03 May 2019
Lawless sprints to third in Bedale
Related riders
Chris Lawless
Tour de Yorkshire stage two: Barnsley - Bedale, 132km
Chris Lawless recovered from a late puncture to finish third in tough conditions on stage two of Tour de Yorkshire as Rick Zabel (Katusha Alpecin) was victorious.
Lawless suffered the puncture just as the race was picking up pace and the peloton started to jostle for position.
Fortunately, Ian Stannard was able to wait for the British youngster and bring him back not only to the bunch, but the front of the peloton alongside Owain Doull.
Stannard then continued to push the pace with under four kilometres remaining, ensuring Lawless avoided any incidents in the tricky closing kilometres, before Doull took up the mantle to setup a hectic bunch sprint which was won by Zabel, with Boy van Poppel (Roompot-Charles) second.
Lawless suffered the puncture just as the race was picking up pace and the peloton started to jostle for position.
Fortunately, Ian Stannard was able to wait for the British youngster and bring him back not only to the bunch, but the front of the peloton alongside Owain Doull.
Stannard then continued to push the pace with under four kilometres remaining, ensuring Lawless avoided any incidents in the tricky closing kilometres, before Doull took up the mantle to setup a hectic bunch sprint which was won by Zabel, with Boy van Poppel (Roompot-Charles) second.
Chris Lawless
Third is good but it’s not what we’re looking for.
Reaction
Chris Lawless
“Around 10km out I had a puncture and Stannard brought me back really quickly, he did such a good job and he got me back to the front.
Chris Lawless
“Around 10km out I had a puncture and Stannard brought me back really quickly, he did such a good job and he got me back to the front.
"He ended up taking the lead on the front for 1.5km and he was unbelievable, nobody could touch him! Doull did a really good job too, then I managed to slip back onto Mark Cavendish’s wheel as it was too far for Doull to take it to the finish.
“I knew the finish went uphill and flattened off a bit, and while I was carrying my momentum forward, I was unsure whether I had enough to push to the line - I doubted myself for a split second, then Zabel passed as he had the guts to do what I wanted to do.
“Overall third, is good but it’s not what we’re looking for.”
