CANADIAN GUILLAUME BOIVIN WINS SECOND STAGE AT TOUR DE BEAUCE, EARNS YELLOW
The “Canadian Blue Train” brings back the peloton, shoots Boivin towards his first victory fall 2010
(St-Georges, QC – June 12, 2013) Guillaume Boivin of the Canadian National Team won the second stage of the Tour De Beauce, sprinting away thanks to the excellent work done by the “Canadian Blue Train” in the last three kilometres of racing and in the last lap of the final circuit in Thetford Mines.
With the victory, Boivin earned himself the right to wear the Desjardins Yellow Jersey in tomorrow’s stage as the race leader. Boivin also takes the Hydro-Quebec White Jersey as Points leader.
“The guys of the National Team rode so well together today. Today, we knew that we had the legs and lead the last lap. We had 45 seconds to close in the last lap, and that’s very hard to bring back. At the end, the team is united and, worked together for the team objectives. Dominique Rollin, Nic Hamilton and Christian Meier worked extremely hard today at the front to bring back the group. Big credits to these guys for this win,” said Guillaume Boivin after the race.
“I wasn’t thinking too much about the Yellow Jersey before coming here. I told myself that almost all of the professional cyclists in Canada won a stage at the Tour de Beauce. This is a strong and good race for the Canadians. I told myself I needed this in my palmares, I am very thrilled to add this win.
Early in the race and after a few attempts to break the peloton, a group of three riders took off in a breakaway that lasted until the last 500m of the race. The break, which only managed to increase its gap by no more than 3:25, rode nicely together, kept their cool throughout the very hilly course and almost made it to the finish line alone.
In the last three kilometers, the small break group of Robert Sweeting of 5-HR Energy, Jonathan McCarty of Bissel Pro Cycling and Joseph Rosskopf of Hincapie Sportswear Development Cycling Team had the finish line in sight after racing in solo for over 125 kilometers alone. It’s only in the third and last lap of the 3.7 kilometers urban circuit that the riders were caught.
In the last two laps, the Canadian National Team with an all-star crew and the Bontrager Cycling Team were both very active at the front of the peloton. Of course, the Canadian Team had Boivin’s sprint abilities in mind, while Bontrager tried to position their yellow jersey Jasper Stuyven for the sprint.
Ultimately, it’s Boivin, wearing the Hydro-Québec White Jersey on the day, who crossed the line first, followed by Matthias Friedemann of Champion System Pro Cycling and Stuyven in third.
This victory is a big relief for Boivin, who won his first race since the fall of 2010, the year he won the bronze medal at the UCI World Championships U23 road race. “I hope this will remove pressure for my shoulder and give me confidence for the future. It’s my first win since my knee injury.”
Similar to yesterday’s race, today was a day filled with mechanical issues and obstacles for the Canadian rider. “Today was not an easy day. Again, I had a few mechanical issues early on. Coming back in the Caravan at one time, I was following a car, and the caravan suddenly stopped as I was behind the Bontrager car. I collided with the car, but managed to hold on to the back of the car, unclipped and kept my bike upright. I was able to put this incident behind me as there was not much more I could do. I also crashed in the last 20 kilometers. But I managed to come back for the sprint.”
But the yellow jersey could be short lived for Boivin, who is not known to be a strong climber, an essential skillset needed in the third and difficult stage at the Tour de Beauce: “Mégantic is not my strength. Perhaps we will see another rider on the Canadian Team winning the Yellow. Tomorrow, I’ll do the work for my teammates, be the best I can be for them, all the way up to the base of the climb, as much as I can do. I owe it to them.”
Gord Fraser, the Directeur Sportif for the Canadian Team, was proud of the way the team rode today:“Guillaume had a lot of adversity yesterday and today. Thanks to Axel, the Directeur of the Bontrager Team for some extremely safe driving after a sudden stop in the caravan. He was very calm, and managed to save one of my riders. Today, Guillaume needed to win. For him, and for the program. Yellow will look good on Guillaume. That being said, we apologize to Louis Garneau, as they produced a great new design that the team is wearing today for us, and now we have to swap Blue to Yellow. We like the new jersey, but we like the Yellow much better!”
Tomorrow, the third stage is a 164-kilometre race from St-Georges to Mont Mégantic, with a very challenging climb.
STAGE RESULTS & LEADERS
Complete results: https://www.dropbox.com/s/xuxpj5rk7zl4j8t/Resultats_TourDeBeauce_Etape2.pdf
Stage Classification
1. BOIVIN, Guillaume (ÉQUIPE NATIONALE DU CANADA) 3:53:20
2. FRIEDEMANN, Matthias CHAMPION SYSTEM PRO CYCLING TEAM -CCS 3:53:20 00:00
3. STUYVEN, Jasper (BONTRAGER CYCLING TEAM) 3:53:20 00:00
4. JIMENEZ, Diego (INTEJA, DOMINICAN CYCLING TEAM) 3:53:20 00:00
5. PUTT, Tanner BONTRAGER CYCLING TEAM) 3:53:20 00:00
6. BALDWIN, Christopher (BISSEL PRO CYCLING) 3:53:20 00:00
7. MAGNER, Tyler (HINCAPIE SPORTSWEAR DEVELOPMENT CYCLING TEAM) 3:53:20 00:00
8. REIJNEN, Kiel (UNITEDHEALTHCARE PRO CYCLING TEAM) 3:53:20 00:00
9. LEWIS, Joseph (HINCAPIE SPORTSWEAR DEVELOPMENT CYCLING TEAM) 3:53:20 00:00
10. LAVERY,Phillip (H&R BLOCK) 3:53:20 00:00
General Classification [Yellow Jersey Desjardins]
1. BOIVIN, Guillaume (ÉQUIPE NATIONALE DU CANADA) 7:59:15
2. STUYVEN, Jasper (BONTRAGER CYCLING TEAM) 7:59:17 00:02
3. FRIEDEMANN, Matthias (CHAMPION SYSTEM PRO CYCLING TEAM) 7:59:23 00:08
4. ROSSKOPF, Joseph (HINCAPIE SPORTSWEAR DEVELOPMENT CYCLING TEAM) 7:59:25 00:10
5. PERON, Andrea (TEAM NOVO NORDISK) 7:59:27 00:12
King of the Mountain Classification [Polka Dot Jersey Rocky Mountain]
1. STEMPER, James (5 HOUR ENERGY -5HR) 21
2. SWEETING, Robert (5 HOUR ENERGY -5HR) 17
3. MCCARTY, Jonathan (BISSEL PRO CYCLING) 13
Points Classification [White Jersey Hydro-Québec]
1. BOIVIN, Guillaume (ÉQUIPE NATIONALE DU CANADA) 29
2. STUYVEN, Jasper (BONTRAGER CYCLING TEAM) 28
3. BALDWIN, Christopher (BISSEL PRO CYCLING) 20
Team Classification
1. BONTRAGER CYCLING TEAM 23:58:33
2. UNITEDHEALTHCARE PRO CYCLING TEAM 23:58:33 00:00
3. ÉQUIPE NATIONALE DU CANADA 23:58:33 00:00
2013 TOUR DE BEAUCE – THE STAGES
Hydro-Québec Stage — Tuesday June 11: Lac-Etchemin/Lac-Etchemin (165 km)
Rocky Mountain Stage — Wednesday June 12: Thetford-Mines /Thetford-Mines (152 km)
Le Georgesville Stage — Thursday June 13: St-Georges /Mont-Mégantic (164 km)
Desjardins Stage — Friday June 14: St-Benoît-Labre (20 km) [Individual Time Trial]
Ville de Québec Stage — Saturday June 15: Ville de Québec (126 km) [Urban circuit]
Ville de St-Georges Stage — Sunday June 16: Ville de St-Georges (107 km) [Urban Circuit]
