July 23/09 7:15 am - Tour de l’Abitibi/Coupe des Nations: Stage 2 full results

Posted by Editoress on 07/23/09
 

Two Jerseys for Canadian Stuart Wight

Canadian Stuart Wight captured the honors of the second stage after having taken the lead in a breakaway. He quickly outdistanced his opponents when he entered the city circuit in Val-d'Or. In addition to taking first place, Wight also took the brown and the blue jerseys. Team Canada also occupied second place on the podium thanks to the efforts of teammate Antoine Duchesne, 6 seconds behind the leader. As for the Austrian Marco Haller he finished 16th and will keep the orange jersey.

The two Canadians took part in a breakaway consisting of 15 riders just after the 22 km mark of the race. The first riders of this breakaway were dropped 80 km later as they made their first ascent on the urban circuit. Wight amazed everyone by going solo for the full three laps of the city circuit. His 15-second lead proved more than enough to win the stage ahead of teammate Antoine Duchesne and American Charlie Avis, who finished second in the last stage of the 2008 Tour de l'Abitibi. Duchesne and Avis, 9 seconds ahead of the breakaway, battled right to the checkered flag, almost crashing while crossing the finish line, in front of horrified spectators.

Wight won the stage in a time of 2 hours 40 minutes and 18 seconds. He was part of a ten team breakaway that led early on in the race between St-Mathieu and Val-d'Or. The pack forged a three-and-a-half-minute lead on the peloton. Among the 15 rider breakaway, Abitibien Jordan Brochu was dropped on the second lap of the city circuit and finished eleventh for the day.

The stage saw countless flat tires and a crash involving a Baraboo Sharks' rider, whose competition ended due to the injuries he suffered.

Two stages await the riders Thursday. The first will see them start 500 meters below ground in an individual time trial, while the second will feature a round-trip between Val-d'Or and Malartic.

Press release