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18th GP Cycliste de Beauce - 2.3
Canada, June 17-22, 2003
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Stage 3 - June 19: Lac-Etchemin - Lac-Etchemin, 151 km
Fraser Gets the Ball Rolling
By Kristy Scrymgeour
In a very different outcome to previous years in this stage, but following the pattern of the past few days, today's stage of the Grand Prix Cycliste du Beauce ended in a bunch sprint after a small break away group was caught in the final kilometers. Health Net's Gord Fraser took the fast sprint convincingly to win yet another race for the season, despite his recent ordeal in the court room.
Cyclingnews spoke with Fraser after the race who was pleased with his win. "It was good to get the ball rolling again because I have been feeling pretty low lately. I haven't been feeling that good at all in this race. The court hearing didn't help of course, but I have also been sick and it's been raining up in Ontario (where Fraser has been staying with his parents since the hearing).
Of the race Fraser said "It wasn't too hard, apart from the first 20 km when the break was being intiated. They stayed out there all day and then a few different teams worked together to bring it back. The worst thing about it was the roads. I would say the roads here are the worst in the world; you constantly have to concentrate so that you don't fall down a pot hole. But I am happy to have won this stage."
How it unfolded
Today's course is known to be constantly undulating and "relentless" according to Saturn's Eric Wohlberg who has raced this tour many times, winning the overall in 1995. With three KOM sprints to contest and a Sprint, the race started and finished in Lac Etchemin covering 153km of the tolling terrain.
In the past couple of years this race has eventuated in a small group taking a very large gap early in the race, deciding the overall GC contenders. Today an early break of six ridiers broke away after less than an hour of racing, gaining a very fast gap on the field. With no team interested or willing to chase the gap rapidly grew to over nine minutes.
In the break was the aggressive Irving Aguilar (Tecos Mercuriano), Jamie Drew (Flanders IteamNova), Burke Swindlehurst and Matt Decanio (Navigators), Todd Herriot (Health Net). The break worked well together until the KOM sprint at 53km when Aguilar tried to go it alone. He did not succeed however and his efforts caused him to be dropped from the group a little later on in the race. However he was able to win the three KOM sprints and leads the King of the Mountain competition.
At the 90 kilometer mark the chase began, and like yesterday, the break gradually began to lose time. By the 25km to go mark the gap was down to a mere 1'45" and closing, which is when riders within the break began to attack. Starting with Drew, followed by Herriot and Decanio, it was finally Tesar who was able to get the gap which he took to 17seconds as the remainder of the break got caught by the bunch.
But again the pace and determination of a few teams with good sprinters was enough to reel in Tesar with only a few kilometers to go and Fraser was able to sprint to take the win in front of Vassili Davidenko (Navigators) and Alex Candelario (Prime Alliance).
John Lieswyn (7UP-Maxxis) keeps the leaders jersey going into stage four, just ahead of Chris Baldwin (Navigators). Friday's race is the longest stage of the tour, starting in St George and covering 172 kilometers of gradual uphill before finishing at the summit of Mont Megantic at 1100m. The stage is estimated to take 4hours and 40mins.
Results
1 Gordon Fraser (Can) Health Net Cycling Team 3.44.13 2 Vassili Davidenko (Rus) Navigators Cycling Team 3 Alex Candelario (USA) Prime Alliance Cycling Team 4 Frantisek Trkal (Cze) eD'system - ZVVZ 5 Oleg Grishkine (Rus) Navigators Cycling Team 6 Charles Dionne (Can) Canadian National Team 7 Pierre-Olivier Boily (Can) Équipe Québec 8 Andrew Pinfold (Can) Atlas Cold / Italpasta 9 Martin Gilbert (Can) Volkswagen - Trek 10 Jean-François Laroche (Can) Volkswagen - Trek 11 Lubos Kejval (Cze) eD'system - ZVVZ 12 Cory Lange (Can) Canadian National Team 13 Christophe Cheseaux (Can) Les Espoirs de Laval 14 Joe Giuliano (Can) Atlas Cold / Italpasta 15 Alexandre Nadeau (Can) Équipe Québec 16 Danny Pate (USA) Prime Alliance Cycling Team 17 Mark Walters (Can) Navigators Cycling Team 18 Cameron J. Evans (Can) Canadian National Team 19 Tomas Konecny (Cze) eD'system - ZVVZ 20 Petr Bencik (Cze) eD'system - ZVVZ 21 Corey Jay (Can) Les Espoirs de Laval 22 Dominique Perras (Can) Flanders - Iteamnova.com 23 Alexandre Lavallée (Can) Volkswagen - Trek 24 John Peters (USA) Prime Alliance Cycling Team 25 Jeff Hansen (Can) Atlas Cold / Italpasta 26 Yoshiyuki Abe (Jpn) Shimano Cycling 27 Michal Precechtel (Cze) eD'system - ZVVZ 28 Peter Sanowar (Can) Canadian National Team 29 Jindrich Vana (Cze) eD'system - ZVVZ 30 Jean-Sebastien Maheu (Can) Équipe Québec 31 Jason Lokkesmoe (USA) Health Net Cycling Team 32 Kevin Miller (Can) Jet Fuel Coffee 33 Antonio Aldape (Mex) Tecos - Mercurio 34 Hidenori Nodera (Jpn) Shimano Cycling 35 Javier Paniagua (Mex) Tecos - Mercurio 36 Doug Ziewacz (USA) 7UP / Maxxis 37 John Lieswyn (USA) 7UP / Maxxis 38 Jean-Francois Racine (Can) Les Espoirs de Laval 39 Mathieu Roy (Can) Les Espoirs de Laval 40 Bruno Langlois (Can) Volkswagen - Trek 41 Lubor Tesar (Cze) eD'system - ZVVZ 42 Chris Isaac (Can) Canadian National Team 43 Shinri Suzuki (Jpn) Shimano Cycling 44 Jamie Drew (Aus) Flanders - Iteamnova.com 45 Stig Somme (Nor) Jet Fuel Coffee 46 Matt Decanio (USA) Prime Alliance Cycling Team 47 Christopher McGovern (USA) Health Net Cycling Team 48 Andrew Randell (Can) Jet Fuel Coffee 49 Tomoya Kano (Jpn) Shimano Cycling 50 Todd Herriot (USA) Health Net Cycling Team 51 Bert Scheirlinckx (Bel) Flanders - Iteamnova.com 52 David McKenzie (Aus) Flanders - Iteamnova.com 53 Svein Tuft (Can) Prime Alliance Cycling Team 54 Greg Henderson (NZl) 7UP / Maxxis 55 Eric Wohlberg (Can) Canadian National Team 56 Thomas Burke Swindlehurst (USA) Navigators Cycling T 57 Jeff Louder (USA) Navigators Cycling Team 58 Chris Wherry (USA) Navigators Cycling Team 59 Brice Jones (USA) 7UP / Maxxis 60 Fausto Esparza (Mex) Tecos - Mercurio 61 Hisafumi Imanisi (Jpn) Shimano Cycling 62 Christopher Baldwin (USA) Navigators Cycling Team 63 Trent Wilson (Aus) Flanders - Iteamnova.com 64 Rusty Beall (USA) Health Net Cycling Team 65 Paulo Rego (Can) Atlas Cold / Italpasta 66 Ariel De Cardenas (Can) Équipe Québec 67 Kaoru Ouchi (Jpn) Shimano Cycling 68 Dominique Rollin (Can) Équipe Québec 2.21 69 Allan Iacuone (Aus) Flanders - Iteamnova.com 70 Martin St-Laurent (Can) Volkswagen - Trek 3.05 71 Warren Tilbrook (Can) Canadian National Team 3.09 72 Ryan Roth (Can) Jet Fuel Coffee 73 Scott Guyton (NZl) Flanders - Iteamnova.com 74 Joel Alamillo (Mex) Tecos - Mercurio 4.02 75 Irving Aguilar (Mex) Tecos - Mercurio 76 Kevin Monahan (USA) 7UP / Maxxis 4.59 77 Jason McCartney (USA) 7UP / Maxxis 78 Patrick Shea (Can) Atlas Cold / Italpasta 12.07 79 Craig Boileau (Can) Les Espoirs de Laval 12.54 80 Czeslaw Lukaszewicz (Can) Équipe Québec 13.01 81 Dylan Sebel (Can) Health Net Cycling Team 82 Bryan Rusche (Can) Atlas Cold / Italpasta 83 David Whyman (NZl) Atlas Cold / Italpasta 17.47 84 Domingo Gonzalez (Mex) Tecos - Mercurio 85 David Salomon Alvarez (Mex) Tecos - Mercurio 86 Frederic Millette (Can) Les Espoirs de Laval 23.17 87 Alexandre Cloutier (Can) Volkswagen - Trek 24.29 TC Hughes Lapointe (Can) Équipe Québec TC Andrew Davidson (Can) Jet Fuel Coffee DNF Colin Burn (Can) Jet Fuel Coffee DNF Chistopher Pic (USA) 7UP / Maxxis DNS David Clinger (USA) Prime Alliance Cycling Team General classification after stage 3 1 John Lieswyn (USA) 7UP / Maxxis 10.46.15 2 Christopher Baldwin (USA) Navigators Cycling Team 0.05 3 Tomas Konecny (Cze) eD'system - ZVVZ 0.17 4 Eric Wohlberg (Can) Canadian National Team 0.21 5 Petr Bencik (Cze) eD'system - ZVVZ 0.23 6 Danny Pate (USA) Prime Alliance Cycling Team 0.24 7 Mark Walters (Can) Navigators Cycling Team 8 Bert Scheirlinckx (Bel) Flanders - Iteamnova.com 9 Dominique Perras (Can) Flanders - Iteamnova.com 0.27 10 Allan Iacuone (Aus) Flanders - Iteamnova.com 0.32 11 Antonio Aldape (Mex) Tecos - Mercurio 0.52 12 Jamie Drew (Aus) Flanders - Iteamnova.com 1.09 13 Alexandre Lavallée (Can) Volkswagen - Trek 1.45 14 Michal Precechtel (Cze) eD'system - ZVVZ 15 Gordon Fraser (Can) Health Net Cycling Team 1.49 16 Doug Ziewacz (USA) 7UP / Maxxis 1.52 17 David McKenzie (Aus) Flanders - Iteamnova.com 1.53 18 Alex Candelario (USA) Prime Alliance Cycling Team 1.55 19 Lubor Tesar (Cze) eD'system - ZVVZ 2.51 20 Vassili Davidenko (Rus) Navigators Cycling Team 2.52 21 Stig Somme (Nor) Jet Fuel Coffee 2.54 22 Alexandre Nadeau (Can) Équipe Québec 2.56 23 Jeff Louder (USA) Navigators Cycling Team 24 Cameron J. Evans (Can) Canadian National Team 2.57 25 Martin Gilbert (Can) Volkswagen - Trek 2.58 26 Joe Giuliano (Can) Atlas Cold / Italpasta 27 Frantisek Trkal (Cze) eD'system - ZVVZ 28 Shinri Suzuki (Jpn) Shimano Cycling 29 Cory Lange (Can) Canadian National Team 30 Fausto Esparza (Mex) Tecos - Mercurio 31 Yoshiyuki Abe (Jpn) Shimano Cycling 32 Chris Isaac (Can) Canadian National Team 33 Bruno Langlois (Can) Volkswagen - Trek 34 Jean-Sebastien Maheu (Can) Équipe Québec 35 Javier Paniagua (Mex) Tecos - Mercurio 36 Peter Sanowar (Can) Canadian National Team 37 Charles Dionne (Can) Canadian National Team 3.00 38 Jean-François Laroche (Can) Volkswagen - Trek 3.06 39 Corey Jay (Can) Les Espoirs de Laval 40 Christopher McGovern (USA) Health Net Cycling Team 41 Scott Guyton (NZl) Flanders - Iteamnova.com 42 Jason Lokkesmoe (USA) Health Net Cycling Team 3.10 43 Jean-Francois Racine (Can) Les Espoirs de Laval 44 Hidenori Nodera (Jpn) Shimano Cycling 45 Christophe Cheseaux (Can) Les Espoirs de Laval 46 Todd Herriot (USA) Health Net Cycling Team 47 Brice Jones (USA) 7UP / Maxxis 48 Kaoru Ouchi (Jpn) Shimano Cycling 49 Lubos Kejval (Cze) eD'system - ZVVZ 3.17 50 Oleg Grishkine (Rus) Navigators Cycling Team 3.18 51 Andrew Pinfold (Can) Atlas Cold / Italpasta 3.21 52 Andrew Randell (Can) Jet Fuel Coffee 3.27 53 Svein Tuft (Can) Prime Alliance Cycling Team 3.29 54 John Peters (USA) Prime Alliance Cycling Team 3.33 55 Chris Wherry (USA) Navigators Cycling Team 3.35 56 Hisafumi Imanisi (Jpn) Shimano Cycling 4.02 57 Greg Henderson (NZl) 7UP / Maxxis 4.29 58 Dominique Rollin (Can) Équipe Québec 5.31 59 Thomas Burke Swindlehurst (USA) Navigators Cycling T 5.32 60 Pierre-Olivier Boily (Can) Équipe Québec 7.26 61 Tomoya Kano (Jpn) Shimano Cycling 7.28 62 Kevin Miller (Can) Jet Fuel Coffee 7.41 63 Mathieu Roy (Can) Les Espoirs de Laval 7.48 64 Paulo Rego (Can) Atlas Cold / Italpasta 65 Ariel De Cardenas (Can) Équipe Québec 7.56 66 Matt Decanio (USA) Prime Alliance Cycling Team 8.18 67 Trent Wilson (Aus) Flanders - Iteamnova.com 8.27 68 Warren Tilbrook (Can) Canadian National Team 10.57 69 Ryan Roth (Can) Jet Fuel Coffee 11.05 70 Joel Alamillo (Mex) Tecos - Mercurio 11.37 71 Jindrich Vana (Cze) eD'system - ZVVZ 11.55 72 Irving Aguilar (Mex) Tecos - Mercurio 12.17 73 Rusty Beall (USA) Health Net Cycling Team 12.28 74 Kevin Monahan (USA) 7UP / Maxxis 12.47 75 Jason McCartney (USA) 7UP / Maxxis 15.41 76 Czeslaw Lukaszewicz (Can) Équipe Québec 16.11 77 Dylan Sebel (Can) Health Net Cycling Team 78 Martin St-Laurent (Can) Volkswagen - Trek 17.44 79 Patrick Shea (Can) Atlas Cold / Italpasta 19.42 80 Craig Boileau (Can) Les Espoirs de Laval 20.29 81 David Salomon Alvarez (Mex) Tecos - Mercurio 20.45 82 Bryan Rusche (Can) Atlas Cold / Italpasta 20.49 83 Domingo Gonzalez (Mex) Tecos - Mercurio 20.57 84 Jeff Hansen (Can) Atlas Cold / Italpasta 25.31 85 Frederic Millette (Can) Les Espoirs de Laval 31.02 86 Alexandre Cloutier (Can) Volkswagen - Trek 32.00 87 David Whyman (NZl) Atlas Cold / Italpasta 32.37 Points classification 1 Oleg Grishkine (Rus) Navigators Cycling Team 26 pts 2 Charles Dionne (Can) Canadian National Team 24 3 Christopher Baldwin (USA) Navigators Cycling Team 19 4 John Lieswyn (USA) 7UP / Maxxis 17 5 Lubos Kejval (Cze) eD'system - ZVVZ 17 6 Jean-François Laroche (Can) Volkswagen - Trek 16 7 Danny Pate (USA) Prime Alliance Cycling Team 15 8 Gordon Fraser (Can) Health Net Cycling Team 15 9 Jamie Drew (Aus) Flanders - Iteamnova.com 14 10 Vassili Davidenko (Rus) Navigators Cycling Team 14 11 Tomas Konecny (Cze) eD'system - ZVVZ 13 12 David McKenzie (Aus) Flanders - Iteamnova.com 13 13 John Peters (USA) Prime Alliance Cycling Team 13 14 Alex Candelario (USA) Prime Alliance Cycling Team 13 15 Frantisek Trkal (Cze) eD'system - ZVVZ 12 16 Eric Wohlberg (Can) Canadian National Team 12 17 Bert Scheirlinckx (Bel) Flanders - Iteamnova.com 11 18 Mark Walters (Can) Navigators Cycling Team 10 19 Petr Bencik (Cze) eD'system - ZVVZ 10 20 Pierre-Olivier Boily (Can) Équipe Québec 9 21 Dominique Perras (Can) Flanders - Iteamnova.com 8 22 Fausto Esparza (Mex) Tecos - Mercurio 8 23 Andrew Pinfold (Can) Atlas Cold / Italpasta 8 24 Martin Gilbert (Can) Volkswagen - Trek 7 25 Shinri Suzuki (Jpn) Shimano Cycling 7 26 Lubor Tesar (Cze) eD'system - ZVVZ 6 27 Allan Iacuone (Aus) Flanders - Iteamnova.com 6 28 Dominique Rollin (Can) Équipe Québec 6 29 Trent Wilson (Aus) Flanders - Iteamnova.com 6 30 Antonio Aldape (Mex) Tecos - Mercurio 4 31 Cory Lange (Can) Canadian National Team 4 32 Thomas Burke Swindlehurst (USA) Navigators Cycling T 4 33 Joe Giuliano (Can) Atlas Cold / Italpasta 3 34 Christophe Cheseaux (Can) Les Espoirs de Laval 3 35 Greg Henderson (NZl) 7UP / Maxxis 3 36 Irving Aguilar (Mex) Tecos - Mercurio 3 37 Alexandre Lavallée (Can) Volkswagen - Trek 2 38 Czeslaw Lukaszewicz (Can) Équipe Québec 2 39 Alexandre Nadeau (Can) Équipe Québec 1 40 Michal Precechtel (Cze) eD'system - ZVVZ 1 41 Cameron J. Evans (Can) Canadian National Team 1 42 Svein Tuft (Can) Prime Alliance Cycling Team 1 43 Jindrich Vana (Cze) eD'system - ZVVZ 1 Teams classification 1 Flanders - Iteamnova.com 32.20.08 2 Ed's System - ZVVZ 1.07 3 Prime Alliance Cycling Team 1.36 4 Navigators Cycling Team 2.09 5 7UP / Maxxis 3.51 6 Canadian National Team 4.54 7 Tecos - Mercurio 5.25 8 Volkswagen - Trek 6.18 9 Health Net Cycling Team 6.52 10 Équipe Québec 7.41 11 Shimano Cycling 7.43 12 Les Espoirs de Laval 8.03 13 Atlas Cold / Italpasta 12.31 14 Jet Fuel Coffe 12.39
