Thwaites powers to victory in Scotland (From Wharfedale Observer)

Burley's Thwaites powers to victory in Scotland

9:52am Thursday 17th May 2012 in Sport

Scott Thwaites continued his run of success by winning the first-ever Scottish round of the The Halfords Tour Series on Tuesday.

The Burley-in-Wharfedale rider made it a great day for his Endura team by taking the individual honours.

After a fast-paced start to the 2012 season of team-based racing, Thwaites outsprinted an Antipodean trio of Bernard Sulzberger, Rico Rogers and Dean Windsor around Kirkcaldy’s tough 1.4 kilometre circuit.

With team-mates Windsor and Jonathan McEvoy placing fourth and eighth, Thwaites’ Endura team also took the team honours to pull on the five orange Halfords leaders’ jerseys.

Thwaites, who also won last year’s Stoke-on-Trent round of the series, said: “It’s a good race, the circuit’s really good.

“I think everyone was a bit shocked with it being the first crit of the season. It was tough so it got the heart going.

“We (Endura Racing) said that we weren’t going to go for a lead out, as that automatically writes one guy off, so it was all four of us trying to stay on the front.

“I was second and thought I might as well take it up now, about 500 metres out. You’ve got to take a few risks to win, and I took a few. I absolutely ragged it all the way to the finish line.”

Two days earlier Thwaites had finished ninth in the popular Lincoln Grand Prix.

The race was won by his Endura team-mate Russell Downing who notched up a record fourth win.