Harry Tanfield claimed a superb third place but the Wales Open Criterium belonged to a dominant Chris Lawless.
The 21-year-old British crit champion lapped the peloton in Abergavenny on his way to a sensational second triumph in the opening three rounds of the British Cycling National Circuit Series.
Tanfield, alongside series leader Matt Gibson, spent the night in pursuit of Lawless. And in the final reckoning, the BIKE Channel Canyon man’s companion, from JLT Condor, edged him into third spot.
Lawless had wasted no time in making his presence felt, just as he had done in his round one win in Otley. However, this time no-one could go with him and he soon found himself ploughing a lone furrow up front.
He had briefly dragged with him series leader Gibson and Tanfield, who sprinted to a brilliant second spot in Skipton on Wednesday, before distancing the pair.
After half an hour of racing, Lawless had extended his lead to 30 seconds on Tanfield, nicknamed Wizard, and Gibson and a whole minute over the peloton, who were beginning to get restless.
And a reaction was not long in coming, with JLT duo Tom Moses and Rob McCarthy clipping off the front in an attempt to bridge to the two chasers.
They had barely made any inroads when Lawless, showing no sign of letting up, made contact with the back of the peloton and began moving up the bunch.
When the Axeon Hagens Berman man hit the front of the group, the only riders not to be lapped were Tanfield and Gibson. But they had slipped to 46 seconds adrift of the leader.
Clearly not happy to roll around in the bunch, Lawless then gapped the peloton again as he set his sights on the two men in the gap. But they held on to take second and third, 56 seconds adrift of the winner.
Gibson’s team-mate Brenton Jones won the bunch kick for fourth, ahead of Johnny McEvoy, with Alex Frame and Jon Mould making it four in the top seven for JLT on another successful night for John Herety’s squad.
Rory Townsend was the next best finisher for BIKE Channel Canyon as he crossed the line in 13th position, with Matt Nowell 17th.
Tanfield has moved up to fourth position in the overall standings, with Townsend 16th and Nowell 18th. Gibson still leads the charge from Lawless and Jones.