Rider Chat – Chris Lawless (Team Wiggins)

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19 year old Chris Lawless spent last week with Boonen and Gilbert chasing a break to finish 6th – next stop RideLondon for a young world class sprinter

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Rider Chat – Chris Lawless (Team Wiggins)

One of the riders of the season is Chris Lawless of Team Wiggins who last week was sixth in a UCI 1.1, GP Cerami. It was not a surprise as the 19 year old has already won a Tour Series event (Barrow) and sprinted elbow to elbow with the likes of Ed Clancy (JLT Condor) and Steele von Hoff (NFTO).

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Last week though was a special moment coming at the right time just before RideLondon with his team boss Bradley Wiggins riding alongside him and the team. VeloUK caught up with Chris at the circuit race championships where he explained “that was a hard day out last Wednesday. I think the break I was in with around eight riders, went away after only 20k so still 190k to go! Then a big group came across around 30k later and that made the group around 35 strong and that stayed away all day”.

“We got stopped at a level crossing at one point, and the gap came down to 30 seconds but luckily there were a few riders from Etixx Quickstep and BMC who really put the pace on and we stayed away until the end”.

Chris, who has done Nation Cup events (U23) and also the Tour of Yorkshire said that whilst pro racing is quite different to under 23 events, GP Cerami was more like a big kermesse.

“When we got back onto the finishing circuit, it was like being in a junior race again with everyone attacking” Chris told VeloUK. “It wasn’t controlled because there were not enough from one team to control it so I gave it a go on the finishing circuit and was away for a short time”.

“Everyone was so keen for a sprint though that it came back together for a group sprint. I think Boonen was the first to open up on the uphill sprint into a head wind and he ended up dying a bit and Gilbert took the win and I finished sixth”.

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Ed Clancy, Chris Lawless and WorldTour stage winner Steele Von Hoff going flat stick at Motherwell this year in the Pearl Izumi Tour Series

“I was happy with that result with the race being a UCI 1.1. There was one point where there was me, Boonen, and Gilbert trying to get across to a group on the finishing circuit and that was surreal. I was looking round and didn’t know what was happening!”

“And then to be sprinting against those guys was a real good experience”.

“The season hasn’t been bad as I have been consistent and sprinting well on most of the courses. We’ll see what RideLondon brings. We have Brad there so there will be a lot of hype around the team but we need to concentrate and get on with the job. With that course, I definitely think Owain Doull has a good chance to get some sort of result.”

“Maybe if I am there for the finish and depending on who is feeling best on the day. Anyone of the team could do well”.

Asked if when he’s competing with major cycling stars like Boonen and Gilbert, does he get a little impatient to be in a WorldTour team racing with them? “There is a lot of pressure on turning pro soon but I still have two years left as an under 23 and some people turn pro after that so I feel there is plenty of time to turn pro”.

“The most important thing is to get some racing and learn how to race in the top races which makes it easier to make that step up.”

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Chris winning the Youth title in a sprint in 2011.

Good luck to Chris in RideLondon

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