July 17/25 16:16 pm - Three Leaders in Three Days at Tour de l'Abitibi
Posted by Editoress on 07/17/25
The 2025 edition of the men's Tour de l'Abitibi saw three stage winners and three race leaders in the first three days of competition. Alexis Bouteloup of Team France won the first stage and took the leader's jersey, before losing it to Nikolas Milanovic of Team USA on the second day. Milanovic, in turn, lost the jersey to Beckham Drake (USA) on Friday.
The Tour began with a 122 kilometre stage from Rouyn Noranda to Val d'Or. The first significant breakaway formed at kilometre 27, comprising six riders: Simon Defrance (France), Charles Roffi (Team Canada), Julien Belanger (Équipe du Québec), Louis Charles Brouillard(Alliance Expertismed), Nolan Tardif (EC Subway) and Archer Myers (Vantaggio Fitness and Nutrition). This breakaway had opened a gap of 50 seconds by the 35 kilometre mark. They were caught 25 kilometres later, and another group of seven went clear before getting caught, setting the stage for a bunch sprint. Bouteloup led the field across the line, followed by Gabriel Tilli (Équipe du Québec) and Defrance.
Stage 2, a 118 kilometre run from Preissac to Val d'Or, was a completely different story, with Maxime Bourassa (Team Canada) initiating seven kilometres into the stage, which eventually led to a ten rider breakaway staying away to the finish line. The final makeup of the break included Milanovic, Alban Picard (France), Maxim Wojciechowski (Canada), Drake, Gabin Gicquel (France), Bourassa, Elliot Perreault (Équipe du Québec), Xavier Hennessey (Vantaggio Fitness and Nutrition), Haruka Kuwabara (Japan) and Arnaud Lajoie (Canada). The broup finished 2:37 ahead of the bunch, with Milanoic outkicking Picard and Maxim Wojciechowski for the win and the leader's jersey, five seconds ahead of Picard and six ahead of Gicquel. After two stages, Picard held the Points and Best Young Rider jerseys, and Paul Hawrylak (France) the Climber's jersey.
Stage 3 was the 9.3 kilometre time trial, with Ezra Brown (Vantaggio Fitness and Nutrition) winning the stage. Drake, a member of the Stage 2 breakaway, finished second, two seconds back, to take over the leader's jersey, with Bourassa finishing third on the stage, 18 seconds back. Milanovic could only manage fifth at 24 seconds, dropping him to second overall, 11 seconds behind Drake, with Bourassa now third overall at 13 seconds. Milanovic did take over the Points jersey, with Picard still the Best Young Climber and Hawrylak remaining in the Climber's jersey. Team Canada remains the Team GC leader.
Results
| Return to Canadian Cyclist homepage | Back to Top |
