Beaumont Trophy

Beaumont Trophy | June 18 | Northumberland

One Pro Cycling’s Pete Williams powered to victory in the Beaumont Trophy, throwing down the gauntlet to his rivals as he prepares for Sunday’s National Road Race Championships.

The 30-year-old from Skipton — who has placed second, third, fourth and fifth in the Beaumont Trophy over his career — finally clinched victory as he won a two-up sprint finish to the 117-mile event which took in six laps around challenging terrain near Stamfordham.

“It was a hot day so it was really hard, but it’s great to get the win,” said Williams. “It’s all coming together nicely for the Nationals. I’ve been training pretty hard for that, and I had some good form in Poland recently [at the Szlakiem Walk Majora Hubala Tour]. I’ve had good form all year, although it hasn’t really shown in the results, but it seems to be coming together now.”

Early break

Williams’s win on Sunday came after he was part of a 15-rider break that went clear on lap one. With many of the big teams represented, the break was allowed to get away and built up a lead of six minutes over the peloton at one point.

With team-mate Tom Stewart in the break with him, the pair were put on the back foot by Jlt-condor when Steve Lampier attacked and eked out a maximum lead of around one minute before being pulled back.

As they headed for the final lap the gap dropped and the numbers were whittled down as the heat and the