Lawson Craddock, who has traveled from Italy to Poland via Knoxville, Tennessee, and Texas in recent months, is not yet sure where this fall's racing program will lead, but the BikeExchange-Jayco pros are hopeful that three weeks in the Netherlands and Spain He has high hopes that the bulk of the program will be.

Craddock, who competed in the Giro d'Italia with Simon Yates this past May, will be looking for his second Grand Tour in the Vuelta a España, which starts August 19 in Utrecht, Netherlands.

He won back-to-back U.S. national time trials from May to July, narrowly defeating Magnus Sheffield (Ineos Grenadiers). Craddock will officially wear the jersey corresponding to this victory for the first time in Thursday's Tour de Pollogne time trial.

"This was a good restart for me. I was back in Texas for quite a long time after the Giro and it was really great and I enjoyed spending time with my family over the summer," Craddock told Cycling News at the start of stage 4. [I returned to Europe about two weeks ago, so I just raced my own race here at the Tour de Pollogne. It was a great race to start the second half of the season."

Lucas Hamilton and Matteo Sobrero (Editor's note: Lucas Hamilton and Matteo Sobrero) were in the lead group.

As for Thursday's shorter 11-km race, Craddock said he is not entirely sure if it will work in his favor, as he tends to do better in time trials with slightly lower average speeds.

"But it's short and intense, so I think the results will be more focused on power. So it's going to be a very good test of my legs, and in fact, this whole race is a good test of what it's going to be like for the rest of the race."

Top of that "for later" list, of course, is the possibility of competing in the Vuelta a España. Craddock admitted that he is on the BikeExchange-Jayco long list, but "things won't be decided until a little later."

"I definitely want to be in the Vuelta. But I feel very good with the team and wherever it is, I'll do it."