Hawkins bags second ahead of Downing (Photo: Ian McVety – www.citrusimages.co.uk)
Peter Hawkins (IG Sigma Sport) has said while he was not expecting his second place at the British Premier Calendar Tour of the Reservoir in England at the weekend, he was not surprised by the result when it happened given his constantly improving form.
The Belfast man, who is in his first season with his British-based Continental team, put in a storming gallop on the uphill finishing straight. He got passed former Team Sky rider Russell Downing (Endura) for second place.
The duo put considerable daylight between themselves and the rest of the bunch and in the sprint they overhauled all of a small breakaway dangling off the front in the closing kilometres, expect for winner Scott Thwaites (Endura).
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Thwaites was aided in his gallop to the line by a great lead out from team mates Dean Windsor and Ian Wilkinson, who had both also infiltrated the late breakaway.
Hawkins and Downing just about failed to catch Thwaites in the gallop, finishing on the same time as him.
There was then two seconds back to fourth placed Graham Briggs (Raleigh-GAC), with Andy Tennant (Rapha Condor-Sharp) at the head of the bunch to take fifth, five seconds down.
Hawkins told stickybottle that because there were two draggy climbs each lap, his team decided that he would sit back a little during the race and gamble on it coming down to a sprint from a select group.
It was then the role of his team mates to try and get into any dangerous looking moves, in the event that one of them made it all the way.
In the end nothing of any consequence stuck for too long until Ian Wilkinson (Endura) and Pete Williams (Node4-Giordana) got clear for most of the last lap of the 100 mile event in Northumberland.
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In the closing miles they were joined by the Endura duo of Thwaites and Windsor, with all but Thwaites being absorbed into the large select group in the tough uphill sprint to the finish after being led out by Wilkinson and Windsor.
“I maybe wasn’t expecting to get on the podium but at the same time when it happened I wasn’t that surprised,” Hawkins told stickybottle.
“That kind of a select course suits me and I’ve been sprinting well so it was a good combination for me.”
He said that with such a number of quality teams based in Great Britain now, it was perhaps not surprising that no major moves went clear.
“You have five or six teams now and if they’re not all represented in a move the one who isn’t up there will try and close it down. So that makes it hard for breaks to stick.”
While he came very close to winning, he felt he had to be happy with second place in his first Premier Calendar race of the season.
His winning of the bunch sprint in such convincing style bodes very well for his chances of a stage win in the An Post Rás. Before that though is the small matter of the Lincoln GP this coming weekend; another Premier Calendar event that Hawkins feels he can do well in.
“It’s a race I’ve done twice before. I did it with the national team last year and I think I was 12th. I feel if I can get to the bottom of the finishing climb last time around up to the finish and I’m reasonably fresh then anything can happen. It’s 200 metres up a narrow cobbled street so hopefully that can suit me.”
In the An Post Rás his team will be fielding a very strong selection – one that includes 2009 overall winner Simon Richardson.
“I’ll be going for stages but also depending on how it goes a high GC placing for the team, if not the yellow jersey. And I wouldn’t be ruling myself out of that.”
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