Mancebo wins opening stage at Tour de Beauce

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Francisco Mancebo (Competitive Cyclist Racing Team) got off to a good start Tuesday in his bid to repeat his 2011 Tour de Beauce victory by winning this year's opening stage after a chaotic final five kilometres marked by a dangerous breakaway and two crashes.

Mancebo crossed the line just two bike lengths ahead of a 15-rider chase group headed by Ryan Roth (Team SpiderTech powered by C10) and Matthias Friedemann (Champion System Pro Cycling Team), but he picked up a 10-second time bonus and the overall lead.

"I wasn't very good (at the beginning of the stage) today," said Mancebo after the finish, adding that he was happy with how strong he felt in the finale. But he isn't making any claims on the overall win until Thursday's stage to the top of Mont-Mégantic. "Ten seconds is nothing for the GC."

As Mancebo celebrated at the finish line, Amgen Tour of California KOM winner Sebastian Salas (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) was picking himself up off the ground after going down with 500m to go. Salas, Mancebo and Rory Sutherland (UnitedHealthCare) had broken clear of the pack with less than five kilometres to go and were just being caught by the peloton when the crash happened.

"I hit a hole and hit Rory's back wheel," said Salas, who was scraped up but otherwise unhurt, and is happy with his form after taking a break following the Tour of California. "It felt good to be up there with Rory and Mancebo."

"This is an interesting start to the race," added Competitive Cyclist director Gord Fraser.

The day's first breakaway went surprisingly early on the 162km rolling stage that started and finished in Lac-Etchemin. After a short burst of attacks from the 109-strong peloton, three riders went clear: Ken Hanson (Optum p/ Kelly Benefit Strategies), Flavio de Luna (SpiderTech p/b C10) and David Williams (Competitive Cyclist Racing Team). The peloton immediately sat up and the break's lead ballooned to more than nine minutes after 30km, at which point UnitedHealthCare and Team Type 1-Sanofi started riding tempo behind.

"I was in position and I just went," said Hanson, who hadn't been assigned the role of covering the early breakaways. "I wasn't expecting the breakaway to form that early."

The break's lead was still more than six minutes at the first KOM sprint after 60km, which was won by Hanson ahead of De Luna and Williams.

"The important thing was that we were represented in the break so we didn't have to do the work," said Competitive Cyclist director Fraser.

The gap continued to drop gradually until Orica-GreenEdge rider Christian Meier – riding for the Canadian national team – decided to test his legs, and by the second KOM the peloton was just two minutes behind the leading trio, who became two as Hanson dropped back.

It wasn't long before the chasers could see the break on the straight, rolling roads, but they let the pair dangle out front until 17km to go when the escape was finally absorbed. Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies then began forcing the pace over the final rollers leading into the finish, but it was Davide Frattini of United Healthcare who launched the first attack, which was countered by his teammate Rory Sutherland, Sebastian Salas (Optum p/b Kelly Benefits) and Francisco Mancebo (Competitive Cyclist Racing Team).

Over the crest of the final hill with four kilometres to go they were 15 seconds clear, but the run to the finish was all downhill and the peloton quickly closed the gap. Mancebo continued to drive towards the finish while Salas ran into Sutherland's back wheel and crashed just as they were caught by the pack.

A second crash took down several riders, including Hugo Houle (SpiderTech p/b C10) and Nic Hamilton (Canada), though there were no serious injuries.

Wednesday's 160km stage around Thetford Mines is likely to finish in a sprint, though Hanson – a sprinter – finds himself in the unusual position of wearing the KOM leader's polka dot jersey, while climber De Luna will wear the best young rider's jersey. As for the Competitive Cyclist Racing Team, they say they will ride to defend Mancebo's jersey but don't expect stage 2 to have a major effect on the overall.

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