Lawson Craddock

Gregory Lawson Craddock (born February 20, 1992) is an American former road and track racing cyclist, who competed as a professional from 2011 to 2024. He is known for his achievement in finishing the 2018 Tour de France despite being seriously injured in the opening stage, and for raising funds for a hurricane-damaged velodrome as a result.

Cycling career

After spending the 2014 and 2015 seasons with Giant–Shimano in the UCI World Tour, he moved to rival Cannondale for the 2016 and 2017 seasons.

Craddock raced in the 2018 Tour de France and crashed violently during the first stage, causing a hairline fracture in his scapula, but continued racing. He was the last rider to cross the finish line and there were many photos of him with blood covering the entire left side of his face. After that crash, he took to social media announcing he was donating $100 for every stage he finished to the Greater Houston Cycling Association in the rebuild of the Alkek Velodrome, where Craddock got his start in cycling and which was damaged by Hurricane Harvey. A GoFundMe page was also set up for people to make direct donations to the velodrome. Craddock finished the race as the "lanterne rouge", becoming the first rider in Tour history to hold last place after every stage and earning over US$250,000 for the cause. He is the only American to be awarded the lanterne rouge.

On June 11, 2020, USA Cycling announced that Craddock will be on their Men's Road Long Team for the 2020 Summer Olympics (to be held July 23 to August 8, 2021). In October 2020, he was named in the startlist for the 2020 Giro d'Italia. He was also chosen as part of the team for the 2021 Vuelta a España where on stage 19 he rode at the front of the race and controlled the final kilometers of the breakaway to contain any attacks and put his teammate, Magnus Cort, in a position to win the stage. As Cort attacked Craddock fell back and watched as his teammate won the stage, and five seconds later when he crossed the line threw his arms in the air celebrating the victory.