Boivin takes sprint victory in Thetford-Mines

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Guillaume Boivin of the Canadian National Team was finally able to breathe a big sigh of relief after his bunch sprint win at Stage 2 of the Tour de Beauce, it was a long-time coming for the 24-year-old who was sidelined with a knee injury at the end of his very promising 2010 season. Taking over the front of the race with a scant three kilometers to go, Boivin's team reeled in the early break with 500 meters to go and set him up for the sprint.

"We knew that we had the legs and the capability of taking charge on the final lap and to bring it home. Perfect. The guys were incredible. There was still 30 or 40 seconds on the line with three kilometers, it's not easy to bring it back. The whole team was super strong and then Dominique Rollin gave me a great lead-out, in the end all I had to do was finish the job. It's fun to have a team that works so well together like that," said Boivin.

"It's a relief to get a victory at home and also I haven't a win since the end of 2010. I hope that it will remove a bit of pressure from my shoulders and that I can rebuild my confidence and build on the win. But again, I'm really happy and the team was amazing today."

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Teamwork was also key for both second placed Matthias Friedemann (Champion System) and stage 1 winner Jasper Stuyven (Bontrager) who finished third in the bunch sprint.

"The final three laps were a little bit hectic, a little of fighting, I crashed also on the last circuit lap but I came back, I had to change my bike and then I had good teamwork, they brought me back," Friedemann explained. "Clint Avery brought me to the front on the last kilometer and I was in fourth position on the last 500 meters, and then I started my sprint but actually I went on the wrong side and got a little bit boxed in and the door was closed. And so on the last 50 meters, I caught up to two riders and I was second finally. Good."

"In the finale, they did an incredible job," commented Stuyven. "Tanner [Putt] kept me in front for the sprint and Canada closed the last gap, it was up to them. I had already my stage win, if they wanted to win, they had to close the last gap and they did it, they did a good job and Tanner did a good job of putting me in a good position for the sprint."

With the victory, Boivin took over the yellow jersey as well as the white points leader jersey from Stuyven's shoulders. Stuyven remains in the best young rider jersey.

How it unfolded

Colder temperatures and more rain greeted the racers at the start in Thetford-Mines on Wednesday morning. The rain would continue for the next three hours as the 152km stage followed the expected scenario with three riders escaping after an early flurry of attacks. Robert Sweeting (5-hour Energy p/b Kenda), Jonathan Patrick McCarty (Bissell) and Joseph Rosskopf (Hincapie Sportswear) worked well together but the Bontrager team was keeping a close eye on the time gap.

"We decided to just let two guys rotate all day long, don't let the break go too far away so we decided to keep it between two and three minutes. We don't like to give a group eight or nine [minutes], because you have to chase so hard at the end," Stuyven said. "Antoine Duchesnes and Ryan Eastman, it was amazing what they actually did because it was just the two of them, the other guys were getting bottles and keeping me out of the wind."

However, not everything was according to script. Early on in the stage, Boivin found himself holding on to another team's car after the caravan braked abruptly while he was returning from a flat, and behind the Bontrager team car driven by Axel Merckx.

"I don't really know how to describe it, I've never seen anything like it," said Canadian National Team director Gord Fraser. "They were stopped and Guillaume was literally head first, luckily it was not a wagon, it's a rental car and it's a sedan and he had room. He was actually on top of the trunk, hands off the bars, holding on to the rear window, one foot was out and one foot was clipped in so he was dragging the bike and Axel just brought him down slow to a stop and we were able to fix his bike." Fraser went on to thank Merckx for saving his athlete.

For the next hours, the Bontrager duo continued to set the pace at the front of the field until the second KOM when attacks from multiple teams including UnitedHealthcare and Champion System increased the pace, shedding many riders off the back. But the conditions were not favorable for a late escape.

"We went also twice but the road was too much open and too much wind from the front, it was very hard for one or two riders to stay in front, that's why we have a big bunch sprint." Friedemann stated.

It looked good for the break as they crossed the finish line for the first of their three short finishing circuits at Thetford-Mines, the rain had stopped and they still had a gap on the peloton. But the sprinters were hungry, and the trio were reeled in with the finish line in sight.

KOM leader Jim Stemper (5-hour Energy p/b Kenda) jumped out of the field on the climbs to stay in the polka-dot jersey for one more day.

The general classification contenders will have to show themselves on Wednesday's stage, the 164-km Queen Stage which culminates with the extremely challenging climb up to Mt Megantic.

"Mt Megantic is not suited for me," said Boivin who hopes to see one of his teammates take over the yellow jersey. "Maybe we'll see the yellow jersey do domestique work. It would make me happy to return the favor to the guys because for the past two days, they've been working hard."