 138 bpm
Max HR: 159 bpm
Two categorized climbs – the Col d’Ispéguy and Col de Otxondo – would mean the end of the breakaway’s cohesion beginning at kilometer 128. When the gradient kicked up, the attacks started coming. Gorka Izagirre and Alex Aranburu leapt out of the breakaway on the Col d’Ispéguy, and built an advantage of 20 seconds as they crested the top. This is where the real racing began, as is reflected in Craddock’s incredible output over this period of time.
Start of the Col d’Ispéguy to top of the Col de Otxondo:
50:03
Avg Power: 374 W
Avg HR: 171 bpm
Max HR: 189 bpm
Attacks begin on the Col d’Ispéguy:
9:41
Avg Power: 421 W
Avg HR: 175 bpm
Max HR: 189 bpm
(Final km of climb: 2:45 at 515 W)
In an audacious move, but one he certainly made stick, Craddock bridged across solo to Izagirre and Aranburu on the shallow descent, heading towards the Col de Otxondo.
Solo Bridge to 2-rider Breakaway:
6:16
Avg Power: 445 W
Avg HR: 177 bpm
Max HR: 186 bpm
Avg Gradient: -2.1%
Avg Speed: 34.4 mph
(Last 2.2 km: 2:29 at 497 W)
Izagirre, Aranburu, and Craddock worked together as they began the Col de Otxondo. Despite their efforts, they were soon joined by four more riders before the top of the climb.
Col de Otxondo:
13:16
Avg Power: 405 W
Avg HR: 176 bpm
Max HR: 183 bpm
The run-in to the finish was long and lumpy, yet four more riders caught back on to the front group by 25 km to go. And this is where the race was one – Mikel Iturria set off solo and immediately opened a promising gap. Never gaining more than a minute though, it still seemed to be anyone’s race.
Attacks and counter moves came thick and fast, and after a chaotic battle of musical chairs on shattered legs, there were five men chasing Iturria with 8.5 km to go, who was hanging by a thread just 10 seconds up the road.
Uncategorized climb at 10km to go:
4:53
Avg Power: 442 W
Avg HR: 174 bpm
Max HR: 182 bpm
(Following attacks: 3:43 at 485 W)
Approaching the finale, the riders behind Iturria began looking at each other. They sat on, eased up, skipped a pull, and then began attacking each other.
Final 2.5 km:
3:33
Avg Power: 444 W
(2 km to 1 km to go: 1:31 at 526 W)
Coming under the 1 km to go banner, it was all too late. Iturria shook his head, zipped up his jersey, and crossed the line with his hands in the air, his long-held grimace turning into a smile. Six seconds later, Craddock threw his bike across the line, beaten into 3rd place by millimeters, wondering what could have been.
Final Sprint:
0:16
Avg Power: 882 W
Max Power: 1,136 W
The result at the end of the day is one of the finest of Lawson Craddock’s career, and surely a sign of what’s to come for the 27 year-old.
***
Full stage:
Distance: 178 km (110.6 miles)
Time: 4:58:36
Elevation Gain: 3,104 meters (10,148 feet)
Avg Power: 279 W
Weighted Avg Power (Strava): 324W
Work: 4,799kJ