Serrano Fernandez en fuego in Beauce

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Rafael Serrano Fernandez (Heraklio-Murcia) lit up the opening stage of Canada’s Tour de Beauce by holding off a sprint hungry peloton to take a solo victory on the streets of Lac-Etchemin, Canada. The Spanish opportunist spent a total of 125 km off the front of the peloton by entering into a series of significant breakaways throughout the day’s stage.

Serrano Fernandez held off the bunch sprint my a mere five seconds. Sergey Grechyn (Amore e Vita) took second place by winning the bunch sprint ahead of the top placed Canadian rider Charles Dionne (Fly V Australia) in third and Andrew Pinfold (UnitedHealthcare p/b Maxxis) in fourth.

"It was a very hard stage," Serrano Fernandez told Cyclingnews. "It was very important for my team to come here to Canada and race well. I want to thank my team directeur and my teammates for the confidence that they had in me today. Most importantly, this was a win for all of them today."

Serrano Fernandez graced the podium five times, first, for his stage win and second because he captured the early race lead ahead of Grechyn and Pinfold. He also took the lead in the King of the Mountain, Sprint and Best Young Rider competitions.

"I have the leader’s jersey and that is the most important jersey to try to keep," Serrano Fernandez said. "But, I also have the climber’s jersey and the sprint and maybe the young rider too. It is very nice to have these jerseys but the most important one is the leader."

After riding a breakaway for more than 120 km, Serrano Fernandez attacked his two companions Will Routely (Team Canada) and Jay Thomson (Fly V Australia) inside 20 km to the finish line. His lead diminished from two minutes to 30 seconds with in the last several kilometres.

According to Dionne, his Fly V Australia teammates lead the predominantly downhill sprint finish. He was surprised that the speed at which the peloton was traveling was not enough to catch the soloist.

"With five kilometres to go I started feeling better and I was looking to my teammates to bring it back," Dionne said. "We were coming in really fast. I caught the other two guys right at the top of the last hill before the finish line. Ben Day and David Tanner did the job for me. But one guy stayed away."

"I jump started with 500 metres to go but it was too far," he added. "I almost made it but the guy [Sergey Grechyn] barely got me on the line. It was good enough for third and I am happy because after the way I was feeling, this was a good result. Fly V Australia is on the podium and I am happy about that."

Break succeeds in Lac-Etchemin

Crisp and sunny weather welcomed the large peloton in quaint rural town of Lac-Etchemin for the start of the 25th annual Tour de Beauce, a 165 km road race. Riders gathered outside of the local stone church, one of many that graced each small town along the famed six-staged racing route.

The field sped out of town on a descent at roughly 90 km/h before making a sharp left-hand turn approaching the base of the day’s first King of the Mountain ascent. Five riders stretched their legs over the gradual but lengthy incline, the large rollers typical of Beauce’s regional topography.

Serrano Fernandez outpaced his breakaway companions to take the maximum points at the top the first KOM ascent ahead of Danny Summerhill (Felt-Holowesko Partners), Matthew Rice (Bahati Foundation), Chris Baldwin (UnitedHealthcare p/b Maxxis) and Jaroslaw Dabrowski (Amore e Vita).

Activity at the front of the peloton caused the breakaway reshuffled into a new group of nine riders that included Serrano Fernandez, former stage winner Andrew Pinfold (UnitedHealthcare p/b Maxxis), David Tanner and Jay Thomson (Fly V Australia), Robbie Squire (Holowesko Partners), Sergey Grechyn (Amore e Vita), Andre Tremblay (Team Quebec) and Will Routely (Team Canada).

The breakaway swelled to 17 riders and gained an immediate one and half minute lead. Added muscle include two former overall winners Ben Day (Fly V Australia) and Valeriy Kobzarenko (Team Type 1) along Jeff Louder and John Murphy (BMC Racing), Michael Creed (Team Type 1), Marc de Maar (UnitedHealthcare p/b Maxxis), Francois Parisien, Ryan Roth, Lucas Euser and David Boiley (SpiderTech p/b Planet Energy).

"To start with we had three riders in the big break at one point," Dionne said. "I was behind and I thought the race was over. I was behind and I didn’t feel good so I sat behind and hoped that I would just feel better in the next few days. Thomson was away all day and he was a very strong man. That was great for us and we just had to watch the show."

The peloton raced along the main arteries that surround the city of Saint-Georges and veered off into small towns along the way for the day’s two intermediate sprint zones won by Serrano Fernandez and Thomson respectively.

The sheer size of the breakaway made it difficult to get organized and all returned to the field several kilometres later. The move acted as a launching pad for the most significant breakaway of the day for three of the original riders Routely, Thomson, Serrano Fernandez. They gained a maximum of five minutes ahead of the field and two minutes ahead of the solo chaser Summerhill.

BMC Racing took on much of the responsibility to maintain the gap at a manageable five minutes. Out front, Serrano Fernandez picked up full points atop the back-to-back second and third KOM climbs in Saint-Philemon and Saint-Nazaire-de-Dorchester, despite suffering a flat tire at the base of the last climb through a dirt road construction zone.

"I had a flat tire at the bottom of the last climb but thanks to the organization’s neutral support for the very fast wheel change, it was perfect." Serrano Fernandez said.

The peloton approached the dirt road and were surprised at the looseness of the gravel. Furthermore, there was a 500-metre long trench dug out on the right side of the road and forced the peloton to negotiate a dangerous single lane. Ten riders crashed including Alexander Kristoff (BMC Racing) who was taken to a regional hospital for treatment.

"The organization told us that there would be a section of hard-packed pavement," said BMC Racing Directeur Sportif, Mike Sayers. "They did not tell us that there would be loose dirt and a deep trench that the riders would have to go through. That was very, very dangerous."

With Kristoff out of contention, BMC Racing left the chasing responsibility up to other teams with strong sprinters like SpiderTech p/b Planet Energy and UnitedHealthcare p/b Maxxis for the remaining 25 kilometres.

"I was surprised that the one guys stayed away and even that the whole break stayed away for as long as they did," Dionne said. "The peloton slowed down because of the crash too tough."

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