TEAM CANADA WINS TWO MEDALS AT TOUR DE L’ABITIBI

Rouyn-Noranda, QC (July 19, 2019) – Canada had a successful fourth day at the Tour de l’Abitibi, winning two medals in the two half stages. Canadian Junior time trial champion Jacob Rubuliak finished third on Stage 3 of the Tour de l’Abitibi, while Riley Pickrell scored the first Canadian victory on Thursday evening, winning the fourth stage in Malartic with an impressive sprint.

The day kicked off with a 9.6 kilometre individual race against the clock, which was won by Michael Garrison (Team USA), who took his second stage win and added to his overall lead in the standings. Garrison’s teammate Matthew Riccitello was second on the stage, while Rubuliak was third with 28 seconds back.

“I was feeling great, and rode great technically,” said Rubuliak. “Now that we have moved up to third in the team classification, I think we can stay there and maybe get a couple of more stage podiums. Feeling super focused and ready to fight for the rest of the week.”

Later that day, the team headed to Malartic, where they completed 52.5 kilometres that brought them to Rivière-Héva and back to Malartic. Pickrell had a solid sprint to the finish line, followed closely by Luke Lamperti of Team USA and Aidan Coats-Ballaseux of Team California.

“The team plan for today was to control the front of the race,” said Pickrell.  “We wanted to make sure that no dangerous breaks got away and bring it down to a bunch kick. In the last three kilometres it got pretty dicey, but the boys kept me at the front.  In the last kilometre it was full speed ahead, and in the last corner with 300 metres I got a gap and held it to the finish.”