Tyler Stites attacks in final kilometres to win stage 1 of Tour de Beauce

Tyler Stites (Project Echelon) claimed the first win of the Tour de Beauce on Wednesday, capturing stage 1 of the UCI 2.2 ranked Canadian five-day race with a late attack.

After an aggressive opening day of racing, where the peloton allowed little room to the many riders who tried to break away, it was the American's move in the final three kilometres that won the day with Stites finishing solo. He was six seconds ahead of fellow US rider Ross Kent (Expeditors Elite CT) and in third it was Gregory Santiago Zapata (Québec), with the 22-year-old also claiming the lead in the youth classification.

Stites last year finished second overall at the Tour de Beauce behind Luke Valenti, winning two stages along the way and on top of that he entered the race this year on a strong run of form. 

So far this season Stites has won the Rhodes Grand Prix, the Redlands Classic overall, while also picking up two stages along the way, and he also claimed the Tour of the Gila overall and a stage. On top of that, he came second to Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) at the time trial at the USA Cycling National Championships and the 26-year-old is not long returned from a short European block where he delivered a top ten finish in the stage 4 sprint at the 2.Pro-ranked Tour of Norway.

Claiming the 198km opening stage which started and finished in Saint-Gédéon may have been the ideal start for Stites as he looks to move up to the top step at this year's five stage 725 kilometre Tour de Beauce, but it was a tough beginning to the 36th edition of the race for many others. There were several falls, one involving around 20 riders, and eleven riders were marked down as DNF (did not finish) at the end of the opening stage.

The race continues on Thursday with a rugged 164km stage from Saint-Odilon-de-Cranbourne which will take the peloton to the north side of the Massif du Sud.

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