Recently on Cyclingnews.com |
 Dauphiné Libéré Photo ©: Sirotti |
Le Tour du Grand Montréal - 2.9.1
Canada, June 2-4, 2003
Main Page Results Previous Stage Next Stage
Stage 2 - June 3: Ville De Rigaud, 111 km
Le Floch Takes A Win, Neben Will Wear Yellow
By Kristy Scrymgeour
 |
Magalie Le Floch took a win today in the relentless road race that was the third stage of the Tour du Grand Montreal. In an effort to cover a break in defense of her teammate Genevieve Jeanson's yellow jersey, Le Floch followed the wheel of Lyne Bessette (Saturn) as she attacked to form the winning break.
The 111km race began on a beautiful, yet windy summer day in Rigaud, Quebec, and proceeded to circle around one hill, ascending it from every direction. Saturn took the reins early in the race when Manon Jutras attacked and powered out in front for at least 15 kilometers before being reeled in by the Rona team. Jessica Phillips (Saturn) immediately countered the move, then Amy Moore and a continual flow of Saturn attacks.
At 75km to go however, at the base of the steepest climb of the day the bunch was still together. Jeanson put the hurt on as she pushed the pace up the 18 percent grade. Bessette was able go with her, but behind gaps were forming and a swarm of T-Mobile riders were just off the wheel.
 |
By the top of the hill there were three riders together, with Jeanson taking the Grand Prix de Montagne from Bessette and Amber Neben (T-Mobile). On the descent a chasing group of eight was working hard to regain contact with the lead. T-Mobile doing the majority of the work, knowing that having six in a group of 13 were better odds than one in three. They managed to catch and a little later a second chase group also reached the leaders just as Kirstin Armstrong attacked the field.
Armstrong disappeared out of sight and gained 50 seconds on the field before Bessette, realizing an opportunity to bridge, attacked taking Amber Neben and Magalie Le Floch with her. The three quickly gained time on the field and caught Armstong with Bessette powering at the front, knowing that if this break stayed away, she had a good chance of taking the leaders jersey.
Le Floch was sitting on to defend her teammate Jeanson's overall lead, as was Neben. Jeanson started chasing hard behind but couldn't make a dent in the gap. Amstrong joined in at the front helping until the final climb with three kilometers to go, where she fell off the pace leaving it now up to Neben to finish the job for T-Mobile. Bessette though, was on a mission. For the entirety of the climb to the finish she motored, time trial style so that there was no chance of Jeanson catching the group. With no legs left to finish it off, Bessette saw Magalie Le Floch come around her to take the stage with Neben taking second place and the yellow jersey.
 |
Cyclingnews spoke with Bessette after the finish who was happy with her ride, even though the overall lead was not quite hers. "I felt good all the way except for that final sprint when I just couldn't go any harder. I was gapped on the line and lost a couple of seconds, so Neben has the jersey by two seconds. That is fine though, because two seconds is not a lot and we still have tomorrow to earn the lead. Today worked perfectly for us, the team worked so hard and it was a good day".
Neben was also pleased with her ride, but surprised that it earned her the overall lead. "I didn't know Lyne lost any time in the sprint." She told Cyclingnews. "But that's good news. It was a hard race but I felt good today, and in the break I had Kristin who told me to stop working so I could save myself for the finish. Lyne was powering away at the front and I was able to sit on and wait for the sprint. I still need practice at timing my sprints though. I thought the finish was steeper so I waited a little too long to come around and Magali was too quick for me."
The race finished with the promised Maple Syrup dinner and the sugar shack set in a beautiful log cabin in the woods.Unfortunately Nicole Cooke wasn't there to enjoy the dinner as she suffered a bad crash during the race today when she crashed into a motorcycle that was parked on the side of the road. She was taken to the hospital with a broken collarbone which will put some doubt on her returning in time to defend her World Cup lead.
Photos
Images by Kristy Scrymgeour/Cyclingnews.com
- Saturn on the attack - Jessica Phillips
- Jeanson doing some damage on the climb
- Jeanson, Bessette and Neben after climb
- Jeanson, Bessette and Neben
- The peleton through the fields
- The peloton riding through the fields
- Final Four: Amstrong, Neben, Bessette, Le Floch
- Lyne driving the pace
- Final three after Armstrong is dropped
- Armstrong getting caught by the peloton
- The final climb
- Almost at the top
- The finish in sight
- Le Floch talks to Cyclingnews
- Neben surprised to take the yellow jersey
- Armstrong happy after a hard day
- Newsted still smiling after a crash
- A happy Bessette talks to reporters
- The happy winner
- Dinner at the Sugar Shack
- Marsal and Jeanson enjoy the Sugar Shack
Results
1 Magali Le Floch (Fra) Rona - Esker 2.54.31 2 Amber Neben (USA) T-Mobile 3 Lyne Bessette (Can) Saturn Cycling Team 0.03 4 Susan Palmer-Komar (Can) Genesis Scuba/FFCC 0.34 5 Regina Schleicher (Ger) German National Team 6 Meredith Miller (USA) S.A.T.S. 7 Katia Longhin (Ita) Acca Due O Pasta 8 Barbara Heeb (Swi) Swiss Cycling Team 9 Deirdre Demet-Barry (USA) T-Mobile 10 Tina Liebig (Ger) German National Team 11 Heather Albert (USA) Basis Women's Cycling Team 12 Katie Mactier (Aus) Saturn Cycling Team 13 Theresa Senff (Ger) German National Team 14 Diana Ziliute (Ltu) Acca Due O Pasta 15 Geneviève Jeanson (Can) Rona - Esker 16 Trine Hansen (Den) S.A.T.S. 17 Miho Oki (Jpn) Japan National 18 Kimberly Bruckner (USA) T-Mobile 19 Sarah Grab (Swi) Swiss Cycling Team 20 Amy More (Can) Saturn Cycling Team 21 Rachel Heal (GBr) Great Britain National Team 22 Leah Goldstein (Isr) Victory Brewing/Amoroso's 23 Manon Jutras (Can) Saturn Cycling Team 24 Frances Newstead (GBr) Great Britain National Team 25 Christina Peick-Anderson (Den) S.A.T.S. 26 Liane Bahler (Ger) German National Team 27 Kimberly Anderson (USA) T-Mobile 28 Kristin Armstrong (USA) T-Mobile 29 Nicole Demars (Can) Victory Brewing/Amoroso's 30 Chantal Beltman (Ned) Acca Due O Pasta 1.11 31 Claudia Stumpf (Ger) German National Team 32 Annette Beutler (Swi) Swiss Cycling Team 1.48 33 Isabella Wieser (Aut) Charly Lietzsport 34 Karen Bockel (Ger) Rona - Esker 35 Bettina Kuhn (Swi) Swiss Cycling Team 1.50 36 Stacey Peters (USA) T-Mobile 37 Sarah Düster (Ger) German National Team 38 Grace Fleury (USA) Genesis Scuba/FFCC 3.29 39 Ayumu Otsuka (Jpn) Japan National 5.29 40 Erinne Willock (Can) Rona - Esker 41 Anne Wagner (Den) S.A.T.S. 42 Iona Wynter (Jam) Genesis Scuba/FFCC 43 Hiroko Shimada (Jpn) Japan National 6.09 44 Sabine Batz (Ger) Charly Lietzsport 45 Giorgia Bronzini (Ita) Ausra Gruodis - Safi 46 Candice Blickem (USA) Genesis Scuba/FFCC 47 Audrey Lemieux (Can) Équipe Nationale du Canada 48 Julie Hutsebaut (Can) Équipe Nationale du Canada 49 Gina Grain (Can) Victory Brewing/Amoroso's 50 Catherine Marsal (Fra) Rona - Esker 51 Nicole Freedman (USA) Basis Women's Cycling Team 52 Maggie Shirley (USA) Genesis Scuba/FFCC 53 Charlotte Goldsmith (GBr) Great Britain National Team 54 Anne Samplonius (Can) Équipe Québec 7.43 55 Jessica Phillips (USA) Saturn Cycling Team 56 Erin Carter (Can) Équipe Nationale du Canada 7.58 57 Catherine Bearce (USA) Basis Women's Cycling Team 10.18 58 Petra Pilz (Aut) Charly Lietzsport 15.57 59 Geneviève Leblanc (Can) Équipe Nationale du Canada 16.18 60 Claudia Meyer (Ger) Charly Lietzsport 16.21 61 Sophie St-Jacques (Can) Victory Brewing/Amoroso's 22.16 62 Lauren Franges (USA) Victory Brewing/Amoroso's 22.19 63 Julia Bradley (Can) Team Ontario 27.29 64 Caroline L'heureux (Can) Équipe Québec 65 Barbara Brzezicki (Can) Team Ontario 27.33 66 Ann-Marie Miller (USA) Verizon Wireless-Cervélo 67 Jessica Hulser (USA) S.A.T.S. 68 Yvonne Ilton (USA) Verizon Wireless-Cervélo 69 Penny Edwards (GBr) Great Britain National Team 70 Sara Waller (GBr) Great Britain National Team 71 Diana Rast (Swi) Swiss Cycling Team 72 Melissa Holt (NZl) Rona - Esker 73 Élisa Gagnon (Can) Équipe Québec 27.39 74 Karin Wieser (Aut) Charly Lietzsport 75 Lauren Gaffney (USA) Basis Women's Cycling Team 29.10 76 Francesca Pellegrini (Ita) Ausra Gruodis - Safi 33.19 77 Rochelle Gilmore (Aus) Ausra Gruodis - Safi HD Julie Belanger (Can) Équipe Nationale du Canada HD Sophie Blanchette (Can) Équipe Québec HD Geneviève Gagnon (Can) Équipe Québec DNF Sandy Espeseth (Can) Victory Brewing/Amoroso's DNF Clara Constantinescu (Rom) Genesis Scuba/FFCC DNF Stéphanie Bourbeau (Can) Équipe Québec DNF Julie Monagle (USA) Verizon Wireless-Cervélo DNF Nicole Cooke (GBr) Ausra Gruodis - Safi DNF Sarah Foulkes (USA) Verizon Wireless-Cervélo DNS Magalie Boulay (Can) Équipe Nationale du Canada General classification after stage 2 1 Amber Neben (USA) T-Mobile 4.09.40 2 Lyne Bessette (Can) Saturn Cycling Team 0.02 3 Magali Le Floch (Fra) Rona - Esker 0.13 4 Diana Ziliute (Ltu) Acca Due O Pasta 0.30 5 Geneviève Jeanson (Can) Rona - Esker 0.32 6 Katie Mactier (Aus) Saturn Cycling Team 0.36 7 Manon Jutras (Can) Saturn Cycling Team 8 Deirdre Demet-Barry (USA) T-Mobile 0.42 9 Susan Palmer-Komar (Can) Genesis Scuba/FFCC 0.44 10 Kimberly Bruckner (USA) T-Mobile 0.45 11 Amy More (Can) Saturn Cycling Team 0.46 12 Kristin Armstrong (USA) T-Mobile 0.47 13 Leah Goldstein (Isr) Victory Brewing/Amoroso's 0.50 14 Kimberly Anderson (USA) T-Mobile 15 Frances Newstead (GBr) Great Britain National Team 16 Nicole Demars (Can) Victory Brewing/Amoroso's 0.52 17 Sarah Grab (Swi) Swiss Cycling Team 0.54 18 Barbara Heeb (Swi) Swiss Cycling Team 19 Miho Oki (Jpn) Japan National 0.55 20 Katia Longhin (Ita) Acca Due O Pasta 21 Liane Bahler (Ger) German National Team 0.56 22 Heather Albert (USA) Basis Women's Cycling Team 0.57 23 Meredith Miller (USA) S.A.T.S. 0.59 24 Rachel Heal (GBr) Great Britain National Team 1.00 25 Trine Hansen (Den) S.A.T.S. 1.01 26 Theresa Senff (Ger) German National Team 27 Tina Liebig (Ger) German National Team 28 Regina Schleicher (Ger) German National Team 1.13 29 Chantal Beltman (Ned) Acca Due O Pasta 1.28 30 Claudia Stumpf (Ger) German National Team 1.37 31 Karen Bockel (Ger) Rona - Esker 1.57 32 Stacey Peters (USA) T-Mobile 2.07 33 Annette Beutler (Swi) Swiss Cycling Team 2.09 34 Isabella Wieser (Aut) Charly Lietzsport 2.12 35 Bettina Kuhn (Swi) Swiss Cycling Team 2.19 36 Christina Peick-Anderson (Den) S.A.T.S. 3.20 37 Grace Fleury (USA) Genesis Scuba/FFCC 3.46 38 Sarah Düster (Ger) German National Team 4.30 39 Erinne Willock (Can) Rona - Esker 5.48 40 Iona Wynter (Jam) Genesis Scuba/FFCC 41 Ayumu Otsuka (Jpn) Japan National 5.51 42 Anne Wagner (Den) S.A.T.S. 6.16 43 Candice Blickem (USA) Genesis Scuba/FFCC 6.19 44 Gina Grain (Can) Victory Brewing/Amoroso's 6.23 45 Catherine Marsal (Fra) Rona - Esker 46 Nicole Freedman (USA) Basis Women's Cycling Team 6.28 47 Audrey Lemieux (Can) Équipe Nationale du Canada 6.29 48 Sabine Batz (Ger) Charly Lietzsport 6.33 49 Giorgia Bronzini (Ita) Ausra Gruodis - Safi 6.34 50 Julie Hutsebaut (Can) Équipe Nationale du Canada 6.36 51 Charlotte Goldsmith (GBr) Great Britain National Team 6.40 52 Anne Samplonius (Can) Équipe Québec 7.54 53 Jessica Phillips (USA) Saturn Cycling Team 8.00 54 Erin Carter (Can) Équipe Nationale du Canada 8.07 55 Maggie Shirley (USA) Genesis Scuba/FFCC 8.30 56 Hiroko Shimada (Jpn) Japan National 8.43 57 Catherine Bearce (USA) Basis Women's Cycling Team 12.46 58 Claudia Meyer (Ger) Charly Lietzsport 16.45 59 Geneviève Leblanc (Can) Équipe Nationale du Canada 17.23 60 Petra Pilz (Aut) Charly Lietzsport 18.41 61 Lauren Franges (USA) Victory Brewing/Amoroso's 22.51 62 Sophie St-Jacques (Can) Victory Brewing/Amoroso's 25.00 63 Melissa Holt (NZl) Rona - Esker 27.48 64 Jessica Hulser (USA) S.A.T.S. 27.52 65 Diana Rast (Swi) Swiss Cycling Team 27.56 66 Yvonne Ilton (USA) Verizon Wireless-Cervélo 28.00 67 Sara Waller (GBr) Great Britain National Team 28.02 68 Caroline L'heureux (Can) Équipe Québec 28.13 69 Élisa Gagnon (Can) Équipe Québec 28.49 70 Julia Bradley (Can) Team Ontario 29.59 71 Penny Edwards (GBr) Great Britain National Team 30.09 72 Ann-Marie Miller (USA) Verizon Wireless-Cervélo 30.13 73 Karin Wieser (Aut) Charly Lietzsport 30.14 74 Lauren Gaffney (USA) Basis Women's Cycling Team 31.55 75 Rochelle Gilmore (Aus) Ausra Gruodis - Safi 33.48 76 Barbara Brzezicki (Can) Team Ontario 34.05 77 Francesca Pellegrini (Ita) Ausra Gruodis - Safi 36.17 Points classification 1 Gina Grain (Can) Victory Brewing/Amoroso's 18 pts 2 Diana Ziliute (Ltu) Acca Due O Pasta 18 3 Magali Le Floch (Fra) Rona - Esker 10 4 Amber Neben (USA) T-Mobile 7 5 Miho Oki (Jpn) Japan National 6 6 Anne Wagner (Den) S.A.T.S. 5 7 Manon Jutras (Can) Saturn Cycling Team 5 8 Erin Carter (Can) Équipe Nationale du Canada 5 9 Lyne Bessette (Can) Saturn Cycling Team 5 10 Nicole Demars (Can) Victory Brewing/Amoroso's 4 11 Annette Beutler (Swi) Swiss Cycling Team 4 12 Katia Longhin (Ita) Acca Due O Pasta 4 13 Susan Palmer-Komar (Can) Genesis Scuba/FFCC 3 14 Isabella Wieser (Aut) Charly Lietzsport 2 15 Anne Samplonius (Can) Équipe Québec 1 16 Regina Schleicher (Ger) German National Team 1 Mountains classification 1 Geneviève Jeanson (Can) Rona - Esker 12 pts 2 Lyne Bessette (Can) Saturn Cycling Team 7 3 Nicole Cooke (GBr) Ausra Gruodis - Safi 6 4 Barbara Heeb (Swi) Swiss Cycling Team 5 5 Amber Neben (USA) T-Mobile 2 6 Susan Palmer-Komar (Can) Genesis Scuba/FFCC 1
