Peter Hawkins has faced a period of soul searching but believes his cycling career has served him well to date and says he is still keen to do battle (Photo: Martine Verfaillie)
Peter Hawkins has confirmed he will ride for Belgian team Tomacc CC in 2015 following his departure from UK-based Continental outfit Madison Genesis after one season.
The Belfast man says he has no regrets from his time in the Roger Hammond-managed team.
He contemplated hanging up his wheels this year but after some soul-searching, realised he has plenty of stomach left for battle.
“Madison Genesis was very well organised and we were well looked after,” explained Hawkins of the year just gone.
“The only problem was they had a lot of strong guys and not really the program to keep everybody racing.”
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The reigning national criterium champion, Hawkins was overlooked for selection for the Tour of Britain; a race he was very aggressive in two years ago.
Leading Conor Dunne and Mark Dowling at the National Road Race Championships in Westmeath in June (Photo: George Doyle)
“After that I decided to come back to Ireland; focus on the crit champs and then head out to Belgium for September,” he said of his late season programme.
"There were a lot of pro kermesses on and I ended up performing well and getting better results than I’d ever had at that level,” he said.
Having left his base in England of the past couple of years, he said that development was a further incentive to explore going back to Belgium.
And he decided to get in touch with Tomacc, which counts among its roster Marc Potts who Hawkins coaches.
"Right from the off the team manager (Gilbert Orbie) was very keen to sign me and it just felt like a good fit,” he said.
"I had offers from a few British teams but the prospect of staying in the UK just didn’t excite me as much as being based in Belgium again.”
He added the squad has a very good programme of racing in Belgium and at times in France, including some UCI ranked stage races.
“It’s a better program than I had when I was in Belgium previously,” he said in reference to the period of his career before he rode 2012 and 2013 in the colours of IG Sigma Sport and also last season with Madison Genesis.
“I won’t have the opportunity to ride the Tour of Britain or any other big pro races like I have the last few years,” he said of his step down from Continental level.
Winning the National Criterium Championships in Mondello Park, Co Kildare, this season (Photo: Peter Hawkins)
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“But I’ll have a lot more consistently hard races than I did when I was based in the UK which should be good for me,” he reasoned.
However, Hawkins will be 29 years in a few weeks and he wondered was his career coming to an end this year.
“It was a very mixed year,” he mused.
“I started well but crashed in the second of the elite road series races and then got the gastro bug at the Rás.
"It was a good two weeks before I was able to train properly again which left me a bit under par through June and July.
"I was also training hard for the Commonwealth Games so wasn’t showing up to races in the best condition and didn’t get any real results to speak of for two months.
“I took a break after the Games; I’d been left out of the Tour of Britain training camp and the last of the elite races.
“So from there it was up to me to make something of the last months of the season.
"It was a frustrating year at times but then this move probably wouldn’t be happening if I’d ridden the Tour of Britain and then gone on holiday.
On the front of the group riding the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow this season; an event only 12 riders would finish.
“I’m not a kid anymore and I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t had thoughts of stopping.
"I’ve been a bit jaded the last 18 months or so, probably since crashing out of the Rás (in 2013) while leading, but I think a lot of that was down to factors off the bike.
"Right now I’m as motivated as ever because I know that if I can get the best out of myself from March to September you never know where it could take me.
"All I ever wanted from my cycling career was to see how good I can be and I’ve already got further than I ever expected to.
"If I can give it my all and nothing else comes from it I will walk away with no regrets, but I’m definitely not ready to do that yet.”
The Rás remained a priority.
“I’ve already discussed it with the team and they said it should be no problem. I’ve got a bit of unfinished business with that race.”
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