IT’S LIKE SIGNING FOR MAN UNITED
Team Ineos starlet now has sights on Grand Tour debut
SOME may prefer the silks of Aintree or the azaleas of Augusta – but of all sporting images robbed from us this spring, few can match the colour and beauty of the Tour de Yorkshire.
So, spare a thought for the man who could have been freewheeling into Leeds yesterday as the first two-time winner.
Isle of Man-based Team Ineos rider Chris Lawless has had his season ripped to bits by the sporting cancellations.
Less than two years after signing for the biggest outfit in professional cycling, 2019 was a breakthrough season for the Wigan-born sprinter.
And this year he was scheduled to contest the spring Classics – the prestigious one-day road races – before defending his title in Yorkshire.
With the race programme uncertain and likely to be condensed in the autumn, plans are fluid.
But Lawless has reset his sights on making the Ineos team for one of the Grand Tours, either the Vuelta a
Espana or the Giro d’Italia. “It is a real shame the Tour de Yorkshire didn’t go ahead,” he said.
“It is always one of the best races on the calendar but we are in very unusual circumstances, aren’t we.
“The big aim was the Classics. We did the opening weekend and then we were stopped, which was a shame. I knew I was going out to Australia for the first race of the year to prepare for the
Classics and into the Tour de Yorkshire. I don’t think I would have been involved in the Tour de France, but I am going to try and ride a Grand Tour this year if they actually go on.
“At this team, the Tour de France being your first Grand Tour is not really an option. But the Vuelta is a possibility. With all three being so close to each other, if they all do go on, it will be hard to do more than one.
“Hopefully I will make the
Giro or Vuelta squad. I have to just concentrate on my training and do the right things to put myself in the best position.”
Lawless, who is still young at 24, is certainly with the right team.
“It is like signing for Manchester United,” he said. “It is just the biggest team in the sport.
“I had a decent year in my last year as an Under-23 in 2017 and we had been talking to Sky – as it was then – for a bit of a time.
“I went on a training camp with them in July and we kept talking. The call from Dave Brailsford came the day I was riding the Tour de l’Avenir, saying there was a contract here for me.
“The next day I won a stage. Whether it was a confidence boost, it seemed to work.”
Lawless has time on his side. Team-mate Chris Froome made his Grand Tour debut aged 23, as did Sir BradleyWiggins.
He said: “It would be great if I’m selected. But if not, then I have to look towards next year and a Tour de Yorkshire defence and the Classics again.”