Currently racing the Etoile de Bessèges, Chris Lawless is part of a TotalEnergies who is starting off the season with good form, and he's ambitioning high this sprint.
“It's a completely different start than last year. I had a long winter, my last race was at the end of August. So I had a long preparation for this new season, I started training early. This seems to have worked at the start of the season," Lawless affirmed in an interview with DirectVelo.
With Lawless, Mathieu Burgaudeau and Edvald Boasson Hagen, Total Energies have had a strong start to the season in GP La Marseillaise and now in the Etoile the Bessèges, where the French puncheurs sits third in the overall, whilst the two sprinters have been up there in the easier finales. Lawless also took to the start in the early Clàssica Comunitat Valenciana where he finished in a strong third place.
"With the lack of races it was tough. But I always believed in myself and I knew I was capable of getting back to a good level. I'm happy that everything is back to normal. I hope to have a full year now," the former INEOS rider asserted.
“I would like to ride some [Classics] with Peter Sagan. It's a big goal. I hope to perform well. If I give the best of myself for the team in each race, I will have my card to play. But it's also my job to work for team-mates at the end of the race."
Lawless finished 6th on the opening stage of the Etoile de Bessèges and has afterwards been put on a more supporting role as the team carries significant GC ambitions, with Burgaudeau and Latour in the fight for the overall win. He is scheduled to be racing the cobbled classics this year where the team has the means to dream big, being lead by former Flandres and Roubaix winner Peter Sagan and also French specialist Anthony Turgis.
"I want to stay consistent. I will give my all in every event. And with success, the results will come."
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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