Tour de Beauce: Matisse Julien holds off Tyler Stites for stage 1 win

Matisse Julien (Team Ecoflo Chronos) won stage 1 of Tour de Beauce on Wednesday, taking the first yellow leader’s jersey at the finish on the stiff uphill finish to Notre-Dame-des-Pins. 

USA’s Tyler Stites (Project Echelon Racing) placed second, and Olivier Péloquin (Cannondale Echelon p/b 4iiii) took third to give Canada two riders on the podium. 

A late breakaway of two riders, William Goodfellow (Yoeleo Factory) and Evan Russell (Cycling BC) escaped on the third classified climb with 50km remaining in the 143km route. Russell later broke clear for a valiant solo effort and remained out front with 4km to go. He could not hold off the big climbers on the final 1.2km climb, and his hopes of a victory faded inside 150 metres to the line.

It was the second stage win of the season for the 20-year-old Julien, who won the opening stage earlier in June at Ronde de I’Oise.

How it unfolded

The opening stage of the four-day UCI 2.2 stage race set off from Saint-Georges and followed the Chaudière River for 18.5 flat kilometres. The first of two intermediate sprints were positioned on the bridge over the waterway, just 6.6km from the start, won by Philippe Jacob (Team Ecoflo Chronos). 

Once on the climbing circuit, Oliver Dowd (UNC) and Ethan Pauly (Cycling BC) had a 2:30 advantage on the peloton. Pauly accelerated to ride alone on the first of a trio of ascents of Côte St-Séverin on a 15km loop, and Dowd lost touch with a mechanical.

The solo lead faded before the second KOM with 74.4km to race, with attacks flying and Robin Fischer (Team Storck) taking top KOM points. A solid surge by Goodfellow and Russell stuck, and they took the points on the final ascent of St-Séverin, along with a gap of almost a full minute. The duo gained another 25 seconds as they headed to the return along the river. 

On the pass across the St-Joseph bridge over the river, a sharp left steered the duo to the 25km approach to the 1.2km climb finale, with an average gradient of 6.5%. Goodfellow faded back into the chasing peloton, and Russell was swept up just before the finish.

Now in its 35th edition, the Tour de Beauce returned after a three-year pause, taking place June 14-18 this year. Stage 2 on Thursday is a 169km loop with three intermediate sprints and three classified climbs that ends in Saint-Odilon-de-Cranbourne.

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