Britain's Chris Lawless out of World Championships with illness

Great Britain's Chris Lawless has withdrawn from starting the under-23 men's road race at the 2017 UCI Road World Championships due to illness.

Under-23 British national road race champion Lawless was due to take part in the under-23's event on Friday, September 22, but an unspecified illness has ruled him out. He was also originally scheduled to ride in Monday's U23 time trial.

>>> Team Sky sign British under-23 road champ Chris Lawless

The 21-year-old from Wigan was seen as one of Britain's brightest hopes for a gold medal at the 2017 championships, which are under way in Bergen, Norway.

In addition to taking theU23 national title, Lawless won the 2017 edition of the ZLM Tour and claimed stages of the Tour de l'Avenir and Tour de Beauce for his Axeon–Hagens Berman trade team.

Lawless will be replaced in the squad by James Shaw, who rides for Lotto-Soudal. The full GB under-23 men's line-up will be Shaw, Scott Davies, Ethan Hayter, James Knox, Mark Stewart and Ollie Wood.

Davies placed a creditable 10th in the U23 men's individual time trial on Monday.

Lawless signed a professional deal with Team Sky, starting from the 2018 season, on the back of his impressive 2017 results.