De Maar makes it two at Beauce

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Marc de Maar (UnitedHealthcare p/b Maxxis) rode with fury to his second solo stage victory on the streets of Quebec City, stage five of the Tour de Beauce.

The Dutchman attributed his race win to the lingering anger he had over a debacle with race officials who forced him to adjust his saddle into an uncomfortable position at the previous day's time trial, where he subsequently lost the leader's jersey.

"This win is for the commissaire for yesterday," said De Maar. "I felt angry and wanted to make a point. Yesterday the commissaire was making problems about my seat and I had to change it before the start. I never heard of this issue before and I have had this saddle a couple of years now, it was ridiculous. Perhaps I will give my podium flowers to that commissaire too."

De Maar made his winning attack with 800 metres to go and held it to the line by a slim margin ahead of Javier Megias (Team Type 1) in second place and teammate Morgan Schmitt in third place.

"I closed a couple of final attacks and it was a difficult moment," explained De Maar. "It was an instinct. I'm used to hard races like this and this is what I am good in. Everyone was paying attention to the part of the course right after the climb and that is where I went. It was a fun course, lots of corners, up and down, very nice race."

Ben Day (Fly V Australia) maintained his lead in the general classification after one of the toughest stages of the six-day race. The Australian is confident his teammates can help him bring home his second Tour de Beauce title upon the event's conclusion at the sixth and final stage in Saint-Georges de Beauce on Sunday.

"My boys once again proved that they are one of the strongest teams in the country and we are really looking forward to going to Europe next year," said Day. "It is amazing what my guys can do when we they work collectively. It is amazing the love that we have for one another. They really go out there and die for each other."

Charm of Old Quebec City on the climb

Some 100 riders remained in the peloton for the fifth stage of the Tour de Beauce. The men lined up on the streets of the 402-year-old Quebec City to take on eleven laps of a highly technical and dauntingly difficult 11.6 km circuit that wound its way through some of the most beautiful and historical locations in all of Canada.

The event was used as a test run for the upcoming, inaugural ProTour one-day race that will be held on September 10, followed by a second event held in Montreal on September 12. Race officials allowed for one full neutral lap for the peloton to adjust to its technically demanding features that included very narrow roads and several tight twists and turns through steep ascents and descents .

The field set off on the second lap along the Rue Saint Louis and descended through the scenic Parc des Champs de Bataille (The Battle of the Plains of Abraham), an historical battle site between the English and French on September 13, 1759, resulting in a decisive British victory which decided that North America would be English-speaking.

Riders wrapped around the Cote Gilmore and traced the St Lawrence River toward the walls of Old Quebec City for the circuit's steep one-kilometre climb that wound its way passed one of the historical Canadian-Pacific hotels Le Chateau Frontenac.

An early breakaway escaped over the ascent that included Andrew Pinfold in pursuit of the sprint points offered the next time through the start finish line. His companions included teammate Max Jenkins, Chris Barton (BMC Racing), Chris Jones (Team Type 1), Lucas Euser (SpiderTech p/b Maxxis), Nathan O'Neill (Bahati Foundation) and Hector Gonzalez (Heraklio-Murcia).

The narrow roads continued to twist and turn before passing in and out of the walled city through the doors to the city - Porte St Jean and Porte St Louis - before heading back to the start finish line where Pinfold captured full sprint points. His effort was not enough to outdo the current overall race leader Ben Day who is also leading the points classification.

Jones and Gonzalez continued onward and their companions were reabsorbed into the peloton. The pair were joined by Danny Summerhill (Holowesko Partners) and the trio set sail on what turned into a lengthy nine-lap venture. They worked hard for a mere two-minute margin ahead of a field led by Fly V Australia.

"The boys got themselves into a good rhythm and I didn't want to upset that," Day said. "Chris Jones was up there and that was a bit of a worry but we had safety in numbers and were able to bring a lot of time back coming into the finish."

Lucas Euser (SpiderTech p/b Planet Energy) and Chad Beyer (BMC Racing) bridge across to the breakaway on the sixth lap, later joined by Jamie Sparling (Team Canada) on the eighth lap to form a seven-rider move. They dangled approximately one minute ahead during the closing laps. Summerhill won all three available King of the Mountain sprints and moved into the lead of the event's Best Climber competition.

"I wasn't expecting the jersey but I was definitely hoping for it," Summerhill said. "I hope I can last one more day. The climb was hard. They did a good job of creating the course because it was challenging, a lot going on and gave us points to rest. Some of the guys were going after the jersey today and there were a few in contention for it. It made me a bit worried and hopefully I can last one more day and really take it home tomorrow."

With one lap to go, Fly V Australia maintained a seven-man train that reduced the gap steadily down to ten seconds. As Beyer fell off pace his teammate Jeff Louder bridged across. His efforts were fruitless as the breakaway was reabsorbed back into the peloton with half lap to the finish line.

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