June 19/10 19:35 pm - Tour de Beauce: Stage 5 report and results

Posted by Editoress on 06/19/10
 

Ben Day and his Fly V Australia team successfully defended the Yellow jersey on stage five, while former leader Marc de Maar (United Healthcare p/b Maxxis) took some vindication in his second stage win of the Tour de Beauce. The race also saw Rafael Serrano Fernandez (Heraklio-Murcia) lose the final jersey in his collection when Danny Summerhill (Felt-Holowesko) took over the Climber's jersey. David Boily (SpiderTech p/b Planet Energy) successfully defended the Best Young Rider jersey, and was the top Canadian finisher for the day, in seventh place.

The fifth stage took the riders to Québec City for a 127.6 kilometre, 11 lap circuit race. This is traditionally one of the most difficult - and picturesque - stages of the race, taking the riders up and down the St Lawrence Escarpment, and through Old Québec. This year, the circuit was modified extensively to be a test event for the ProTour race scheduled for September 10th.

The new circuit started as usual on the Grande Allée, but then ducked into the Plains of Abraham national park to drop to the river on a twisting route that caused a few crashes in early laps. After a run along beside the river, the riders hit the traditional Cote de la Montagne climb, but halfway up cut off to drop back down almost to the base before clibing up again through the Old Town to rejoin the former circuit in front of the Chateau Frontenac. Reviews from the riders were mixed, with many saying it was overly technical.

After a neutralized opening lap, Hector Gonzalez (Heraklio-Murcia) attacked and was quickly joined by Nathan O'Neill (Bahati Foundation). They were reeled back in as the teams set up for the first intermediate sprint, won by Andrew Pinfold (United Healthcare). Almost immediately, three riders went clear - Christopher Jones (Team Type 1), Danny Summerhill (Felt-Holowesko Partners-Garmin U23) and Francisco Mancebo (Heraklio-Murcia). This group went almost a minute clear before Lucas Euser (Spidertech p/b Planet Energy) and Chad Beyer (BMC Racing Team) joined them on the third lap.

Once this group settled down they built up a lead of two and a half minutes, but Fly V Australia was watching carefully, since Mancebo was only 2:48 back on GC. The gap was getting too big, and the Aussie team began to reel them in, taking the split down to 90 seconds with two laps to go. Canadian national team rider Jamie Sparling then jumped across to the leaders on the main climb, but the gap was shrinking rapidly. Sparling attacked off the front on the last lap, but the capture was inevitable.

Fly V Australia had a bit of a scare when Day had mechanical problems, but neutral support took care of things and he rejoined the front of the race before the final climb. There were flurry of attacks as the climb began, thinning the group but not dropping any of the top contenders.

David Boily launched a well-timed effort with a kilometre to go, and was still leading as the race approached 500 metres to go. However, de Maar showed the speed that won him stage three on the Mont Megantic climb, rocketing up the left side of the road to easily take the stage. Javier Megias Leal (Team Type 1) took the small group sprint for second, just ahead of de Maar's team mate Morgan Schmitt. Day finished fifth, four seconds down on de Maar, to stave off his rivals.

de Maar credited his win partially to being angry over officials requiring him to change his saddle position for the time trial. "I dedicate this one to the officials," he commented. "This was a hard stage. I wasn't worried about the break, because Fly V was doing a very good job of managing the difference. The attack by Boily took me a little by surprise, and I was not able to get on his wheel, but then I was able to attack very hard and go straight by him."

Marc De Maar gave full credit to his team for the victory. "They have looked after me all year, and today was the same. It left me in good shape for the final climb, and I was able to respond to the attacks."

Race Notes

- Tomorrow is the final stage for the 2010 edition of Tour de Beauce; a circuit race in the race's hometown of St-Georges. This year the final stage has changed significantly, as organizers dropped the traditional hilltop finish for a flat final two kilometres. This means we are likely to see a sprint finish, and it will certainly help Fly V Australia protect the Yellow jersey.