Belfast's Peter Hawkins (the IG Sigma Sport rider in red & black on the left) missed the break on Sunday but otherwise coped very well with a long and demanding race against a quality field.
Having won a number of races in the early weeks of the domestic season last year in his new colours of IG Sigma Sport, Peter Hawkins has had a slower opening phase to 2013 but now appears to be hitting some good form in his second year in the paid ranks.
The Belfast man was just outside the top 10 in the 114-mile CiCLE Classic in Oakham, England on Sunday. His eventual finish of 11th will not go down as one of the best of his career, but in such a long and competitive race - much of it run on unpaved lanes - it was an indication that Hawkins’s form is where it needs to be as he approaches a key part of the season.
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“Coming into Sunday’s race I didn't really know what my form would be like,” he told stickybottle.
“I was ill for a week in March so that set me back and I also hadn't done a lot of racing so far this season. But with Sunday being the first major race of the year in the UK I was obviously very motivated.”
“It started pretty aggressively and eventually a group of 11 went clear and we had Pete Williams in that. It would've been better to have had two men in it but we were happy enough to let it go.”
“As we hit the narrow roads and the off-road sections it was a case of staying safe at the front and trying to force another split. When it started to get hard I actually felt really good. With about 50kms to go I attacked on one of the dirt sections and I got away with one other guy. The two of us worked well together and we ended up holding off the rest of the bunch all the way to the finish.”
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Hawkins said while his 11th place was a reasonable result, he had mixed feelings about how the race went.
“I was very happy with how I felt and I'm pleased that I was still strong at the end of 190kms of racing. But at the same time I would've liked to have seen what I could have done if I'd been in the front group.”
“We were unlucky that Pete punctured in the break on the last off-road section which put him out of contention for the win. But with Matt Cronshaw coming in just behind me we ended up with three riders in the first 13. So I think that shows that as a team we're going well and should be dangerous over the next few weeks.”
He added that after a period in the season not exactly jammed with racing for him, he’s now looking forward to a more hectic portion of his second campaign with IG Sigma Sport and sounds determined to build on some very good rides last year in his debut in the pro ranks.
“This weekend we have the Tour of the Reservoir which is the first round of the Premier Calendar. Then we have a few races in Holland and Belgium before coming back for the Lincoln GP. After that we have the start of the Pearl Izumi Tour Series and of course the Rás. I've been preparing for them all winter and it was good to see on Sunday that the work I put in appears to be bearing fruit. We’ve some big races coming up now so I'll be looking to pull off a really big result.”
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