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Photo ©: Bettini

20th Tour de Beauce Bell - 2.2

Canada, June 14-19, 2005

Main Page    Results   Overall standings    Stage Details   Next Stage

Stage 1 - June 14: Saint-Georges - Saint-Georges, 169 km

Local lad comes good

By Matt Hansen in St Georges

Glen Chadwick (Team Cyclingnews)
Photo ©: Matt Hansen
Click for larger image

Following in the footsteps of a fellow Quebec cyclist Geneviève Jeanson (who two weeks ago won the Montreal World Cup), Martin Gilbert (Volkswagen-Trek) has shown up an international field, winning the first stage of the Tour de Beauce Bell.

Before the stage, former Canadian champion and 2002 USPRO championship winner Mark Walters said that his team was happy with the new changes to the event - meaning, the deletion of the Mont Megantic stage. "It's good for guys like me. Now the focus will be on the time trial - and I think the race will resemble a race like the Four Days of Dunkirk."

These sentiments were echoed by 2003 Beauce winner John Lieswyn (Health Net). "Yeah, still a tough race but I think the TT will be crucial. It's great to be back here." Tim Johnson, leading his Jittery Joe's team, was pleased to be back in his native (sort of) land. "Yeah, this is my pseudo-homeland," Johnson said, who's married to pro cyclist Lyne Bessette. "So I hope to do well here. It's always a tough race, and not one where you can sit in the peloton and relax. You've got to be focused and there's definitely no ‘home field advantage' for me here. But I'm stoked."

How it unfolded

Martin Gilbert (Volkswagen-Trek)
Photo ©: Tour de Beauce
Click for larger image

The 169km stage began in downtown St. Georges under grey skies and calm winds and with all eyes seemed to be on the two American squads, Navigators and Health Net, the pace was pedestrian in the first hour.

The action did get under way, sort of, with another Quebec rider, Jean Sebastien Beland, taking advantage of the slow pace. Subsequently, Tomasz Lesniak (Paged-MBK-Scout) rode away, followed shortly thereafter by cyclo-crosser Jiri Pospisil (Stevens). For a while, there was a strange-looking three man individual pursuit, with Béland content to ride all by himself, as Pospisil attempted to bridge. Finally, Lesniak decided to drop back to the group and Pospisil caught Béland. But it all came back for the first GPM where the wind and rain picked up and soon there was a flurry of attacks, with riders like Navigators Nathan O'Neill testing his legs in a few solo launches. After 80k ridden, the pack was together again; Sprinter Ivan Dominguez tried his hand, marked by Irish Champion David O'Loughlin, the latter of whom was definitely looking strong. The green and white Navigators man would be seen marking virtually all the moves, including the ultimate winning one.

Before the winning move broke, and with Health Net and Navigators marking each other (and the rest of the field happy to watch), it was Alexandre Cloutier (Trek-VW) who took advantage of the infighting, attacking hard with under a hundred km ridden. The pack took a breather, and in a few kilometres, the trackie/roadie had over three minutes advantage. Cloutier would stay solo for 20-odd kilometres, and his move paid off: The winning break of the day would form and join him at the 113km mark. In the move were some heavy hitters, including Lieswyn, Walters, Jeff Louder (Navigators) and O'Loughlin. Joining them were Domenico Passuello (Amore & Vita – Beretta), David Krupa and Przemyslaw Mikolajczyk (both Paged-MBK-Scout), Svein Tuft (Symmetrics), Dom Rollin (Quebec), Tom Barras (cyclingnews.com) and Thorben Wieditz (Le Yéti).

 

Nat Faulkner and Jeff Hansen (Italpasta)
Photo ©: Matt Hansen
Click for larger image

With most of the big teams represented, the pack seemed content to let it ride. A small counter with three Health Net riders eager to join Lieswyn seemed like it might make it up to the lead break, but that too was eventually caught. So it was up to Lieswyn, the sole Health Net rider - something he didn't exactly expect when he started the stage. "I didn't even think I'd make it past the five-mile mark. I arrived here late last night, 2:30am, and was still very sore in my hamstring that I pulled at Nature Valley. I didn't warm up and was happy that the race was slowgoing at the start. It took a few hours for me to even be able to sit on the seat properly."

It became clear that the 13-strong breakaway was the move of the day. Navigators, knowing that the advantage was theirs, made sure to drive the escape, which at one point had almost two-and-a-half minute advantage. But there was still one more rider to join the gang at the front. With only one Cyclingnews.com rider in the move (Tom Barras), Glen Chadwick took a flyer that initially seemed quite futile; the winning break was well up the road. But Chadwick persevered and by the 145th km, he joined the boys at the front.

The rolling hills toward the finish seemed to lend themselves to a few riders who might launch from the break - Navigators took full advantage of their numbers and sent one rider after another - but each time they were marked by the impressive Lieswyn. O'Loughlin showed his strength again with a fast chaseback after a bike change at kilometre 153. As the break came closer to St. Georges, and the finish, their gap started coming down. Health Net, knowing that one was not enough - even if it was their leader, took to the front, aided by the Canadian National team (who missed the break), and a lone Jittery Joe's rider.

The Navigators Colnagos
Photo ©: Matt Hansen
Click for larger image

As the break hit the final few corners of the race, it was clear that risk-taking might be in order to take the win - and Martin Gilbert gassed through the final corner, and seeing he had a gap - kept pushing hard for the final few hundred metres. "I jumped, and didn't know I even had a gap until I looked back. I felt good today but it was still a surprise. I'm really happy." His compatriot, Dom Rollin blasted in for second. "The Navigators guys seemed scared around the corners - I guess they don't want to crash, since they had their G.C. guys there. But Martin just hit it with two corners to go and held it. It's a great day for us."

Navigator's director sportif Ed Beamon was pleased with the day, despite not taking the stage. His team more or less drove the move, he explained, since toward the end half of the break wasn't co-operating. "Then we tried to set Mark up for the sprint, because he's got a fast kick, but yeah, maybe they got spooked a little there because they are thinking of the week as a whole. Martin really bombed through the corner and took a good win." What about Lieswyn? "Oh, he's definitely a threat with the TT later in the week. He was impressive following the moves, he looks strong even though he arrived here last night from Nature Valley."

Martin Gilbert (Volkswagen-Trek)
Photo ©: Tour de Beauce
Click for larger image

Lieswyn added that it was apropos that a rider on a local team took the stage. That also meant that neither Health Net nor Navigators needed to defend the lead tomorrow. "It's always tough to have to defend the race from the second stage, so I was more interested in safety, really. I just rolled in with the tail of the break."

The Tour de Beauce Bell continues tomorrow with a 180km stage in Lac-Etchemin.

Photography

For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here

Images by Matt Hansen/matthewhansen.net

Images by Tour de Beauce

Results

1 Martin Gilbert (Can) Volkswagen-Trek                       4.15.15 (39.72 km/h)
2 Dominique Rollin (Can) Equipe du Quebec                           
3 Domenico Passuello (Ita) Amore & Vita-Beretta-Polska              
4 Thorben Wieditz (Ger) Yeti                                        
5 Jeff Louder (USA) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team                
6 Tom Barras (GBr) Team Cyclingnews.com                             
7 Mark Walters (Can) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team              
8 Dawid Krupa (Pol) Paged - MBK - Scout                             
9 Svein Tuft (Can) Symmetrics Cycling                               
10 John Lieswyn (USA) Health Net presented by Maxxis                
11 Alexandre Cloutier (Can) Volkswagen-Trek                         
12 David O'Loughlin (Irl) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team     0.08
13 Glen Alan Chadwick (Aus) Team Cyclingnews.com                    
14 Przemyslaw Mikolajczyk (Pol) Paged - MBK - Scout             0.10
15 Vassili Davidenko (Rus) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team    0.57
16 Charles Dionne (Can) Canadian National Team                      
17 Ivan Dominguez (Cub) Health Net presented by Maxxis              
18 Kevin Lacombe (Can) Volkswagen-Trek                              
19 Adam Hodges Myerson (USA) Team Nerac.com Professional Cycling    
20 Pierre-Olivier Boily (Can) Equipe du Quebec                      
21 Alexandre Nadeau (Can) Equipe du Quebec                          
22 Mathieu Roy (Can) Equipe du Quebec                               
23 Greg Reain (Can) Stevens Racing Team                             
24 Evan Elken (USA) Jittery Joe's-Kalahari                          
25 Brandon Crichton* (Can) Italpasta - Belmire Transport      
26 Peter Sanowar (Can) Italpasta - Belmire Transport          
27 Craig Wilcox (USA) Jittery Joe's-Kalahari                        
28 Jacob Erker (Can) Symmetrics Cycling                             
29 Andrew Pinfold (Can) Symmetrics Cycling                          
30 Wojciech Kalemba (Pol) Paged - MBK - Scout                       
31 Finn Heitmann (Ger) Stevens Racing Team                          
32 Timothy Johnson (USA) Jittery Joe's-Kalahari                     
33 Jonathan Sundt (USA) Jittery Joe's-Kalahari                      
34 Krzysztof Mermer (Pol) Paged - MBK - Scout                       
35 Kimmo Kananen (Fin) Amore & Vita-Beretta-Polska                  
36 Philippe Abbott (Can) Canadian National Team                     
37 Andrew Randell (Can) Canadian National Team                      
38 Cesar Grajales (Col) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team           
39 Cameron Jennings (Aus) Team Cyclingnews.com                      
40 Oleg Grichkine (Rus) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team           
41 Bruno Langlois (Can) Jittery Joe's-Kalahari                      
42 Kacper Sowinski (Pol) Amore & Vita-Beretta-Polska                
43 Christian Meier (Can) Symmetrics Cycling                         
44 Tomasz Lesniak (Pol) Paged - MBK - Scout                         
45 Raphaël Tremblay (Can) Volkswagen-Trek                           
46 Dominique Perras (Can) Canadian National Team                    
47 Max Plaxton (Can) Canadian National Team                         
48 Mike Sayers (USA) Health Net presented by Maxxis                 
49 Eric Wohlberg (Can) Symmetrics Cycling                           
50 Jens Schwedler (Ger) Stevens Racing Team                         
51 Mike Jones (USA) Health Net presented by Maxxis                  
52 Cory Jay (Can) CRCA/Sakonnet Technology                          
53 Doug Ollerenshaw (USA) Health Net presented by Maxxis            
54 Peter Morse (Can) Yeti                                           
55 Richard Bowker (NZl) Italpasta - Belmire Transport         
56 Nat Faulkner (Can) Italpasta - Belmire Transport           
57 Alexandre Lavallée (Can) Volkswagen-Trek                         
58 Justin England (USA) Health Net presented by Maxxis              
59 Jean-François Laroche (Can) Equipe du Quebec                     
60 Bradley Fairall (Can) Symmetrics Cycling                         
61 Chris Isaac (Can) Italpasta - Belmire Transport            
62 Luc Dionne (Can) Yeti                                            
63 Nathan O'Neill (Aus) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team           
64 Jean-François Racine (Can) Equipe du Quebec                      
65 Chris Kuhl (USA) CRCA/Sakonnet Technology                        
66 Claudio Bartoli (Ita) Amore & Vita-Beretta-Polska                
67 Cory Lange (Can) Symmetrics Cycling                              
68 Sven De Weerdt (Bel) Team Cyclingnews.com                        
69 Jeffrey Hansen (Can) Italpasta - Belmire Transport         
70 Martin St-Laurent (Can) Volkswagen-Trek                          
71 Jamie Burrow (GBr) Amore & Vita-Beretta-Polska                   
72 Alex Richer (Can) Yeti                                           
73 Thaddeus Dulin (USA) Jittery Joe's-Kalahari                      
74 Leigh Palmer (Aus) Team Cyclingnews.com                          
75 Christian Heule (Swi) Stevens Racing Team                        
76 Jesse Lawler (USA) Jittery Joe's-Kalahari                        
77 Jean-Sébastien Maheu (Can) Volkswagen-Trek                       
78 Dustin Macburnie (Can) Yeti                                      
79 Jeremy Vennell (NZl) Team Cyclingnews.com                        
80 Kane Oakley (Aus) Team Cyclingnews.com                           
81 Peter Presslauer (Aut) Stevens Racing Team                       
82 Jean-Sébastien Béland (Can) Equipe du Quebec                10.34
83 Ryan Roth (Can) Canadian National Team                      19.10
84 Jonathan Swain (USA) CRCA/Sakonnet Technology               20.00
85 Zach Bell (Can) Canadian National Team                           
86 Lee Rosenthal (USA) CRCA/Sakonnet Technology                     
87 Alex Ferrero (USA) CRCA/Sakonnet Technology                      
88 Adam Mcclouine (Can) Yeti                                   21.47
89 Daniel Maclaren (Can) Italpasta - Belmire Transport        
90 Michael Norton (USA) Team Nerac.com Professional Cycling    24.08
91 John Hanson (USA) Team Nerac.com Professional Cycling            
92 Johny Hayes (USA) CRCA/Sakonnet Technology                       
93 Ari De Wilde (USA) Team Nerac.com Professional Cycling           
94 Jiri Pospisil (Cze) Stevens Racing Team                          
DNF Cody Powell (USA) Team Nerac.com Professional Cycling           
DNF Duncan Seko (Ken) Yeti                                          
 
General classification after stage 1
 
1 Martin Gilbert (Can) Volkswagen-Trek                       4.15.03
2 Dominique Rollin (Can) Equipe du Quebec                       0.06
3 Domenico Passuello (Ita) Amore & Vita-Beretta-Polska          0.09
4 Mark Walters (Can) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team          0.11
5 Thorben Wieditz (Ger) Yeti                                    0.13
6 Jeff Louder (USA) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team                
7 Tom Barras (GBr) Team Cyclingnews.com                             
8 Dawid Krupa (Pol) Paged - MBK - Scout                             
9 Svein Tuft (Can) Symmetrics Cycling                               
10 John Lieswyn (USA) Health Net presented by Maxxis                
11 Alexandre Cloutier (Can) Volkswagen-Trek                         
12 David O'Loughlin (Irl) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team     0.21
13 Glen Alan Chadwick (Aus) Team Cyclingnews.com                    
14 Przemyslaw Mikolajczyk (Pol) Paged - MBK - Scout             0.23
15 Jonathan Sundt (USA) Jittery Joe's-Kalahari                  1.09
16 Vassili Davidenko (Rus) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team    1.10
17 Charles Dionne (Can) Canadian National Team                      
18 Ivan Dominguez (Cub) Health Net presented by Maxxis              
19 Kevin Lacombe (Can) Volkswagen-Trek                              
20 Adam Hodges Myerson (USA) Team Nerac.com Professional Cycling    
21 Pierre-Olivier Boily (Can) Equipe du Quebec                      
22 Alexandre Nadeau (Can) Equipe du Quebec                          
23 Mathieu Roy (Can) Equipe du Quebec                               
24 Greg Reain (Can) Stevens Racing Team                             
25 Evan Elken (USA) Jittery Joe's-Kalahari                          
26 Brandon Crichton* (Can) Italpasta - Belmire Transport      
27 Peter Sanowar (Can) Italpasta - Belmire Transport          
28 Craig Wilcox (USA) Jittery Joe's-Kalahari                        
29 Jacob Erker (Can) Symmetrics Cycling                             
30 Wojciech Kalemba (Pol) Paged - MBK - Scout                       
31 Finn Heitmann (Ger) Stevens Racing Team                          
32 Timothy Johnson (USA) Jittery Joe's-Kalahari                     
33 Krzysztof Mermer (Pol) Paged - MBK - Scout                       
34 Kimmo Kananen (Fin) Amore & Vita-Beretta-Polska                  
35 Philippe Abbott (Can) Canadian National Team                     
36 Andrew Randell (Can) Canadian National Team                      
37 Cesar Grajales (Col) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team           
38 Cameron Jennings (Aus) Team Cyclingnews.com                      
39 Oleg Grichkine (Rus) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team           
40 Bruno Langlois (Can) Jittery Joe's-Kalahari                      
41 Kacper Sowinski (Pol) Amore & Vita-Beretta-Polska                
42 Christian Meier (Can) Symmetrics Cycling                         
43 Tomasz Lesniak (Pol) Paged - MBK - Scout                         
44 Raphaël Tremblay (Can) Volkswagen-Trek                           
45 Dominique Perras (Can) Canadian National Team                    
46 Max Plaxton (Can) Canadian National Team                         
47 Mike Sayers (USA) Health Net presented by Maxxis                 
48 Eric Wohlberg (Can) Symmetrics Cycling                           
49 Jens Schwedler (Ger) Stevens Racing Team                         
50 Mike Jones (USA) Health Net presented by Maxxis                  
51 Cory Jay (Can) CRCA/Sakonnet Technology                          
52 Doug Ollerenshaw (USA) Health Net presented by Maxxis            
53 Peter Morse (Can) Yeti                                           
54 Richard Bowker (NZl) Italpasta - Belmire Transport         
55 Nat Faulkner (Can) Italpasta - Belmire Transport           
56 Alexandre Lavallée (Can) Volkswagen-Trek                         
57 Justin England (USA) Health Net presented by Maxxis              
58 Jean-François Laroche (Can) Equipe du Quebec                     
59 Bradley Fairall (Can) Symmetrics Cycling                         
60 Chris Isaac (Can) Italpasta - Belmire Transport            
61 Luc Dionne (Can) Yeti                                            
62 Nathan O'Neill (Aus) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team           
63 Jean-François Racine (Can) Equipe du Quebec                      
64 Chris Kuhl (USA) CRCA/Sakonnet Technology                        
65 Claudio Bartoli (Ita) Amore & Vita-Beretta-Polska                
66 Cory Lange (Can) Symmetrics Cycling                              
67 Sven De Weerdt (Bel) Team Cyclingnews.com                        
68 Martin St-Laurent (Can) Volkswagen-Trek                          
69 Jamie Burrow (GBr) Amore & Vita-Beretta-Polska                   
70 Alex Richer (Can) Yeti                                           
71 Thaddeus Dulin (USA) Jittery Joe's-Kalahari                      
72 Leigh Palmer (Aus) Team Cyclingnews.com                          
73 Christian Heule (Swi) Stevens Racing Team                        
74 Jesse Lawler (USA) Jittery Joe's-Kalahari                        
75 Jean-Sébastien Maheu (Can) Volkswagen-Trek                       
76 Dustin Macburnie (Can) Yeti                                      
77 Jeremy Vennell (NZl) Team Cyclingnews.com                        
78 Kane Oakley (Aus) Team Cyclingnews.com                           
79 Peter Presslauer (Aut) Stevens Racing Team                       
80 Andrew Pinfold (Can) Symmetrics Cycling                      1.30
81 Jean-Sébastien Béland (Can) Equipe du Quebec                10.44
82 Ryan Roth (Can) Canadian National Team                      19.23
83 Jonathan Swain (USA) CRCA/Sakonnet Technology               20.13
84 Zach Bell (Can) Canadian National Team                           
85 Lee Rosenthal (USA) CRCA/Sakonnet Technology                     
86 Alex Ferrero (USA) CRCA/Sakonnet Technology                      
87 Adam Mcclouine (Can) Yeti                                   22.00
88 Daniel Maclaren (Can) Italpasta - Belmire Transport        
89 Jiri Pospisil (Cze) Stevens Racing Team                     24.19
90 Michael Norton (USA) Team Nerac.com Professional Cycling    24.21
91 John Hanson (USA) Team Nerac.com Professional Cycling            
92 Johny Hayes (USA) CRCA/Sakonnet Technology                       
93 Ari De Wilde (USA) Team Nerac.com Professional Cycling           
 
Points classification
 
1 Martin Gilbert (Can) Volkswagen-Trek                            18 pts
2 Dominique Rollin (Can) Equipe du Quebec                         15
3 Domenico Passuello (Ita) Amore & Vita-Beretta-Polska            13
4 Thorben Wieditz (Ger) Yeti                                      12
5 Jeff Louder (USA) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team             11
6 Mark Walters (Can) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team            11
7 Tom Barras (GBr) Team Cyclingnews.com                           10
8 Dawid Krupa (Pol) Paged - MBK - Scout                            8
9 Svein Tuft (Can) Symmetrics Cycling                              7
10 John Lieswyn (USA) Health Net presented by Maxxis               6
11 Alexandre Cloutier (Can) Volkswagen-Trek                        5
12 David O'Loughlin (Irl) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team        4
13 Jean-Sébastien Béland (Can) Equipe du Quebec                    3
14 Glen Alan Chadwick (Aus) Team Cyclingnews.com                   3
15 Przemyslaw Mikolajczyk (Pol) Paged - MBK - Scout                2
16 Jiri Pospisil (Cze) Stevens Racing Team                         2
17 Vassili Davidenko (Rus) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team       1
18 Jonathan Sundt (USA) Jittery Joe's-Kalahari                     1
 
Mountains classification
 
1 Jean-Sébastien Béland (Can) Equipe du Quebec                    10 pts
2 Jiri Pospisil (Cze) Stevens Racing Team                          8
3 Dawid Krupa (Pol) Paged - MBK - Scout                            7
4 Cesar Grajales (Col) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team           6
5 Dominique Rollin (Can) Equipe du Quebec                          5
6 Wojciech Kalemba (Pol) Paged - MBK - Scout                       5
7 Mike Jones (USA) Health Net presented by Maxxis                  4
8 John Lieswyn (USA) Health Net presented by Maxxis                3
9 Kacper Sowinski (Pol) Amore & Vita-Beretta-Polska                3
10 Mark Walters (Can) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team            2
11 Jeff Louder (USA) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team             2
12 Svein Tuft (Can) Symmetrics Cycling                             1
13 Chris Isaac (Can) Italpasta - Belmire Transport                 1
 
Teams classification
 
1 Navigators Insurance                                      12.45.56
2 Volkswagen Trek                                               0.49
3 Team Cyclingnews.com                                          0.57
4 Paged                                                         0.59
5 Equipe Du Quebec                                              1.46
6 Symmetrics Cycling                                            2.06
7 Health Net Presented By Maxxis                                1.46
8 Amore & Vita – Beretta                                            
9 Yeti                                                              
10 The Jittery Joe's - Kalahari                                 2.43
11 Canada National Team                                             
12 Stevens Racing                                                   
13 Italpasta - Transport Belmire C.C.                               
14 Crca/Sakonnet Techno                                        21.46
15 Team Nerac.Com                                              49.05


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