EDITOR'S NOTE: The Swnews4u.com Athlete of the Week is a web-only feature that will publish each Thursday or Friday throughout the calendar year.
By Jason Nihles, The Platteville Journal, Fennimore Times, Boscobel Dial
Michael Lambert, Platteville, men's cycling
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Platteville’s Michael Lambert is a national champion.
The UW–Platteville lecturer and 2006 graduate of Platteville High School raced his way into the USA Cycling record books two weeks ago when he won the men’s 35–39 age division at the USA Cycling Master’s National Championship Road Race in Augusta, Ga. on July 26.
Lambert, 36, beat the hilly 58.8-mile course and a field of 35 in 100-degree heat to win his first national title with a time of 2 hours, 18 minutes and 52 seconds, which equates to an average speed of roughly 27 miles per hour.
“Winning a national championship is a pretty incredible feeling,” said Lambert, who entered his first cyclying race or any kind in 2016 and first professional race two years later. “I’ve had my sights set on winning this race for a long time, and it’s by far the biggest achievement in my years of racing bikes in the US and abroad.”
Lambert also finished second out of 24 races in the men’s 35–39 Master’s Road National Championships Criterium July 28 with a time of 29:58.
A criterium, or crit, is a bike race consisting of several laps around a closed circuit, the length of each lap or circuit ranging from about 400 to 10,000 meters.
This year’s USA Cycling Masters Criterium race, which was held downtown Augusta, was a 0.7-mile loop on city streets near the Savannah River.
Lambert has been a lecturer in the English Department at UW–Platteville since 2019. He completed his undergraduate degree at UW–Platteville in 2013 before attending grad school at the University of Alabama in Tuscoloosa (2014–18), then spent one year living abroad in Germany before returning to Platteville in 2019.
Lambert races for team Velovit Elite based in Wisconsin.
“I am also extremely grateful to everyone around me, my teammates, my coach, and those that have been following along in my journey since the early days,” added Lambert. “In a lot of ways, winning a national title represents the culmination of years of hard work, training, and support, so I’m really thankful to share this with everyone who has helped support me and to continue doing what I love.”
Lambert’s first entry into competitive cycling came while he was a graduate student in Alabama. He also raced in Europe during his year spent in Germany. Prior to that, he had mostly ridden for fun and on multi-day trips.
“But, I also worked at Momentum Bikes in Platteville during the summers, while completing my undergrad here, so I’m a part of the local cycling community in Platteville and it has helped foster my development as an athlete and mechanic, and now as an advocate and educator, as well.”
Lambert tries to train five or six days for at least one hour, mostly by himself, but sometimes with cycling clubs and area groups.
For example, when the academic season is in full swing, “the UW–Platteville Cycling Club has a fast group ride that is super fun,” explained Lambert. “They call it the “Axe” ride, which is a reference to (UWP mascot) Pioneer Pete.”
Depending his goals for each season and which races fit into that schedule, Lambert will typically have about 30 race days in a given year.
“Road racing is really cool to me because it’s very tactical and strategy-oriented,” said Lambert. “It’s like a really complicated puzzle that you’re trying to solve while operating at 180bpms, which makes it both a physically demanding but also deeply psychological game. Like many things, it might not seem this way on the surface for casual viewers, but inside the peloton is a really magical place for me.”
Lambert was a starting pitcher and outfielder for the Platteville Hillmen baseball team and a wide receiver and defensive back in football from 2004–2006.
Lambert lives in Platteville and is engaged to be married in December.
