Stage Two of the Tour of Britain - Hawick to Duns
175.2km of racing today between Hawick and Duns for Stage 2 of the Tour of Britain was an exceptional day for the team. Today's highlights included: Adam Lewis, being in the breakaway all day gaining him the combative award, Alexandar Richardson and Jack Rootkin-Gray made a move on the penultimate climb but ultimately were caught by the peloton quickly and finally Harry Birchill finished 11th in the stage. A good day’s work for Saint Piran.
We caught up with team owner Richard Pascoe getting his take on this stage - “Sometimes cycling can be cruel but other times it's far from that. Today was an amazing experience for everybody all around. We wanted to put Adam up the road early and I think we caught the world tour teams a little bit by surprise because the gap went out. Being in the car watching the guys perform, coming away with a podium visit considering where we have come from over the past few years is amazing and to have Harry Birchell, an ex-mountain biker, finishing 11th on the stage was the icing on the cake. The team atmosphere on and off the bike, the women’s team helping and everyone digging in is what Saint Piran is all about. Today was a good day!”
Sports Director Steve Lampier adds “I was really happy with today. We had a plan last night to get either Leon Mazzone or Adam Lewis in the breakaway and Adam achieved this in a strong six-man break which was ideal. Once Adam got to the hillier part of the course which is backloaded he just did his thing – he went with a move and therefore won the combative award. A perfect day for Adam. Behind that, Alexander Richardson and Jack Rootkin-Gray did a great move on the penultimate climb, which was discussed last night however, we had to be dynamic about it as we knew there was going to be a headwind – they did a perfect job there by going at the right time, unfortunately getting brought back relatively quickly by the peloton. For Jack it’s a confidence booster – he’s 19 years old and he going to go a long way in the sport. And finally, young Harry Birchell surprised himself with an 11th place finish, but this did not surprise me – he doesn’t know how good he can be, and this solidifies the reason why he’s here. Hopefully tomorrow he will get an even better result than that. Happy with how the day went – it’s good when you can work with exciting riders who get it and want to race, buying into the plan and when they do that, it’s a good feeling”.
Tomorrow, we head to Stage 3, Durham to Sunderland with rain in the forecast it is set to be another exciting day for the Saint Piran team at the Tour of Britain.
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Pictures: SWpix.com & Global Vision 3D
