Mancebo conquers Mont Megantic

Francisco Mancebo (RealCyclist.com) came one step closer to his goal of winning the overall title at the UCI Tour de Beauce when he sprinted to the "queen" stage three win atop Mont Megantic. The Spaniard out-paced climbing rival Bernard Colex (Amore&Vita) and Sebastian Salas (H&R Block) climbed into third place.

"RealCyclist.com is really pleased with this win," said team director Gord Fraser. "We wanted to win this stage. We thought about letting a breakaway go, but we decided that we wanted to win the stage. We wanted to win the stage, get the jersey, that was our plan and we will see what happens next."

Mancebo gained enough time on the finishing ascent to move into the overall race lead heading into the stage four 20km time trial. Fraser acknowledged the final two circuit races held in Quebec City and Saint-Georges and he is confident that Mancebo will be able to maintain the race lead.

"Nothing is secure, yet," Fraser said. "The Kiwis are showing that they are really strong and Svein Tuft will be strong in the time trial. The guys rode hard today and we rode like we had the jersey. They have two more days to work. We’ve been doing very well this year in hard circumstances and this is just another challenge."

The showdown on Mont Megantic

The decisive breakaway of the day made it to the final climb intact, however, a series of attacks caused the group to dismantle at the base of the five kilometre slope to the top of Mont Megantic.

Arnaud Papillon (Garneau Club Chaussures) made a strong move and gained five seconds over his breakaway companions. He was quickly followed by Svein Tuft (SpiderTech p/b C10), who was a late addition to the breakaway and posed the biggest threat to the overall contenders back in the field at only 32 seconds back in he general classification.

"I was trying to gain extra time up the climb," Tuft said. "If you don't take a dig, a guy like Mancebo is just going to walk away with the race and we are not here for that, we are here to give it everything we have. We wanted Pat to stay with Mancebo on the climb."

A group of roughly ten riders emerged from the peloton that included all the key climbers, Mancebo, Colex and Salas along with race leader Scott Lyttle (PureBlack Racing), Pat McCarty (SpiderTech p/b C10), Ben King (Team Type 1), Phil Gaimon (Kenda/5-hour Energy), Charly Wegelius (UnitedHealthcare), Alex Howes and Rob Squire (Chipotle Development) and Daniel Fleeman (Raleigh).

"I was really nervous going into the climb because I know that Francisco is a strong climber," Colex said. "I was able to stay on his wheel. I’m really happy with the race today."

The chasers caught and passed the breakaway riders in pursuit of a stage win on the prestigious ascent and valuable time toward the overall classification. Mancebo launched an attack with one kilometre to go and was followed by Colex. The pair sprinted to the finish line where Mancebo took the stage win.

A series of breakaways keep the pace high over Beauce rollers

The peloton lined up to contest the Tour de Beauce ‘queen’ stage three, a 153km road race that started in Saint-Georges and finished at the top of a lengthy ascent on Mont Megantic. Race organizers offered a new course this year with the addition of several new and steeper ascents en route to final climb.

A large breakaway emerged in the opening kilometres that included GC threats Francois Parisien (SpiderTech p/b C10) and Morgan Schmitt (UnitedHealthcare), both were involved in the stage one decisive breakaway. The group split and reshuffled to include representation from many of the participating teams.

Christian Meier (UnitedHealthcare) jumped ahead of his breakaway companions into a solo move, gaining one minute. However, he sat up several kilometres later and waited for the peloton.

A new breakaway formed that included Jim Stemper (Kenda/5-hour Energy), Bruno Langlois (SpiderTech p/b C10), Fabio Calabria and Alex Schmidt (Team Type 1-Sanofi Aventis), Nicholas Hamilton (Canada), Darren Rolfe and Johnnie Walker (V Australia), Yutaka Ohmura (Fuji), Sergey Grechyn (Amore&Vita), Arnaud Papillon (Garneau Club Chaussures), Kin San Wu (Champion System), Danny Summerhill (Chipotle Development) and Morgan Schmitt (UnitedHealthcare), who was the highest placed rider 3:58 behind overall race leader Scott Lyttle (PureBlack Racing).

Schmidt passed Lake Drolet and arrived to the top of the first KOM, several seconds ahead of his breakaway companions. However, the peloton was not far behind at roughly 50 seconds at the top of the climb. PureBlack racing and RealCyclist.com were unwilling to allow too much time between their overall contenders and the breakaway riders.

As the breakaway approached the ascent, Andrew Randell and strong climber David Boiley (SpiderTech p/b C10) bridged across. Next in line was Svein Tuft (SpiderTech p/b C10), who successfully made it across before the final climb.

"Tactically it was a really good day for us, and that is what we planed to do," Tuft said. "A lot of times it is hard to execute on a tough stage but everyone is riding really well. It was a difficult stage and we wanted to have strength and numbers up the road."

PureBlack Racing and RealCyclist.com was responsible for keeping the breakaway at a manageable distance of one minute. "PureBlack did work and there was a fair amount of cooperation, although I think we did more than our share," Fraser said. "That was to be expected. Lyttle did great on the climb today."

Full Results

Swipe to scroll horizontally
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Francisco Mancebo Perez (Spa) Realcyclist.com Cycling Team4:04:48
2Bernardo Colex Tepoz (Mex) Amore & Vita0:00:01
3Sebastian Salas (Can)0:00:19
4Jonathan Patrick Mc Carty (USA) Team Spidertech Powered By C100:00:27
5Benjamin King (Aus) Team Type 1 - Sanofi Aventis0:00:29
6Scott Lyttle (NZl) Pureblack Racing0:00:43
7Alex Howes (USA) Chipotle Development Team0:00:44
8Charles Wegelius (GBr) UnitedHealthcare Pro CyclingRow 7 - Cell 2
9Daniel Fleeman (GBr)0:00:48
10Phillip Gaimon (USA) Kenda presented by Gear GrinderRow 9 - Cell 2
11Robbie Squire (USA) Chipotle Development Team0:01:04
12Brett Tivers (NZl)0:01:15
13Jacob Rytlewski (USA) Kenda presented by Gear Grinder0:01:16
14Joris Boillat (Swi) Champion System0:01:20
15Gaël Le Bellec (Fra)0:01:23
16Svein Tuft (Can) Team Spidertech Powered By C100:01:24
17Francois Parisien (Can) Team Spidertech Powered By C100:01:27
18Christian Meier (Can) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling0:01:30
19Arnaud Papillon (Can)0:02:32
20Morgan Schmitt (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling0:02:36
21Bernard Sulzberger (Aus) V Australia0:02:43
22Liam Holohan (GBr)Row 21 - Cell 2
23Daniel Dominguez Barragan (Spa)0:03:08
24Nic Hamlton (Can) Canada0:03:16
25Fabio Calabria (Aus) Team Type 1 - Sanofi Aventis0:03:31
26Robert Sweeting (USA) Kenda presented by Gear Grinder0:03:36
27Nick Friesen (Can)Row 26 - Cell 2
28Vladislav Borisov (RUS Amore & Vita0:03:49
29Garrett Mcleod (Can)0:03:50
30William Dugan (USA) Team Type 1 - Sanofi Aventis0:03:57
31Dominique Rollin (Can) CanadaRow 30 - Cell 2
32Hayden Brooks (Aus) V Australia0:04:24
33Michael Tikue (Eri)0:04:56
34Antoine Duchesne (Can)0:05:01
35Rémi Pelletier-Roy (Can)Row 34 - Cell 2
36Antoine Matteau (Can)0:05:03
37Owen Harrison (Can)0:05:08
38Philipp Mamos (Ger) Amore & Vita0:05:24
39Patrik Moren (Swe) Amore & VitaRow 38 - Cell 2
40Alexey Shmidt (RUS Team Type 1 - Sanofi Aventis0:05:44
41Glen Alan Chadwick (NZl) Pureblack Racing0:05:48
42Timothy Gudsell (NZl) Pureblack Racing0:05:49
43Dustin Macburnie (Can)0:05:50
44Benjamin Martel (Can)0:06:07
45Mathieu Roy (Can)0:06:26
46Christopher Jones (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling0:07:07
47Davide Frattini (Ita) UnitedHealthcare Pro CyclingRow 46 - Cell 2
48Shawn Milne (USA) Kenda presented by Gear Grinder0:07:43
49Jean-Michel Lachance (Can)0:07:54
50Edgar Nohales Nieto (Spa)0:07:55
51Kin San Wu (HKg) Champion System0:08:16
52Rob Britton (Can) Canada0:08:20
53Zachary Bell (Can) Team Spidertech Powered By C10Row 52 - Cell 2
54Jamie Riggs (Can)0:08:24
55Shaun Mc Carthy (Aus)0:08:25
56Cody Campbell (Can) CanadaRow 55 - Cell 2
57Andrea Grendene (Ita) Team Type 1 - Sanofi Aventis0:08:36
58Taylor Sheldon (USA) V Australia0:08:55
59Darren Rolfe (Aus) V AustraliaRow 58 - Cell 2
60Zachary Garland (Can)0:09:27
61Thomas Rabou (Ned) Realcyclist.com Cycling Team0:09:32
62Maxwell Stuart Durtschi (USA) Chipotle Development Team0:09:56
63David Boily (Can) Team Spidertech Powered By C100:09:58
64Robert Bush (USA) Chipotle Development Team0:10:12
65Martijn Verschoor (Ned) Team Type 1 - Sanofi Aventis0:10:13
66Michael Freiberg (Aus) V Australia0:10:14
67James Sparling (Can)Row 66 - Cell 2
68Richard Handley (GBr)0:10:24
69Adam Thuss (Can) Canada0:10:29
70Benjamin Day (Aus) Kenda presented by Gear Grinder0:10:33
71James Stemper (USA) Kenda presented by Gear GrinderRow 70 - Cell 2
72James Williamson (NZl) Pureblack Racing0:11:41
73Andrew Pinfold (Can) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling0:12:27
74Roman Kilun (USA) Kenda presented by Gear Grinder0:12:44
75Daniel Summerhill (USA) Chipotle Development Team0:12:55
76Aaron Kemps (Aus) V Australia0:12:57
77Michael James Northey (NZl) Pureblack Racing0:12:59
78Daniel Barry (NZl) Pureblack Racing0:13:26
79Holger Burkhardt (Ger) Champion System0:13:27
80Shem Rodger (NZl) Pureblack RacingRow 79 - Cell 2
81Serhy Hrechyn (Ukr) Amore & VitaRow 80 - Cell 2
82Cody Canning (Can) Canada0:13:40
83Scott Zwizanski (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling0:13:47
84Tommy Nankervis (Aus) Realcyclist.com Cycling Team0:13:49
85Andrew Randell (Can) Team Spidertech Powered By C100:13:54
86Johnnie Walker (Aus) V Australia0:14:02
87Ian Burnett (USA) Realcyclist.com Cycling Team0:14:03
88Bruno Langlois (Can) Team Spidertech Powered By C100:14:10
89William Blackburn (Can)0:14:11
90Matthias Friedemann (Ger) Champion System0:14:15
91Philip Mooney (USA)0:19:09
92Yutaka Omura (Jpn)0:19:21
93Chris Mcgarity (Can)0:19:22
94Rigo Räim (Est)0:19:27
95Sam Witmitz (Aus)0:19:35
96Lachlan Holmes (Aus)0:19:55
97Pierrick Naud (Can)0:20:34
98Christopher Williams (Aus) Champion System0:21:48
99Yosvany Falcon (USA) Realcyclist.com Cycling Team0:21:59
100Cole House (USA) Realcyclist.com Cycling Team0:22:26
101Aldo Ino Ilesic (Slo) Team Type 1 - Sanofi Aventis0:22:30
102François Chabot (Can)0:22:40
103Frank Travieso (USA) Realcyclist.com Cycling Team0:25:31
DNFJean-Samuel Deshaies (Can)Row 103 - Cell 2
Swipe to scroll horizontally
General classification after stage 3
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Francisco Mancebo Perez (Spa) Realcyclist.com Cycling Team12:02:33
2Bernardo Colex Tepoz (Mex) Amore & Vita0:00:22
3Jonathan Patrick Mc Carty (USA) Team Spidertech Powered By C100:00:31
4Scott Lyttle (NZl) Pureblack Racing0:00:32
5Benjamin King (Aus) Team Type 1 - Sanofi Aventis0:00:33
6Alex Howes (USA) Chipotle Development Team0:00:48
7Daniel Fleeman (GBr)0:01:09
8Brett Tivers (NZl)0:01:14
9Francois Parisien (Can) Team Spidertech Powered By C100:01:22
10Phillip Gaimon (USA) Kenda presented by Gear Grinder0:01:23
11Robbie Squire (USA) Chipotle Development Team0:01:25
12Svein Tuft (Can) Team Spidertech Powered By C100:01:45
13Joris Boillat (Swi) Champion System0:02:32
14Timothy Gudsell (NZl) Pureblack Racing0:05:41
15Dominique Rollin (Can) Canada0:06:21
16Morgan Schmitt (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling0:06:23
17Bernard Sulzberger (Aus) V Australia0:07:22
18Robert Sweeting (USA) Kenda presented by Gear Grinder0:09:32
19Benjamin Day (Aus) Kenda presented by Gear Grinder0:10:53
20Thomas Rabou (Ned) Realcyclist.com Cycling Team0:14:10
21Aaron Kemps (Aus) V Australia0:14:11
22Andrew Randell (Can) Team Spidertech Powered By C100:18:31
23Sebastian Salas (Can)0:22:52
24Charles Wegelius (GBr) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling0:23:17
25Jacob Rytlewski (USA) Kenda presented by Gear Grinder0:23:49
26Gaël Le Bellec (Fra)0:23:56
27Christian Meier (Can) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling0:24:03
28Arnaud Papillon (Can)0:25:05
29Liam Holohan (GBr)0:25:16
30Nic Hamlton (Can) Canada0:25:49
31Fabio Calabria (Aus) Team Type 1 - Sanofi Aventis0:26:04
32Nick Friesen (Can)0:26:09
33Vladislav Borisov (Rus) Amore & Vita0:26:22
34Garrett Mcleod (Can)0:26:23
35William Dugan (USA) Team Type 1 - Sanofi Aventis0:26:30
36Rémi Pelletier-Roy (Can)0:26:42
37Hayden Brooks (Aus) V Australia0:26:57
38Antoine Duchesne (Can)0:27:34
39Antoine Matteau (Can)0:27:36
40Owen Harrison (Can)0:27:41
41Philipp Mamos (Ger) Amore & Vita0:27:56
42Patrik Moren (Swe) Amore & Vita0:27:57
43Alexey Shmidt (Rus) Team Type 1 - Sanofi Aventis0:28:17
44Glen Alan Chadwick (NZl) Pureblack Racing0:28:21
45Dustin Macburnie (Can)0:28:23
46Benjamin Martel (Can)0:28:40
47Mathieu Roy (Can)0:28:59
48Davide Frattini (Ita) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling0:29:40
49Shawn Milne (USA) Kenda presented by Gear Grinder0:30:10
50Christopher Jones (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling0:30:21
51Jean-Michel Lachance (Can)0:30:27
52Edgar Nohales Nieto (Spa)0:30:28
53Kin San Wu (HKg) Champion System0:30:49
54Zachary Bell (Can) Team Spidertech Powered By C100:30:53
55Rob Britton (Can) CanadaRow 54 - Cell 2
56Jamie Riggs (Can)0:30:57
57Shaun Mc Carthy (Aus)0:30:58
58Cody Campbell (Can) CanadaRow 57 - Cell 2
59Andrea Grendene (Ita) Team Type 1 - Sanofi Aventis0:31:09
60Taylor Sheldon (USA) V Australia0:31:28
61Darren Rolfe (Aus) V AustraliaRow 60 - Cell 2
62Zachary Garland (Can)0:32:15
63Maxwell Stuart Durtschi (USA) Chipotle Development Team0:32:29
64David Boily (Can) Team Spidertech Powered By C100:32:31
65Martijn Verschoor (Ned) Team Type 1 - Sanofi Aventis0:32:33
66Robert Bush (USA) Chipotle Development Team0:32:42
67Michael Freiberg (Aus) V Australia0:32:47
68James Sparling (Can)Row 67 - Cell 2
69Richard Handley (GBr)0:32:56
70Adam Thuss (Can) Canada0:33:00
71James Williamson (NZl) Pureblack Racing0:34:14
72Andrew Pinfold (Can) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling0:35:00
73Roman Kilun (USA) Kenda presented by Gear Grinder0:35:17
74Daniel Summerhill (USA) Chipotle Development Team0:35:24
75Daniel Barry (NZl) Pureblack Racing0:35:59
76Holger Burkhardt (Ger) Champion System0:36:00
77Shem Rodger (NZl) Pureblack RacingRow 76 - Cell 2
78Cody Canning (Can) Canada0:36:13
79Scott Zwizanski (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling0:36:20
80Serhy Hrechyn (Ukr) Amore & Vita0:36:37
81Michael Tikue (Eri)0:36:42
82Matthias Friedemann (Ger) Champion System0:36:48
83Johnnie Walker (Aus) V Australia0:36:55
84Bruno Langlois (Can) Team Spidertech Powered By C100:37:03
85William Blackburn (Can)0:37:04
86Tommy Nankervis (Aus) Realcyclist.com Cycling Team0:38:58
87Lachlan Holmes (Aus)0:39:12
88Ian Burnett (USA) Realcyclist.com Cycling TeamRow 87 - Cell 2
89Chris Mcgarity (Can)0:41:55
90James Stemper (USA) Kenda presented by Gear Grinder0:42:19
91Pierrick Naud (Can)0:43:42
92Yosvany Falcon (USA) Realcyclist.com Cycling Team0:44:32
93Michael James Northey (NZl) Pureblack Racing0:44:45
94Cole House (USA) Realcyclist.com Cycling Team0:44:59
95Aldo Ino Ilesic (Slo) Team Type 1 - Sanofi Aventis0:46:49
96Frank Travieso (USA) Realcyclist.com Cycling Team0:48:54
97Daniel Dominguez Barragan (Spa)0:49:07
98Philip Mooney (USA)0:50:55
99Yutaka Omura (Jpn)0:51:07
100Rigo Räim (Est)0:51:13
101François Chabot (Can)0:54:26
102Sam Witmitz (Aus)0:56:34
103Christopher Williams (Aus) Champion System0:58:47

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Kirsten Frattini
Deputy Editor

Kirsten Frattini is the Deputy Editor of Cyclingnews, overseeing the global racing content plan.

Kirsten has a background in Kinesiology and Health Science. She has been involved in cycling from the community and grassroots level to professional cycling's biggest races, reporting on the WorldTour, Spring Classics, Tours de France, World Championships and Olympic Games.

She began her sports journalism career with Cyclingnews as a North American Correspondent in 2006. In 2018, Kirsten became Women's Editor – overseeing the content strategy, race coverage and growth of women's professional cycling – before becoming Deputy Editor in 2023.

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