Location: Dumfries, Dumfries & Galloway
Event: 5 May 2012
Report: Snowdon Sports
Junior Peter Hale (GJS Racing) celebrated his first win in the second South West Scotland Cycling Project road race of the season at Dumfries.
Second in the Ballantyne Memorial Trophy race a week earlier, 18-year-old Hale, from Stenhousemuir, went one better as he attacked from a bunched field with 500 metres to go and led out the uphill sprint to cross the line with clear daylight to spare over second-placed Ewan Minty (Berwick Wheelers) and David Torrance (Ayr Roads CC) after nine laps and 104-km of racing.
“I’ve been so close before, it’s great to finally have it,” said Hale. “I didn’t feel very great, I’d been off ill for a few weeks, and I was just trying to get my legs back.
“I tried to get away near the start but no-one went with me. Everything was chased down, so I sat in the bunch in a good position and stayed out of the wind.
“It was a really narrow road at the finish and people were messing about, so I decided to go with 500 metres left and I knew it would be hard to get past.
“I want to try to stay consistent and see what the rest of the season brings – next year I turn senior when it becomes a little more important.”
A crash behind the leading finishers affected the main field inside the final kilometre.
Results:
1 Peter Hale (GJS Racing)
2 Ewan Minty (Berwick Wheelers)
3 David Torrance (Ayr Roads CC)
4 Cameron Balfour (CNP Orbea)
5 Chris Stewart (Classic Racing)
6 Stuart Grady (BC PM)
7 Franco Porco (GJS Racing)
8 Martin Whitehead (VC Glasgow)
9 Richard Garrett (VC Edinburgh)
10 Andrew Wilson (Stirling BC)
British Cycling would like to thank the organising team, officials and everyone else who helped promote this event. Our sport could not exist without the hundreds of people, many of them unpaid volunteers, who put in many hours of hard work running events, activities and clubs.
