Sharon Laws
 Laws in the 2009 UCI Road World Championships in Mendrisio, Switzerland | |||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Sharon Laws | ||||||||||||
| Born |
7 July 1974 Nairobi, Kenya | ||||||||||||
| Height | 1.64 m (5 ft 5 in)[1] | ||||||||||||
| Weight | 54 kg (119 lb; 8.5 st)[1] | ||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||
| Current team | UnitedHealthcare Women’s Team | ||||||||||||
| Discipline | Road & MTB | ||||||||||||
| Role | Rider | ||||||||||||
| Professional team(s) | |||||||||||||
| 2008–2009 2010–2011 2012 2013 2014– |
Team Halfords Bikehut Garmin-Cervélo AA Drink–leontien.nl Lotto Belisol Ladies UnitedHealthcare Women’s Team | ||||||||||||
| Major wins | |||||||||||||
|
2008 British National Time Trial Champion 2012 British National Road Race Champion | |||||||||||||
Medal record
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Infobox last updated on 28 January 2013 | |||||||||||||
Sharon Laws (born 7 July 1974)[2] is a British professional cyclist, riding for Lotto Belisol Ladies as of 2013. She is an environmental advisor for the mining company, Rio Tinto, in Australia. She was born in Nairobi, Kenya, and has lived in Uganda, South Africa, Zimbabwe and the UK.[3]
Laws previously competed in adventure racing and endurance mountain biking. She won the eight-day Cape Epic mountain-bike race in South Africa in 2004. She began riding on the road to train for mountain biking and her form on the road was confirmed when she moved to Australia. She was approached to ride for Australia after coming second in the national championship in Ballarat, but the British official, Dave Brailsford, signed her for Team Halfords Bikehut.
Her first victory in the team came was the Cheshire Classic stage race, which she won after coming second on the first and second stages.[4] She got in the break on the first day in the Tour de l'Aude Cycliste Féminin but eased up on team orders to let Nicole Cooke catch the leaders. Cooke won the stage with Laws fifth.[5] Laws crashed on the fifth stage but rejoined the peloton after a long chase. Her elbow needed a stitch but she could continue racing.[6] She finished sixth overall.[5]
Her addition to the British team, which included Cooke and Emma Pooley, was expected to improve chances of a medal in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing[7] but Laws crashed twice and came 35th of 62 finishers. Later in 2008 she won the British National Time Trial Championships.
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In 2012 she won the British National Road Race Championships.[8] In November 2013 it was announced that Laws would be racing for the new UnitedHealthcare Women’s Team in 2014.[9]
Palmarès
- 2004
- 1st, ladies category, Absa Cape Epic, South Africa (8 day International MTB stage race, female pair)
- 8th Cape Argus Cycle Race, South Africa
- 2006
- 5th TransAlps (8 day MTB International stage race, female pair)
- 6th Grand Raid Crist Alp, Switzerland (MTB 130 km, elite women)
- 2007
- 1st Tour of Bright (road, elite women)
- 5th (fastest 22 km MTB leg) Anaconda Adventure Race (solo women)
- 1st Gravity 12 hour (MTB enduro, mixed pair)
- 2nd Chase the Sun 5 hour (MTB enduro, female solo)
- 3rd Tour of Coleraine (road, elite women)
- 1st Big Hill event (MTB enduro, elite women)
- 2nd Mars Challenge (21km run, 80 km ride, 30 km paddle, female solo)
- 2008
- 2nd Australian National Road Race Championships, Ballarat (AUS)
- 1st Cheshire Classic (GBR)
- 1st Stage 2, Cheshire Classic (GBR)
- 1st Olveston Women's Road Race (GBR)
- 1st British National Time Trial Championships
- 2009
- 1st, ladies category, Absa Cape Epic
- 2010
- 1st Stage 1, Tour de l'Aude Cycliste Féminin Team Time Trial
- 1st Stage 1, Tour Cycliste Féminin International
- 2012
- 1st British National Road Race Championships
- 1st Momentum 94.7 Cycle Challenge, South Africa
- 3rd Team time trial, 2012 UCI Road World Championships
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Athlete Biography – LAWS Sharon". Beijing Olympics official website. Archived from the original on 2008-09-09.
- ↑ "Sharon Laws". Cycling Website.
- ↑ Paul Verkuylen (30 May 2008). "Matt Lloyd and Oenone Wood win Aussie nationals". Cyclingnews.com.
- ↑ "Cheshire Classic Women’s Road Race". British Cycling. 27 April 2008.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "24th Tour de l'Aude – 2.2". Cycling News. 25 May 2008.
- ↑ Lionel Birnie (21 May 2008). "TOUR DE L'AUDE: LAWS HAS STITCH IN ELBOW AFTER CRASH". Cycling Weekly.
- ↑ "Cooke medal hopes boosted by Laws". BBC Sport. 17 April 2008.
- ↑ Cycling Weekly (2010-11-17). "Sharon Laws wins national road race title | Latest News". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 2012-06-24.
- ↑ Bull, Nick (13 November 2013). "Sharon Laws and Hannah Barnes join UnitedHealthcare for 2014". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
- Sharon Laws signs for Team Halfords Bikehut (15 April 2008) British Cycling (Palmarès)