News: Win for Lawless in NZ

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Great Britain’s Chris Lawless has won the opening stage of the New Zealand Cycle Classic. Lawless led a JLT 1-2 ahead of teammate and New Zealand rider Alex Frame.

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News: Win for Lawless in NZ

Overnight Chris Lawless won the opening 124km stage of the New Zealand Cycle Classic.

Alex Frame and Chris Lawless on the podium

20 year-old Lawless, a new signing for JLT Condor, sprinted into the finish town of Masterton, closely followed by team mate Alex Frame, making the stage victory all the sweeter with a podium 1-2 for the team.

The UCI 2.2 stage race taking place in Wairarapa over five days is the country’s premier cycle race. The opening stage featured an undulating course profile and heavy cross winds. A four man breakaway wrangled free of the peloton after 50km of racing and built up a six minute lead that looked enough to see them succeed to the finish as cross winds took their toll on the bunch. In the closing two kilometres, after much pace-making from JLT Condor, the lone leaders were caught and the team began to set up Chris Lawless for the sprint into the finish.

Speaking in post race interviews, Lawless was naturally thrilled to take the win and explained the result was down to teamwork. “Our team were all brilliant today and we were lucky that we didn’t panic when the wind switched. George [Atkins] did a hell of a ride in the cross wind and took us back up to the front group.” He added, “If we carry on like that we’ll have a good tour.”

The Race Ahead
The win puts Lawless in the yellow leader’s jersey and the Ricoh U23 rider’s jersey. He spoke about his expectations for stage 2. Lawless told Road Cycling NZ “Our team were all brilliant today and we were lucky that we were all together and that we didn’t panic when the wind switched.” George [Atkins] did a hell of a ride in the cross wind and did a really big turn which basically took us back up to the front group”.

“If we carry on like that we’ll have a good tour. I am hoping it’s windy again tomorrow because I won’t say I enjoy the wind, but I seem to go okay in the wind. I enjoy sitting in the gutter and scuttling the wheels … it makes it a bit more fun as opposed to when there’s no wind and you’re waiting for the last 20 minutes to come,” finished Lawless.

Team Manager, John Herety, was equally pleased with the riders’ performance. “Our lead out was executed to perfection and all the guys worked very hard in the wind to close the gap. George Atkins was very strong as were both Steve Lampier and 18 year old Stevie Williams. I’m delighted that we were able to reap the rewards of everyone’s hard work with a stage win and second place.”

Stage 2 of the New Zealand Cycle Classic continues tomorrow and features a 136.4km route from Masterton to the wine village of Martinborough, including 8 laps through the town square. Riders are expected to finish at an estimated time of 1.30pm (12.30am GMT).

Stage 1

Place Surname, name Team Time Gap
1 LAWLESS, Christopher (U23) JLT 2:54:05
2 FRAME, Alex JLT ST
3 KERRISON, Jesse (U23) SOM ST
4 SMITH, Dion OPC ST
5 EVANS, Brad NZL ST
6 GOUGH, Fraser ART ST
7 THOMAS, Ryan (U23) DSR ST
8 CHRISTIE, Jason KRD ST
9 TORCKLER, Michael THT ST
10 AITCHESON, Liam (U23) ART ST
11 ROWLANDS, David FMT ST
12 LAMPIER, Steven JLT ST
13 KATSONIS, Nicholas (U23) SOM ST
14 GORDON, Callum (U23) TSR ST
15 REDDISH, Nick (U23) ORF ST
16 PRETE, Joshua COB ST
17 WEST, Alex (U23) SSK ST
18 ORAM, James OPC ST
19 CARTER, Tom (U23) SSK ST
20 VINK, Michael NZL ST
21 CULEY, Marcus MCS ST
22 ROBINSON, Tom SOM ST
23 FIELD, Rylee (U23) GPM ST
24 WEBB-SMITH, Matthew (U23) SFT ST
25 IRVINE, Saxon DSR ST
26 WILLIAMS, Stephen (U23) JLT ST
27 WEAVER, David FMT ST
28 RUSH, Tim NZT ST
29 MCCORMICK, Hayden (U23) OPC ST
30 O’CONNOR, Ben (U23) ART ST
31 KERGOZOU, Nicholas (U23) NZL ST
32 MARRYATT, Jake (U23) BBT ST
33 CHRISTISON, Shamus (U23) SFT ST
34 WHITFIELD, Sean (U23) ORF ST
35 THOMAS, Scott DSR ST
36 O’BRIEN, Mark ART ST
37 HOUSE, Kristian OPC ST
38 LEVIN, Nate (U23) BBT ST
39 HUNT, Joshua OPC ST
40 BULL, Adam (U23) SOM ST
41 ELLIOT, Nathan KRD ST
42 WHITE, Nathan COB ST
43 HEANEY, Alex (U23) TSR ST
44 CLARK, Boris (U23) SSK ST
45 CHRISTENSEN, Ryan (U23) ORF ST
46 GRIFFIN, Logan (U23) ORF ST
47 SCHREURS, Hamish (U23) NZL ST
48 CROME, Sam ART ST
49 NEWBERRY, Dylan (U23) DSR ST
50 MCDERMOTT, Luke MCS ST
51 SMITH, Morgan KRD ST
52 VOLKERS, Samuel DSR ST
53 BAIN, Nick (U23) TSR ST
54 TROY, Michael GPM ST
55 SUTTON, Frank (U23) TSR ST
56 CAMERON, Tim NZT ST
57 ALDRIDGE, Joshua THT ST
58 MILLER, Nick KRD ST
59 LEWER, Flynn FMT ST
60 KIPPEN, Elliot COB 00:15
61 MACARTHUR, Dugald COB ST
62 MORT, Logan SFT ST
63 WYNNIATT, Cameron THT ST
64 SANSON, Chris BBT ST
65 THOMASON, Jason THT ST
66 STANDRILL, Calvin (U23) FMT 00:34
67 PHIPPS, Sam (U23) GPM 00:38
68 SOWRY, Jack (U23) SFT 00:53
69 HAGAN, Andy TSR 01:10
70 CUMING, Michael SOM 01:15
71 ATKINS, George JLT 02:09
72 GILMORE, Jordan NZT 02:36
73 NEUMANN, Mitchel COB ST
74 HILL, Samuel (U23) GPM ST
75 POTTER, Michael (U23) GPM 02:57
76 FREEMAN, Ross NZT 03:05
77 SCHUURHUIS, Rien ORF 03:07
78 PAGE, Joshua SFT 03:28
79 HILL, Liam KRD 12:03
80 SALMON, Charles (U23) MCS 21:27
81 DENHOLM, James (U23) BBT ST
82 GRIERSON, Roger FMT ST
83 LANGHAM, Jacob (U23) MCS ST
84 WELLS, Carl BBT ST
85 MCINTOSH, Benjamin (U23) NZT ST
86 DUYNHOVEN, Paul THT 21:31

Fagan Motors Sprint Classification (Stage 1)
1 CUMING, Michael SOM 6
2 NEWBERRY, Dylan DSR 6
3 KERGOZOU, Nicholas NZL 3
4 MCCORMICK, Hayden OPC 1
5 CHRISTENSEN, Ryan ORF 1
6 MILLER, Nick KRD 1

Mitre 10 Masterton – KOM Classification (Stage 1)
1 CROME, Sam ART 12
2 CHRISTENSEN, Ryan ORF 8
3 TORCKLER, Michael THT 2
4 CUMING, Michael SOM 2

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