BEING PRO — LUKE LAMPERTI Q&A

Age: 19

Hometown: Santa Rosa, California

What triggered you to start riding bikes? What’s your favorite highlight on your journey to becoming a pro?

I have always been on two wheels, starting with riding dirt bikes when I was 3 years old and racing motocross as a young kid. I then started to train on a bicycle and ended up switching to racing bicycles only at the age of 11. Coming up, one of the first big wins was with the Lux development team at the 2019 GP Ruebliland in Switzerland. From there, I was working with Trinity Sports Management, and they gave me the idea of racing for the team and continuing with Specialized as the main sponsor. I could continue the relationship from my time as a junior and ride familiar equipment with Trinity Racing in the U23 ranks.

Can you explain Trinity Racing’s mission and goals for those unfamiliar with the team?

Trinity Racing is a UK-based team that has multiple disciplines. We have road, mountain bike and ’cross riders on the team. The goal as a development team is to do a little bit of everything while having fun and turning out to be the best cyclist and/or member of society you can be. It’s not all about the racing, but does have the best tools for developing one as a racer.

Congrats on becoming the youngest U.S. professional criterium national champion ever. What was the biggest difference you noticed between racing in Europe and the U S.?

Thank you very much. I do plan to be back at the U.S. Pro Nationals in Knoxville again this coming June. I think the biggest difference is the depth of racing in Europe. There are so many riders who are really good whom no one has ever heard of. In the U.S., at the races people know who to look out for, whether it’s road, mountain or gravel. Also, the fans; cycling is what they love in Belgium, and the World Championships in Leuven would be equivalent to our Super Bowl.

What’s your ideal race type? How would you describe your strengths on the bike?

For me, my ideal race is a selective day on the bike that comes down to a smaller bunch sprint. I also enjoy the pure sprint days, but feel I am more successful in smaller sprints. I would say my strengths have always been trying to be the smartest guy in the race, not always the strongest.

What’s a highlight of your experience racing at the WorldTour level in the Tour of Britain?

Tour of Britain was definitely an amazing experience. I think for me the highlight would be finishing fourth on a stage in a sprint against some of the top sprinters from the season. It’s guys like Cavendish I watched growing up, and then to race against them is a cool feeling.

Do you spend much time with strength training off the bike? Any workouts you’d recommend?

Honestly, I don’t do a ton of specific strength work. I grew up always doing work on a ranch. I feel like that has always had me covered in that area, but I have started to work more with weights. My advice would be to get a kettlebell. You can do so much to improve your cycling with just a simple kettlebell at home and not have to go to the gym or have a membership.