Chris Latham has enjoyed a promising start to the 2017 and having enjoyed success on the road and the track he is confident there is more to come.
The 23-year-old Team Wiggins rider claimed a World Championship bronze medal on the track in the scratch race in Hong Kong last month, while he also picked up a first win on the road of the season two weeks earlier.
While Latham is still waiting to confirm his exact upcoming schedule, he believes the win in the East-Cleveland Klondike Grand Prix can be the first of many wins this season.
“It’s always good to get an early win in the road season, it gives you a confidence boost,” said Latham, who was speaking at the launch of the Rapha Nocturne Series.
“And it was quite hilly as well. Usually I probably wouldn’t have got round so I was dead happy with that, it was a good little bonus at the start of the season.
“For the rest of the season I just want to try and win everything, try and do as best as I can at every race I do.
“I know bits and pieces of my schedule but I’m just waiting for the team to confirm exactly which ones I’ll be doing.
“The Ras (in Ireland) would be the first big one we can do well in this season. For some reason we didn’t get to do the Tour de Yorkshire, which would have been good as that had two flat-ish stages in.”
Latham has shown his ability to switch between road and track, following that road win with his success in Hong Kong.
And even if his main ambition at the Worlds was the omnium, he enjoyed the chance to try his hand at a different race.
He added: “The bronze was a nice little surprise and actually the highlight.
“We used it as a warm-up for the omnium, as I’d done most of my work for the omnium – which I didn’t do that great in, kind of fell off a bit.
“But I was really pleased with that scratch race – and the team pursuit too.
“I wasn’t supposed to do that, I was just all in for the omnium, but they chucked me in there for a round and I got them into the bronze medal ride-off.
“The team pursuit is still an aim of mine, but the omnium fits in with the road now, so I wanted to do that, but the team pursuit it more specific.”
Latham was speaking at the launch of the new Rapha Nocturne Series which kicks off on June 10 around a 1.3km track in the City of London.
He added: “It’s really exciting, it’s in the dark, at night time and so different to what anyone else really experiences – especially in road racing.
“It all seems a lot faster at night time. It is carnage, crit racing, and then at night time it’s even worse, but I loved it last year.
“It’s the last km of a bunch sprint for the whole way round, the full hour. And I knew I’d love to do it again this year and hopefully try and pull the win off.”
The Rapha London Nocturne – a unique free to attend festival of cycling featuring the world’s most prestigious Criterium race – is coming to the City of London on 10 June. Visit www.raphanocturne.com for further information.
