November 28, 2025 • 15 mins
Laurence Pithie has had a huge year on the bike.
From a podium at the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race to making his Tour de France debut with Red Bull–BORA–Hansgrohe, the 23-year-old Kiwi has stamped his mark on the world stage.
Pithie also impressed in the Spring Classics, lining up against cycling’s biggest names and proving he belongs in the elite ranks.
He joined Lesley Murdoch to reflect on the season and look ahead to 2026.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, it is a great treat to have in the studio.
He is Olympian one six double O and he is
a champion cyclist, World champion cyclist in our eyes, and
the only entrant for New Zealand in the recent Tour
de France. I'm talking about Lawrence Pithy and he enjoyed us.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Good morning, good morning, Thank you very much for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Well, we loved watching you at the Olympics in Paris
and then of course the Tour de France. And I'm
not a cyclist per se, but those iconic events capture
you and you really follow Kiwis and what they're doing.
But from a cycling perspective, when did you start actually
putting your feet on pedals and cycling? How old were you?
Speaker 2 (00:43):
I was a very young age. I would have been
from what I can remember riding around McLean's Island with
my dad on the mountain bike and that's probably where
I really started. I'm sure I was on the viike
with training wheels when I was just a little voiver. Yeah,
where I can remember as yeah, going out to mclin's
Island with dad and riffing around a few laps there.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
I can also say that we're joined by our esteemed
colleague here at inzid Mee, John McKenzie and a variety
of forms. We've had delightful connections.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
John.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Great to have you in the studio because I know
how much you love cycling as well, So pretty cool
to have your insights here as we really want to
doff our hat and salute what Lawrence has achieved. And
I know you've got some interesting background on Lawrence when
you first spotted them.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Oh it's classic. Yeah, obviously race with your dad a
bit and still remember you as a little kid running
around with some pieces. So training and cycling in Canterbury,
I mean it's a great place to ride a bi
doesn't that So how did that go with just following
your dad around and then just having this as a
place to train in?
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Yeah, Christ it was a brilliant place. I mean, I
love riding in the porthills. It's it's some of my
favorite riding and every time I come back to New Zealand,
it's always where I go first on the training rides
and Dad would drag me out. Yeah, first started me
at the Tuesday nighttime was so I'd go out there
with him ride eight k and then he'd have to
(02:04):
push me all the way home because I couldn't push
the pedals anymore. So yeah, he was a big driver
of why I was riding. And also yeah, training with
my brother, and also at school, being in christ Church,
we've got a good school cycling program, and that's kind
of where it all started for me, getting out with
(02:24):
my mates and just trying to tear each other's legs off,
and yeah, then doing that with dad and yeah, that's
where it all started.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
And Christ shit, when did it come to the point
where your dad Ron didn't want to bike with anymore
because you're going to tear his legs off and he
is a very good cyclist.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
Good question. I'd probably say when I started hitting puberty,
probably around thirteen or fifteen. Yeah, it's I mean, he
still tries to tear my legs off when I'm with him,
but thankfully I can put him in his place these days.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
I get that you come home sometimes and people stay, oh, oh,
so what are you doing when you here for a job?
Speaker 2 (03:00):
You know, yeah, exactly. Cycling is a huge sport in Europe.
It's one of the biggest sports watched, loved by many
Europeans and New Zealand. It's just not like that. But
that's a great analogy with rugby. There's different tiers and
everyone starts getting paid when they reached a pro continental level.
Some guys get paid at continental, but yeah, to make
(03:24):
the real money, it's in the World Tour. So basically
I started racing on the track and work my way
through high school racing riding, and that's where I got
picked up after the Junior World Champs in Germany. So
my first year in Europe was twenty twenty one, racing
at the continental level and I was getting paid then
(03:44):
for a French team, not super well, but well enough
to live and pay rent in France and do everything
at quite a high level, which thankfully it meant I
could boost my way up to World Tour and I
skipped the pro continental level. So yeah, in twenty twenty
three was my first year World Tour. So I've just
finished my third year, so yeah, it's quite incredible. It's
(04:08):
been a big learning curve and a massive change for
me moving to Europe in twenty twenty one when I
was eighteen, So yeah, now it's yeah, now it's my
job and now it's my life, and yeah, I live
in Brief Cycling.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
Which adding cycling with our champion cyclist Lawrence Pathy and
John McKenzie. As we chew the fact on what it's
like to be a top flight professional cyclist. Lawrence talked
to us about the Tour de France and your favorite
cycling race.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Parry Bay is my favorite race. It's so unique. You
finish in a valodrome, which is sort of an od
to where I started cycling around the valodrome at Denton
Park and Hornby. So yeah, it's crazy, it's cobbles, it's crashes,
it's everything can happen in that race, depending on the weather.
This year it was a bit wet, which made it
(04:59):
e more difficult. But you don't really get anything else
like it in cycling. You get those special events and races,
and that's one of them. One day races on my specialty,
usually the ones with less hills, the more explosive races,
which is what I'm good at. Obviously, doing the Tour
de France this year was an incredible experience and helping
(05:20):
my teammates to win. But yeah, one of my teammates
was on the podium this year and the general classification,
so that's a fight for the big prize, the yellow Jersey,
and that was an incredible experience. So I'm going to
try and take that experience and yeah, that sort of
endurance and racing into one day races next year.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
What was it actually like to have seen on TV
and then being something like the Tour de France incredible?
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Yeah, it was incredible. It's a circus. There's nothing like it.
I mean, you get cycling fans and then you get
Tour de France fans. Every year. I met a lot
of key wees there who don't really follow cycle any
time of the year apart from July. They came up
to me they said, yeah, we're traveling around in a campavan.
(06:08):
I love the tour. I don't watch any other cycling,
but I'm always here for the tour. And yeah, like
you said, it's a circus. I think it's the most
watched and your sporting event. There's millions of people on
the side of the road. Every stage is crazy and incredible.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
From an athlete's point of view, we know in super rugby,
the average time that a top grade rugby player can
play super rugby is four seasons at maximum speed, if
you like, If that's what you're in the two. How
long can you maintain your speed in cycling at the
top level.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Well, there's still guys going around the thirty eight to
forty year old range, but I think the peak is
getting younger and younger riders pushing their bodies to extreme limits,
and I think we'll see burnout and young athletes and
cyclists especially come sooner and sooner. I think, yeah, hopefully
I can go till I'm thirty five, maybe another ten
(07:04):
to twelve years, that would be nice.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
We're lucky enough to have in studio world champions cyclist
Lawrence Pithy and also a very passionate cyclist man himself,
John McKenzie. But the Ocean race a world Tier one race.
Let's listen to this.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Will of the experienced Dutchman.
Speaker 4 (07:20):
Corbyn Strott is waiting Test Fatsyon is in fourth spot
and Nabas is breathing down he's neck. Scarni is fighting
for the wheel. Call o'briene opens up the sprint, but
he might have gone a little too early. He starts
to fight. It's Test Fatsy on coming over the top.
Pithy with the chants through the middle, Test Fatcy on
trying to hold on.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
It is a follow finish.
Speaker 4 (07:44):
We are right confirmation.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
Piffy might have got it. He's a little bit of.
Speaker 4 (07:51):
Pithy by a whisker ahead of test fatsy on. That's
the titles finish we've ever seen.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
In the Canelov's Great Ocean. What a great race Bay
tracked down?
Speaker 1 (08:02):
Was that half a tire frame?
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Yeah, it was the smallest of margins. I don't think
it doesn't get much closer than that. I had no
idea I had one. Yeah, Corbyn Strong, another great Kiwi cyclist,
was also in that race, and he lit it out
a little bit too early, so I was sort of
snaking around behind and I managed to, yeah, find my
way through at the last moment and come with a
(08:24):
bit of speed.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
And just yeah, when you talk about too early, do
you know how much is left in your legs and
you make that split second decision to go or to stay?
Speaker 2 (08:36):
You don't really know, to be honest. It's such a
hard race. It's in the heat. It was forty degrees
when we raced it this year. And yeah, I mean
usually Kiwis are doing pretty well in it, and I
know Corbyn's always a good wheel to follow, so I
was a few wheels behind his and he opened it up.
I had no idea how how much was even left.
To be honest, it's hard to see the finish. It
(08:58):
sort of bends around to the left. But I just
gave it my all to line and got it on
the lunch. There's a video floating around online somewhere. If
you watch it from the overhead helicopter, it looks like
I'm going to crash two or three times, but somehow
I just make it through.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
Can we just go back to the Tour de France.
Did you ride all the twenty one stages?
Speaker 2 (09:18):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (09:19):
And physically how long did that take you to recover
over the three weeks.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
I don't know if I've recovered from it. Yeah, yeah,
I mean it ruined my second half of my season.
I was pretty tired as grueling three weeks racing almost
every day you get to rest days, and yeah, we
were ranging anywhere from four hours to I think six hours.
Fifty was my longest down the bike this year.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
And that sums up how it's a team sport and
everyone has a designated role.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Yeah, it's quite an interesting one. Everyone looking in from
the art side seems to think cycling is quite individual,
but the Netflix documentaries on the Tour de France portrayed
it quite well and how much of a team sport
it is. So basically my role in the tour was
to protect our leader, a German writer called Florian Lipwitz.
He's quite young also, so it was his first time
(10:14):
at the tour, my first time also, so I was
basically trying to shelter him, guide him through the stages,
protect him as much as possible so that when it
got to crunch time he still had energy to race
for the win. And yeah, we did that quite well.
He was third and won the Young Riders Jersey. But yeah,
it's a lot of sacrifice leading into that race. I
(10:36):
think within a two and a half month period, I
was home for five days, so we did an altitude
training camp, so we stayed for three weeks above two
two hundred meters in attitude. So yeah, that's a former
training now that really helps with endurance to build red
blood sours and get you through that three weeks of
(10:56):
racing in the best, best possible way.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
I suppose to lead on from that to understand what
is essentially running yourself as a business it's.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
All about timing as well. In the sport, I think
you can tick a lot of the boxes, but if, yeah,
you have a bad year or crash at the wrong time,
it really can in your career and it's quite fickle.
I'm fortunate to have a longer term contract now so
I can worry about that less. But yeah, coming from
New Zealand, everything really does have to go well. There's
(11:27):
not many key we riders in the world tour, so yeah,
you really have to be the best and want it.
I mean, yeah, I left home when I was eighteen
and I live nine to ten months of the year
in Europe and get to come back once a year.
So it's hard not being able to see your family
and friends. But yeah, technology has made that much easier
(11:49):
as well. I live in Andorra, Yeah, I live at
fifteen hundred meters.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
Are you kicking off the season in Adelaide at the
tour down Under?
Speaker 2 (11:56):
Exactly? Yeah, I'll start there. Yeah, it's we stay in
one hotel all week, which is quite uncommon and pro
cycling usually where yeah, we're like the traveling circus. But yeah,
it's all in the center of Adelaide and people can
come and see what we're doing and go onto the
pits where the mechanics are working. It's really really unique.
(12:17):
I want to win races throughout the spring in Europe.
Speaker 3 (12:20):
For a favorite race in New Zealand.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
To a Southland I would love to win a stage
at a Tour de France. I think every cyclist that's
said dream it's the biggest race in the world. It's
got the most eyes on it.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
So, yeah, you think there's some key we mentality that helps.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
I think we're killers. I think we know what it takes, yeah,
to make it. We don't really give up so often.
And yeah, I think there's some soft Europeans out there
who are often throwing in the towel quite early. And
I think the kiwis, Yeah, we've sacrificed so much to
be over there in racing. We're always willing to go
that extra mile to finish it off and make things happen.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
It's probably going to be a question that most people
want to know about Lawrence, is you know, at the
moment you said, you've got a long career beckons.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
Hopefully I make enough money where I can just start
some hobbies and don't have to work again. But yeah,
I don't have any plans. I left school early, so
I didn't go to university. I committed everything to cycling
and so far it's worked out. And you know, when
the time comes, I'm sure. I'm sure I'll pick up
(13:32):
something something different and it might be in support, it
might not be, but yeah, time will tell. Hopefully I
can continue this for as long as possible, and yeah,
we'll come across that road when we come to it.
It's nice to have a Kiwi and a few Keywis
now on the World Tour stage and to have those
guys back supporting us, watching us race, and yeah, they
(13:54):
give us the extra push when we're struggling a bit.
And we all know, all the Keiwis know that if
everyone getting up to watch during the night, especially when
the tour is on, and that gives us the extra
push for sure. I mean, it's such a hard sport
to watch. Being in Europe, you have to either watch
the highlights the next day or wake up early in
(14:15):
the night to watch it. So when we get messages
from people, we appreciate it and we love knowing that
this key is watching us back home.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
We certainly love your success and the clear message about
hard work and skill, intellect and bravery comes through loud
and clear for me, for you, John McKenzie one hundred pc.
Speaker 3 (14:38):
I just think full commitment and you worry about the
future later, So make the most of it now exactly.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
Yeah, you're only young once, so just drive on and
try and try and make everything happen.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
Oh Lawrence, thank you so much for coming into the
studio John McKenzie, Leslie Murdoch and Lawrence Pithy, and we
will be watching with great interest, first of all, for
the January race of to Reventilate Yes Tour down Under
getting the terminology.
Speaker 4 (15:06):
For more from News Talks at b Listen live on
air or online, and
Speaker 1 (15:10):
Keep our shows with you wherever you go with our
podcasts on iHeartRadio
Well, it is a great treat to have in the studio.
He is Olympian one six double O and he is
a champion cyclist, World champion cyclist in our eyes, and
the only entrant for New Zealand in the recent Tour
de France. I'm talking about Lawrence Pithy and he enjoyed us.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Good morning, good morning, Thank you very much for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Well, we loved watching you at the Olympics in Paris
and then of course the Tour de France. And I'm
not a cyclist per se, but those iconic events capture
you and you really follow Kiwis and what they're doing.
But from a cycling perspective, when did you start actually
putting your feet on pedals and cycling? How old were you?
Speaker 2 (00:43):
I was a very young age. I would have been
from what I can remember riding around McLean's Island with
my dad on the mountain bike and that's probably where
I really started. I'm sure I was on the viike
with training wheels when I was just a little voiver. Yeah,
where I can remember as yeah, going out to mclin's
Island with dad and riffing around a few laps there.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
I can also say that we're joined by our esteemed
colleague here at inzid Mee, John McKenzie and a variety
of forms. We've had delightful connections.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
John.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Great to have you in the studio because I know
how much you love cycling as well, So pretty cool
to have your insights here as we really want to
doff our hat and salute what Lawrence has achieved. And
I know you've got some interesting background on Lawrence when
you first spotted them.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Oh it's classic. Yeah, obviously race with your dad a
bit and still remember you as a little kid running
around with some pieces. So training and cycling in Canterbury,
I mean it's a great place to ride a bi
doesn't that So how did that go with just following
your dad around and then just having this as a
place to train in?
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Yeah, Christ it was a brilliant place. I mean, I
love riding in the porthills. It's it's some of my
favorite riding and every time I come back to New Zealand,
it's always where I go first on the training rides
and Dad would drag me out. Yeah, first started me
at the Tuesday nighttime was so I'd go out there
with him ride eight k and then he'd have to
(02:04):
push me all the way home because I couldn't push
the pedals anymore. So yeah, he was a big driver
of why I was riding. And also yeah, training with
my brother, and also at school, being in christ Church,
we've got a good school cycling program, and that's kind
of where it all started for me, getting out with
(02:24):
my mates and just trying to tear each other's legs off,
and yeah, then doing that with dad and yeah, that's
where it all started.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
And Christ shit, when did it come to the point
where your dad Ron didn't want to bike with anymore
because you're going to tear his legs off and he
is a very good cyclist.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
Good question. I'd probably say when I started hitting puberty,
probably around thirteen or fifteen. Yeah, it's I mean, he
still tries to tear my legs off when I'm with him,
but thankfully I can put him in his place these days.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
I get that you come home sometimes and people stay, oh, oh,
so what are you doing when you here for a job?
Speaker 2 (03:00):
You know, yeah, exactly. Cycling is a huge sport in Europe.
It's one of the biggest sports watched, loved by many
Europeans and New Zealand. It's just not like that. But
that's a great analogy with rugby. There's different tiers and
everyone starts getting paid when they reached a pro continental level.
Some guys get paid at continental, but yeah, to make
(03:24):
the real money, it's in the World Tour. So basically
I started racing on the track and work my way
through high school racing riding, and that's where I got
picked up after the Junior World Champs in Germany. So
my first year in Europe was twenty twenty one, racing
at the continental level and I was getting paid then
(03:44):
for a French team, not super well, but well enough
to live and pay rent in France and do everything
at quite a high level, which thankfully it meant I
could boost my way up to World Tour and I
skipped the pro continental level. So yeah, in twenty twenty
three was my first year World Tour. So I've just
finished my third year, so yeah, it's quite incredible. It's
(04:08):
been a big learning curve and a massive change for
me moving to Europe in twenty twenty one when I
was eighteen, So yeah, now it's yeah, now it's my
job and now it's my life, and yeah, I live
in Brief Cycling.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
Which adding cycling with our champion cyclist Lawrence Pathy and
John McKenzie. As we chew the fact on what it's
like to be a top flight professional cyclist. Lawrence talked
to us about the Tour de France and your favorite
cycling race.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Parry Bay is my favorite race. It's so unique. You
finish in a valodrome, which is sort of an od
to where I started cycling around the valodrome at Denton
Park and Hornby. So yeah, it's crazy, it's cobbles, it's crashes,
it's everything can happen in that race, depending on the weather.
This year it was a bit wet, which made it
(04:59):
e more difficult. But you don't really get anything else
like it in cycling. You get those special events and races,
and that's one of them. One day races on my specialty,
usually the ones with less hills, the more explosive races,
which is what I'm good at. Obviously, doing the Tour
de France this year was an incredible experience and helping
(05:20):
my teammates to win. But yeah, one of my teammates
was on the podium this year and the general classification,
so that's a fight for the big prize, the yellow Jersey,
and that was an incredible experience. So I'm going to
try and take that experience and yeah, that sort of
endurance and racing into one day races next year.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
What was it actually like to have seen on TV
and then being something like the Tour de France incredible?
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Yeah, it was incredible. It's a circus. There's nothing like it.
I mean, you get cycling fans and then you get
Tour de France fans. Every year. I met a lot
of key wees there who don't really follow cycle any
time of the year apart from July. They came up
to me they said, yeah, we're traveling around in a campavan.
(06:08):
I love the tour. I don't watch any other cycling,
but I'm always here for the tour. And yeah, like
you said, it's a circus. I think it's the most
watched and your sporting event. There's millions of people on
the side of the road. Every stage is crazy and incredible.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
From an athlete's point of view, we know in super rugby,
the average time that a top grade rugby player can
play super rugby is four seasons at maximum speed, if
you like, If that's what you're in the two. How
long can you maintain your speed in cycling at the
top level.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Well, there's still guys going around the thirty eight to
forty year old range, but I think the peak is
getting younger and younger riders pushing their bodies to extreme limits,
and I think we'll see burnout and young athletes and
cyclists especially come sooner and sooner. I think, yeah, hopefully
I can go till I'm thirty five, maybe another ten
(07:04):
to twelve years, that would be nice.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
We're lucky enough to have in studio world champions cyclist
Lawrence Pithy and also a very passionate cyclist man himself,
John McKenzie. But the Ocean race a world Tier one race.
Let's listen to this.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Will of the experienced Dutchman.
Speaker 4 (07:20):
Corbyn Strott is waiting Test Fatsyon is in fourth spot
and Nabas is breathing down he's neck. Scarni is fighting
for the wheel. Call o'briene opens up the sprint, but
he might have gone a little too early. He starts
to fight. It's Test Fatsy on coming over the top.
Pithy with the chants through the middle, Test Fatcy on
trying to hold on.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
It is a follow finish.
Speaker 4 (07:44):
We are right confirmation.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
Piffy might have got it. He's a little bit of.
Speaker 4 (07:51):
Pithy by a whisker ahead of test fatsy on. That's
the titles finish we've ever seen.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
In the Canelov's Great Ocean. What a great race Bay
tracked down?
Speaker 1 (08:02):
Was that half a tire frame?
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Yeah, it was the smallest of margins. I don't think
it doesn't get much closer than that. I had no
idea I had one. Yeah, Corbyn Strong, another great Kiwi cyclist,
was also in that race, and he lit it out
a little bit too early, so I was sort of
snaking around behind and I managed to, yeah, find my
way through at the last moment and come with a
(08:24):
bit of speed.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
And just yeah, when you talk about too early, do
you know how much is left in your legs and
you make that split second decision to go or to stay?
Speaker 2 (08:36):
You don't really know, to be honest. It's such a
hard race. It's in the heat. It was forty degrees
when we raced it this year. And yeah, I mean
usually Kiwis are doing pretty well in it, and I
know Corbyn's always a good wheel to follow, so I
was a few wheels behind his and he opened it up.
I had no idea how how much was even left.
To be honest, it's hard to see the finish. It
(08:58):
sort of bends around to the left. But I just
gave it my all to line and got it on
the lunch. There's a video floating around online somewhere. If
you watch it from the overhead helicopter, it looks like
I'm going to crash two or three times, but somehow
I just make it through.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
Can we just go back to the Tour de France.
Did you ride all the twenty one stages?
Speaker 2 (09:18):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (09:19):
And physically how long did that take you to recover
over the three weeks.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
I don't know if I've recovered from it. Yeah, yeah,
I mean it ruined my second half of my season.
I was pretty tired as grueling three weeks racing almost
every day you get to rest days, and yeah, we
were ranging anywhere from four hours to I think six hours.
Fifty was my longest down the bike this year.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
And that sums up how it's a team sport and
everyone has a designated role.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Yeah, it's quite an interesting one. Everyone looking in from
the art side seems to think cycling is quite individual,
but the Netflix documentaries on the Tour de France portrayed
it quite well and how much of a team sport
it is. So basically my role in the tour was
to protect our leader, a German writer called Florian Lipwitz.
He's quite young also, so it was his first time
(10:14):
at the tour, my first time also, so I was
basically trying to shelter him, guide him through the stages,
protect him as much as possible so that when it
got to crunch time he still had energy to race
for the win. And yeah, we did that quite well.
He was third and won the Young Riders Jersey. But yeah,
it's a lot of sacrifice leading into that race. I
(10:36):
think within a two and a half month period, I
was home for five days, so we did an altitude
training camp, so we stayed for three weeks above two
two hundred meters in attitude. So yeah, that's a former
training now that really helps with endurance to build red
blood sours and get you through that three weeks of
(10:56):
racing in the best, best possible way.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
I suppose to lead on from that to understand what
is essentially running yourself as a business it's.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
All about timing as well. In the sport, I think
you can tick a lot of the boxes, but if, yeah,
you have a bad year or crash at the wrong time,
it really can in your career and it's quite fickle.
I'm fortunate to have a longer term contract now so
I can worry about that less. But yeah, coming from
New Zealand, everything really does have to go well. There's
(11:27):
not many key we riders in the world tour, so yeah,
you really have to be the best and want it.
I mean, yeah, I left home when I was eighteen
and I live nine to ten months of the year
in Europe and get to come back once a year.
So it's hard not being able to see your family
and friends. But yeah, technology has made that much easier
(11:49):
as well. I live in Andorra, Yeah, I live at
fifteen hundred meters.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
Are you kicking off the season in Adelaide at the
tour down Under?
Speaker 2 (11:56):
Exactly? Yeah, I'll start there. Yeah, it's we stay in
one hotel all week, which is quite uncommon and pro
cycling usually where yeah, we're like the traveling circus. But yeah,
it's all in the center of Adelaide and people can
come and see what we're doing and go onto the
pits where the mechanics are working. It's really really unique.
(12:17):
I want to win races throughout the spring in Europe.
Speaker 3 (12:20):
For a favorite race in New Zealand.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
To a Southland I would love to win a stage
at a Tour de France. I think every cyclist that's
said dream it's the biggest race in the world. It's
got the most eyes on it.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
So, yeah, you think there's some key we mentality that helps.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
I think we're killers. I think we know what it takes, yeah,
to make it. We don't really give up so often.
And yeah, I think there's some soft Europeans out there
who are often throwing in the towel quite early. And
I think the kiwis, Yeah, we've sacrificed so much to
be over there in racing. We're always willing to go
that extra mile to finish it off and make things happen.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
It's probably going to be a question that most people
want to know about Lawrence, is you know, at the
moment you said, you've got a long career beckons.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
Hopefully I make enough money where I can just start
some hobbies and don't have to work again. But yeah,
I don't have any plans. I left school early, so
I didn't go to university. I committed everything to cycling
and so far it's worked out. And you know, when
the time comes, I'm sure. I'm sure I'll pick up
(13:32):
something something different and it might be in support, it
might not be, but yeah, time will tell. Hopefully I
can continue this for as long as possible, and yeah,
we'll come across that road when we come to it.
It's nice to have a Kiwi and a few Keywis
now on the World Tour stage and to have those
guys back supporting us, watching us race, and yeah, they
(13:54):
give us the extra push when we're struggling a bit.
And we all know, all the Keiwis know that if
everyone getting up to watch during the night, especially when
the tour is on, and that gives us the extra
push for sure. I mean, it's such a hard sport
to watch. Being in Europe, you have to either watch
the highlights the next day or wake up early in
(14:15):
the night to watch it. So when we get messages
from people, we appreciate it and we love knowing that
this key is watching us back home.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
We certainly love your success and the clear message about
hard work and skill, intellect and bravery comes through loud
and clear for me, for you, John McKenzie one hundred pc.
Speaker 3 (14:38):
I just think full commitment and you worry about the
future later, So make the most of it now exactly.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
Yeah, you're only young once, so just drive on and
try and try and make everything happen.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
Oh Lawrence, thank you so much for coming into the
studio John McKenzie, Leslie Murdoch and Lawrence Pithy, and we
will be watching with great interest, first of all, for
the January race of to Reventilate Yes Tour down Under
getting the terminology.
Speaker 4 (15:06):
For more from News Talks at b Listen live on
air or online, and
Speaker 1 (15:10):
Keep our shows with you wherever you go with our
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