July 24/14 9:01 am - Tour de l'Abitibi Desjardins: Stage 2

Posted by Editoress on 07/24/14
 

The second stage of the Tour de l’Abitibi Desjardins started with a breakaway, at 16 km, from the Japanese racer, Takahiro Koyama. After more than 15 kilometres of riding solo, several riders bridged up to him, including cyclists from France, the United States, Denmark, Mexico, and Team Quebec. The breakaway gave Koyama a lead of over 4 minutes on the rest of the pack at its peak, before ending with ajust a mere 20 seconds. After two hours of racing, Mathias Norsgaard Jorgenson (Denmark) sprinted for victory, closely followed by William Barta (Team U.S.A)and Sebastien Havot (France).

A First in 10 Years
With two podiums in hand, Denmark continues to prove itself as one of the leading teams in this 46th edition. Norsgaard Jorgenson who, is in his first year as a junior, did very well during the breakaway, winning the two bonus sprints. In addition to winning the stage, the Dane also earned the jerseys for his lead in general ranking, lead in points, as well as for best first year cyclist. “It is the fifth time in the history of the Tour that a racer wins all three jerseys in the same stage,” commented the founder of the Tour de l’Abitibi Desjardins, Léandre Normand. As for best climber, the Moroccan racer, Abderrahim Zahiri, will once again be sporting the polka dot jersey tomorrow.

Return of the United States
The United States is back in the race after finishing in thirteenth position in the first stage. They, who had practically won it all in the two previous editions, were, this year confronted with strong opponents.  USA has finally established itself by placing second. William Barta, who was crowned best rookie in 2013, kept up with the other racers in the breakaway, for over 85 kilometres. His teammate, Adrien Costa, repeatedly attacked and took, at times, a lead over the pack.

Two Stages Thursday
THursday morning, the racers will lead off the individual Against-The-Clock Challenge, a round trip to St-Maurice, totaling 10 kilometres. Then the teams will travel to Malartic for the Fonds Essor Malartic Osisko / Ville de Malartic stage. During this 51.5 kilometre leg, the cyclists will first travel to Rivière-Héva, and then return to Malartic, after completing two laps of the Lac Malartic road.

Tour de l’Abitibi press rlease

Results from the second stage of the Tour de l'Abitibi Desjardins, in Rouyn-Noranda, QC

Stage 1