Alex Peters (SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling) secured victory at the Ryedale Grasscrete Men’s Grand Prix ahead of Toby Barnes (Crimson Orientation Marketing RT) and Oliver Rees (Trinity Racing).
A six-man group broke away towards the finish to contend for the win, with Peters surging for the line after a powerful sprint during the second round of the men’s HSBC UK | National Road Series.
The pace was high from the opening lap and a six-man breakaway also formed at the beginning. Callum Macleod (Canyon DHB SunGod), Oliver Maxwell (Saint Piran), Isaac Mundy (Richardsons-Trek DAS), George Kimber (Spirit Bontrager BSS Rotor), George Peden (Team PB Performance) and Matthew Houlberg (Meudon Pedal Heaven Le Col RT) were reeled back in on the second of three longer laps.
Canyon DHB SunGod’s Thomas Mein and Zappi Racing Team’s Matthew Kingston distanced the peloton on the third lap, their lead eventually growing to 3’20” at its peak. The pair worked well together as the number of kilometres covered grew, but repeated attacks at the head of the peloton soon pushed their advantage down.
SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling and Canyon DHB SunGod drove the pace behind, eventually catching the breakaway duo with two laps remaining.
It was on the final shorter circuit that the four riders of Toby Barnes (Crimson Orientation Marketing RT), Isaac Mundy (Richardsons-Trek DAS), Alex Peters (SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling) and Max Stedman (Canyon DHB SunGod), managed to distance the peloton. They were caught by two chasers in Stedman’s teammate Callum Macleod and Trinity Racing’s Oliver Rees.
This six-man group stayed together until the final 100m to the line, when Peters drove ahead of his rivals for the win.
Peters said: “I didn’t really believe in myself coming into this – and during the race. But I was getting a lot of encouragement from my teammates. So we pooled the resources together and just tried to ride for me.”
Ninth-placed rider Jacob Scott of Canyon DHB SunGod now leads the men’s HSBC UK | National Road Series standings with one round remaining of the Beaumont Trophy.
