Two months later on the world championships, Lambie completed forward of Jonathan Milan of Italy and Ganna, who had relegated him to a silver medal in 2020, to win the title. Then he determined sufficient was sufficient.
He in contrast his pondering to debates sports activities followers have continuously. “It’s like, oh, who’s the very best particular person pursuit-er on the earth proper now? I feel nevertheless you wish to slice that, I really feel like I’ve obtained that,” Lambie mentioned. He might have tried to hold onto the champion’s rainbow stripes for an additional yr, however what was the purpose?
“I already did that. Why do I must do it once more?”
Deciding To not Go for the Summit
Now Lambie’s need is to discover, a throwback to his life as a biking store worker who grew most of his personal meals and did no matter him, relatively than what others thought of vital.
Final yr, he competed in a sequence of gravel races and tried out for American Magic, the US entry into subsequent yr’s America’s Cup crusing occasion. Biking and crusing are usually not as totally different as they appear. More and more, the winches on racing sailboats are powered by legs, not arms, and the place higher than the biking circuit to discover a “meat battery,” as these crew members are generally referred to as?
Lambie’s exploration has been marked by what, from the surface, appears like failure. He thought he had a 50-50 likelihood of constructing the crusing workforce, however was instructed earlier this month that others have been chosen forward of him. Spots could open later this yr that he can check out for once more.
And in biking, the gravel biking world he as soon as dominated chewed him up and spat him out.
Final June within the Flint Hills of Kansas — it was alternatively chilly, wet, windy, sunny, scorching and humid, an ideal day for masochists on bikes — Lambie competed within the 200-mile race at Unbound, the Tremendous Bowl of gravel biking. In 2019, he had received the 100-mile race at what would grow to be Unbound.