Location: Alford, Aberdeenshire
Event: 12 May 2012
Report: Snowdon Sports
Second in the previous week’s Davie Campbell Memorial, Team Cycle Lane rider Peter Murdoch went one better when he claimed victory in the Aberdeen and District CA Road Race Championships, staged over a 62-mile course around Alford in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
The 32-year-old from East Kilbride crossed the line just two seconds ahead of 19-year-old rival Jordan Stokes, the Pedal Power-Endura rider from Lanark who just held off David Griffiths (Glasgow Wheelers) in the sprint for the line.
Despite the event being run off in sunny conditions, a stiff wind and a brutal finishing climb made the going difficult for the riders, of whom just 29 finished.
“It was a good race,” said Murdoch afterwards. “It was quite aggressive and competitive. I made a few moves early on but it was quite windy, and I wasn’t getting anywhere so I came back.
“A group of ten riders formed and we worked well together, than another group of six came across at 40 miles.
“I knew I was coming into form and I’ve been getting good results recently, and I thought there were too many of us in the break with 16, so I put in a big effort with 20 miles to go. But I knew it was going to be too much for me and I only got about 25 seconds on the rest of them.
“So I sat up again, and tried to mix it up a bit with some small attacks. Then with 11 miles to go I decided to go for it and put my head down. It was a big effort and I didn’t get any more than about 40 seconds. By the time I hit the climb to the finish I had about 30 or 40 seconds on the rest of them.
“I was wary still because some of the young lads can really do the climbs, so I put the effort in and I just managed to hang on, but if it had been another 100 metres I wouldn’t have been able to carry on. It took a bit of gutsiness to win!”
Results:
1 Peter Murdoch Team Cycle Lane 1st 2hrs 44min 16sec
2 Jordan Stokes Pedal Power-Endura-Forme Racing 2nd @2sec
3 David Griffiths Glasgow Whls 2nd @3sec
4 Peter Hale GJS Racing Team 2nd st
5 Andrew Cox TheBicycleWorks.com 2nd
6 Keith Robertson Granite City RT 3rd
7 Craig Adams GJS Racing Team 2nd
8 Gordon Murdoch Team Cycle Lane 1st
9 Stuart MacGregor www.Dooleys-Cycles.co.uk 2nd
10 Alastair McNicol TheBicycleWorks.com 2nd
11 Angus Elliott TheBicycleWorks.com 3rd
12 Geoffrey Martin Glasgow Wheelers 3rd
13 Liam Cowie Pedal Power-Endura-Forme Racing 2nd
14 Phil Allan granite city racing team 3rd
15 Veli-Matti Raikkonen Granite City RT 2nd
16 Adam Norris Pro Cycle Hire UK Racing Team Elite
17 James McPake GJS Racing Team 3rd
18 Gerald Grant GJS Racing Team 3rd
19 Graham McGarrity www.Dooleys-Cycles.co.uk 2nd
20 Richard Garrett Veloclub Edinburgh 3rd
21 Brian Duncan Granite City RT 3rd
22 Robert Cowie Aberdeen Wheelers CC 3rd
23 Bradley Stokes Pedal Power RT 3rd
24 Charles Fletcher 3rd
25 Niall Shannon Velo Club Edinburgh 3rd
26 Franco Porco GJS Racing Team 3rd
27 Jenny Stanning Velocity 44 Stirling 2nd
28 Scott Johnston Icarus Racing 3rd
29 Nigel MacAodha Granite City RT 3rd
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.
