Peter Hawkins will be joint leader of the IG Sigma Sport team at the Tour of Britain and is on the hunt for exposure for the team and any opportunities to pull off a big result.
By Brian Canty
Peter Hawkins has said he’s confident of performing well in the Tour of Britain, which gets underway tomorrow, Sunday.
The eight-day race is the showpiece event on the British calendar and attracts many of the world’s biggest teams – but 28-year-old Belfast native Hawkins isn’t fazed by the enormity of the event.
Twelve months ago, he enjoyed a phenomenal week and as well as taking fifth on the opening stage, he was leader on the road and riding into the yellow jersey on stage three before Team Sky reeled in the break and set the win up for Mark Cavendish.
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Hawkins was awarded the combativity prize that day in Dumfries and revealed his performances gave him a new-found belief in his ability.
“I think my confidence took a real boost from last year,” he said.
“It was the first time I’ve raced at that level and I wasn’t sure how competitive I’d be. But it became obvious straight away what I could do so that was a big motivator for this year and I carried that through to the Rás in May."
“My form at the beginning of the year was fantastic too. Obviously that took a bit of a hit with the accident in the Rás but I’ve been getting some really good training in the last couple of months and I feel like myself again. I just want to prove to myself that it’s still there next week,” he added.
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Hawkins will jointly lead a very strong looking six-man IG Sigma Sport line-up whose goal is to get as much exposure for the team as possible.
“Obviously stage wins are going to be very difficult to get, we’ll obviously be out to try our best, but at this kind of level it is quite tough. So I think the main thing the sponsors want is for us to attack the race and try to get in breaks and get exposure and that’s one thing I’ll be looking at doing."
“I’m also gonna be looking at trying to get up there in a few stages and mix it with the sprinters. But I need to try and get in a break that might go to the finish too. I’ll definitely try because that’ll probably be my best chance of a stage win; getting in the right move and winning it from that group."
He said his form is hard to judge, because of his interrupted season. But a solid showing in the RideLondon classic in early August told him he was on track.
“It’s been quite a long summer, so I’m looking forward to riding races at this level for the first time in quite a while."
“I think I’m pretty fresh, I’ve definitely had a bit of a break that I wouldn’t have had but for the injury. It was quite difficult getting back into the racing I was doing. Instead of being one of the guys at the front of the race I was one of the guys at the back."
“I was feeling really good in the RideLondon race and felt strong, got over the climbs with the front group so that’s good, but I haven’t done that level since then, so it’s hard to say. I just know that I seem to improve when the level of racing goes up so I’m feeling quite confident about next week.”
As well as Hawkins breaking his collar bone in the Rás, teammate James Moss suffered a similar fate a couple of days later descending off the Healy Pass, while Pete Williams – last year’s Points Jersey winner in Britain - got sick on day one, so they're due some luck.
As for next season Hawkins said: “I think I’ve got a few options but nothing is decided. It’s a bit early to say but definitely I’ve a few options which are looking good.”
After Britain, he’ll travel to the Caribbean island of Tobago to race another stage race there before bringing the season to a close.
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