Lawson Craddock: USA rider ‘disappointed’ to miss UCI World Championships after visa arrives 20 minutes too late
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Published 17/09/2022 at 11:26 GMT
USA have been left a rider short in bizarre fashion ahead of the UCI World Championships. Lawson Craddock has not travelled to Australia to compete, because he only received his visa 20 minutes after his plane had departed. The worlds kick off in Wollongong on Sunday with the individual time trial, and the American team has been forced into last-minute changes following the setback.
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USA rider Lawson Craddock has revealed that he won't compete at the UCI World Championships this year because his Australian visa arrived 20 minutes too late.
Craddock was due to represent his country in the individual time trial, road race and mixed team relay, but couldn’t travel to Wollongong due to bureaucratic issues.
“Unfortunately, due to visa issues I will not be attending the UCI World Championships in Australia this year," he wrote in a statement.
"Complications during the process caused my visa to be delayed and it wasn’t until about 20 minutes after my flight departed for Australia (without me on it) that it was finally approved.
"While it still would have been physically possible to make it in time to Australia for the TT tomorrow, I wasn’t confident that it would allow me enough time to recover enough from the Vuelta, travel, and jet lag to allow me to put my best performance out on the road.
“Disappointed with how things turned out in the end, but I’m looking forward to ending the season on a high note with BikeExchange-Jayco."
According to Cycling News, Craddock filed his visa application well over a month ago and the reason for the hold-up in granting it is unclear.
The USA team will now be left with five riders for the road race, as there is no time to call in a replacement for Craddock.
Neilson Powless will now compete in the time trial along with Magnus Sheffield, while the rest of the team is made up of Kyle Murphy, Keegan Swenson and Scott McGill.
The World Championships in Wollongong get underway on 18 September with individual time trial events.
The mixed team relay is set for 21 September, before the road race on 25 September.
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