Location: Penrith, Cumbria
Event: 9 June 2013
Report: Snowdon Sports
Photos: Andrew Thomas
Christopher Lawless (Kuota-Spinergy) raced to victory in the Junior Men’s National Road Race Championships in Penrith on Saturday.
The teenager was in fine form as he crossed the line four seconds in front of Gabriel Cullaigh of RST Racing Team and seven seconds ahead of Tao Geoghegan Hart (Cycling Club Hackney).
The top five all came in within nine seconds of each other with Matthew Gibson (Velocity WD-40) and Scott Davies (Liverpool Mercury) also involved at the head of the race.
There was then a gap of half a minute back to Tristan Robbins (Cardiff JIF) back in sixth.
Lawless said after the race: “I rode the course yesterday and thought I could do well, the climbs are not too big but you need a bit of power for a good result.
“The first move was made by Scott Davis. I know him as a eally good time triallist so I didn’t want to lose him and bridged over.
“I was in the front group for the rest of the race and it kept getting smaller. There were two crashes but each one only took one rider down and aprt from that the race went smoothly.
“It got down to a group of five.Scott rode out until at least 2km to go. I knew if I kicked first it would be hard for the others to get on terms with me. But I was worried about Tao, he’s a strong climber and I knew that if he kicked it would be hard for me to catch him.
“So I went with 350 metres left and I managed to open up a bit of a gap. I have a training camp on Wednesday in Glasgow, my target now is to try and get selected for the World Championships in Glasgow.”
Gabriel Cullaigh, who finished second, said after the race: “I’m really happy with the result, I didn’t feel good today but I was still really up for it and was committed.
“I think the main reason I didn’t feel so good was because of the little drags, they were quite deceiving and took more than I expected out of you.
“I got in a break with four to go and worked well with 15 or 20 others. We were riding well together and then 10 riders got across to us with some strong riders.
“We dropped a few people heading into last lap and because we knew each other well, We worked together straight away and then the last half of the last lap was a bit cat and mouse.
“When we got to the finish, I thought Chris had gone early, I thought it would be best to leave it late. But Tao responded and I went too.”
Organiser Matt Winston added: "I'd like to say a huge thanks to Beacon Bikes and Brother for their support of the event along with Eden District Council and Lazonby C of E Primary School along with all the marshals volunteers and race officials."
Results:
1 Christopher Lawless Kuota - Spinergy - GSG
2 Gabriel Cullaigh RST Racing Team @ 4 seconds
3 Tao Geoghegan Hart Cycling Club Hackney @ 7 seconds
4 Matthew Gibson Velocity WD-40 @ 8 seconds
5 Scott Davies Liverpool Mercury @ 9 seconds
6 Tristan Robbins Cardiff JIF @ 40 seconds
7 James Shaw Forme Bikes UK @same time
8 James Knox Champion System/Maxgear/Base @ 42 seconds
9 Harry Franklin Team De ver @same time
10 Ben Chapman Team Corley Cycles @same time
11 Jacob Ragan Champion System/Maxgear/Base @ 58 seconds
12 James King Sportscover Altura RT
13 Joe Evans Hargroves Cycles RT-Specialized-Trant-Next-Elliott's
14 Callum Ferguson Halesowen A & CC
15 Robbie Westwood Cwmcarn Paragon Cycle Club
16 Jacob Scott Sportscover Altura RT
17 Joseph Wiltshire Cwmcarn Paragon Cycle Club
18 Joe Kirkham Hargroves Cycles RT-Specialized-Trant-Next-Elliott's all @same time
19 Owen James County Cycles Racing Team @ 1:04
20 Gavin Shuttleworth Team ASL360 @1:14
21 Mitchell Webber Primera-Specialized @same time
22 Levi Moody RST Racing Team @3:23
23 Dan Gardner Team ASL360 @3:25
24 Peter Cocker Forme Bikes UK @3:32
25 Fraser Martin Perth United Cycling Club @3:48
26 Andy Leigh Velocity WD-40 @3:52
27 Jamie Dudley Team Microgaming Isle of Man @4:11
28 Struan McInnes RST Racing Team
29 Stephen Williams Ystwyth Cycling Club
30 Tom Arnstein Team ASL360
31 Zachery May Cardiff JIF
32 Oliver Payton Cycle Sport Pendle
33 Matthew Mildon Mud Sweat n Gears CC
34 Henry Hunter Teamwallis CHH Racing Team
35 Oliver Maxwell Forme Bikes UK
36 Alex Hopper Teamwallis CHH Racing Team
37 Scott Auld Dirtwheels Cycles
38 Adam Lewis Wolverhampton Whls
39 Connor Swift Bike Box Alan/Whiston Velo
40 Lewis Grieve Spokes Racing Team
41 Ashley Dennis Team De ver
42 Benjamin Pygott Paul Milnes Cycles/Bradford Olympic RC
43 Calum Foster Team Leslie Bike Shop/Bikers Boutique
44 Charlie Tanfield Teamwallis CHH Racing Team
45 Zak Loney Team LFH
46 William Perrett Heanor Clarion CC
47 Jake Cowen Biketreks Racing Academy
48 Thomas Baylis Mid Devon CC
49 Hamish Carrick Team ASL360
50 Leon Mazzone Team Microgaming Isle of Man
51 Mark Stewart Team ASL360
52 Billy Harding Paul Milnes Cycles/Bradford Olympic RC
53 Joshua Knights Champion System/Maxgear/Base
54 Maximilian Stedman AW Cycles
55 Luc Hall Kuota - Spinergy – GSG
56 Christian Braybrooke Velocity WD-40
57 Jake Womersley Sportscover Altura RT all @same time
58 Michael Thompson Nutcracker Racing @9:48
59 Scott Gurnett Minehead Cycling Club @14:44
Please credit www.britishcycling.org.uk and link back if you use any of our race results.
British Cycling would like to thank the organising team, officials and everyone else who helped promote this event. Our sport could not exist without the hundreds of people, many of them unpaid volunteers, who put in many hours of hard work running events, activities and clubs.
