Sharon Laws (7 July 1974 – 16 December 2017) was a British professional cyclist and environmental consultant.

Early life

Laws was born in

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper h ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

, grew up in

Bourton-on-the-Water Bourton-on-the-Water is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England, that lies on a wide flat vale within the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The village had a population of 3,296 at the 2011 census. Much of the village ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

and lived in

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. She gained an MSc in conservation and worked both before and during her cycling career as an environmental consultant to organisations including the British Government, the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

and for mining company

Rio Tinto Rio Tinto, meaning "red river", may refer to: Businesses * Rio Tinto (corporation), an Anglo-Australian multinational mining and resources corporation ** Rio Tinto Alcan, based in Canada ** Rio Tinto Borax in America *** Rio Tinto Borax Mine, ...

in Australia.

Cycling career

Laws previously competed in adventure racing and endurance mountain biking. She won the eight-day Absa Cape Epic mountain-bike race in

in 2004 with partner Hanlie Booyens. She then competed again with Booyens in the Women's Category in 2009, once again claiming 1st prize. 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 Sir David John Brailsford (born 29 February 1964) is a British cycling coach. He was formerly performance director of British Cycling and is currently general manager of UCI WorldTeam . Early life Brailsford was born in Shardlow, Derbyshire, a ...

, signed her for

Team Halfords Bikehut Team Halfords Bikehut was a 2008 UCI elite women's cycling team based in the United Kingdom. The team was formed in January 2008 with Dave Brailsford, performance director of British Cycling, the general manager. It had been a pro/national team ...

. After turning professional at the age of 33, she made her base

Girona Girona (officially and in Catalan , Spanish: ''Gerona'' ) is a city in northern Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 103,369 in 2020. Girona is the capital ...

, Spain, and undertook winter training in

Stellenbosch Stellenbosch (; )A Universal Pronounc ...

. 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. She got in the break on the first day in the

Tour de l'Aude Cycliste Féminin The Tour de l'Aude Cycliste Féminin was the longest running UCI event on the women's elite cycle racing calendar. It had been held annually in the Aude Aude (; ) is a department in Southern France, located in the Occitanie region and nam ...

but eased up on team orders to let

Nicole Cooke Nicole Denise Cooke, MBE (born 13 April 1983) is a Welsh former professional road bicycle racer and Commonwealth, Olympic and World road race champion. At Beijing in 2008 she became the first British woman to win a Gold Olympic medal in an ...

catch the leaders. Cooke won the stage with Laws fifth. Laws crashed on the fifth stage but rejoined the

peloton In a road bicycle race, the peloton (from French, originally meaning 'platoon') is the main group or pack of riders. Riders in a group save energy by riding close ( drafting or slipstreaming) to (particularly behind) other riders. The reducti ...

after a long chase. Her elbow needed a stitch but she could continue racing. She finished sixth overall. Her addition to the British team, which included Cooke and

Emma Pooley Emma may refer to: * Emma (given name) Film * ''Emma'' (1932 film), a comedy-drama film by Clarence Brown * ''Emma'' (1996 theatrical film), a film starring Gwyneth Paltrow * ''Emma'' (1996 TV film), a British television film starring Kate Be ...

, was expected to improve chances of a medal in the 2008 Summer Olympics in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

but Laws crashed twice and came 35th of 62 finishers. Later in 2008 she won the

British National Time Trial Championships The British National Time Trial Championships for cycling are held annually. The winners of each event are awarded with a symbolic white cycling jersey featuring blue and red stripes, which can be worn by the rider at other time trial events in ...

. In 2012, she won the

British National Road Race Championships The British National Road Race Championships cover different categories of British road bicycle racing events, normally held annually. History Between 1943 and 1958, two separate bodies – the British League of Racing Cyclists (BLRC) and t ...

. In October 2015 she was announced as part of Podium Ambition Pro Cycling's squad for the 2016 season. Subsequently, in June 2016 she confirmed that she would retire from competition at the end of the season. Laws was part of the

ITV4 ITV4 is a British free-to-air television channel which was launched on 1 November 2005. It is owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc, and is part of the ITV network. The channel has a line-up that consists of sports, cult classic ...

commentary team for the channel's coverage of the 2017 Women's Tour.

Retirement and death

Laws retired from professional cycling in August 2016. In October 2016 Laws announced that she had been diagnosed with cervical cancer, for which she had started on a six-month course of

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs ( chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemothe ...

. Laws died on 16 December 2017, aged 43.

Major results

;2004 :1st, Women's Category, Absa Cape Epic,

(8 day International MTB stage race) :8th

Cape Argus Cycle Race The Cape Town Cycle Tour is an annual cycle race hosted in Cape Town, South Africa, usually long. It is the first event outside Europe to be included in the Union Cycliste Internationale's Golden Bike Series. South Africa hosts some of the l ...

;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 – Team Halfords Bikehut 2008 season :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

;2009 :1st, Women's Category, Absa Cape Epic :5th Australian National Road Race Championships, Ballarat (AUS) ;2010 :1st Stage 1,

Team Time Trial :1st Stage 1, Tour Cycliste Féminin International ;2012 – AA Drink-leontien.nl 2012 season :1st

:1st Momentum

94.7 Cycle Challenge The 947 Ride Joburg (formally known as the ''94.7 cycle challenge)'' is the world's second-largest timed cycle race, after the Cape Argus Cycle Race. It is held annually on ''cycle challenge Sunday'', the third Sunday of November in the South Af ...

:3rd Team time trial, 2012 UCI Road World Championships ;2014 :1st Jersey polkadot

Mountains classification

The Women's Tour The Women's Tour is a women's cycle stage race held in England and Wales, as part of the UCI Women's World Tour. The race is organised by SweetSpot, the company behind the men's Tour of Britain. History Its origins trace back to 2010 whe ...

;2016 :1st Overall Pirineus 3-day Mountain Bike Race :3rd Overall Alpentour Trophy

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Laws, Sharon 1974 births 2017 deaths People from Bourton-on-the-Water Sportspeople from Nairobi British female cyclists Cyclists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic cyclists for Great Britain Cyclists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games British cycling road race champions Cycling announcers Deaths from cervical cancer Commonwealth Games competitors for England