Location: Lauriston Village Hall, Castle Douglas, Dumfries
Event: 31 March 2012
Report: Snowdon Sports
Scunthorpe Poly CC’s Ewan Tighe secured victory in the opening round of the South West Scotland Cycling Project Series staged near Castle Douglas in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, on Saturday.
The 45-year-old, who lives in Galashiels in the Scottish Borders, took victory by a few bike lengths after breaking clear in the closing stages of the 52-mile race, which was run off in ideal conditions, sunny and with only a slight wind.
He took victory like a seasoned pro – but for Tighe it was his first road race for 12 years.
“I used to do a bit of racing when I lived in Surrey, but this is the first time I’ve bothered to race while I’ve been living up here,” said Tighe. “I do the odd sportive, but this was really a journey into the unknown for me.
“The course was great, it was relatively flat, and I’m a bit heavy for going up hills on a bike.
“It came in as a bunch finish, and was slightly uphill. With a kilometre to go a junior jumped away, and I got on his wheel.
“Then another rider came past with 700 metres to go and I took his wheel, and again with someone else, and as we came into the village I noticed we had a gap on the bunch, so I jumped away and got clear by about 20 metres, but they were gaining on me!
“I’ve got nothing else entered at the moment. I just wanted to see how I was going, and now I know I can be competitive I will have to look in the Racing Calendar and pick out some more events.
“The SWSCP Races are very well organised, so I might enter some more of them.”
Results:
1 Ewan Tighe (Scunthorpe Poly CC) 2:07:43
2 Alistair Ogg (VC Astar)
3 Gary Maher (Ayr Roads CC)
4 Louis Hogarth (unattached)
5 Trevor Blackburn (East Kilbride RC)
6 David Torrance (Ayr Roads CC)
7 Ross Green (Stewartry Wheelers)
8 Peter Collins (Icarus Racing)
9 Arron Sands (Lomond Roads CC)
10 Ricky Sutherland (unattached)
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.
