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20th Tour de Beauce Bell - 2.2
Canada, June 14-19, 2005
Main Page Results Overall standings Stage Details Previous Stage
Stage 6 - June 19: Saint-Georges urban circuit, 132 km
Ollerenshaw finally gets one, O'Neill takes overall
By Matt Hansen in St. Georges
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The Tour de Beauce Bell finished up today with a tough circuit race through the streets of St. Georges. Health Net's Doug Ollerenshaw took the stage, a tough 11km loop, with Nathan O'Neill finishing in the small 23-man field, keeping his yellow jersey over Svein Tuft of Symmetrics.
With just 12 seconds separating Navigators' Nathan O'Neill and Symmetrics' Svein Tuft, there appeared, at least on paper, a possibility for Canadians to have a home turf winner. Tuft, having won this very stage a few years ago, had made it known he would go down swinging. "We will ride aggressively and smart, take advantage of the different situations that might present ourselves, and see if we can't take it back. Like Eric Wohlberg said a few days ago, [alluding to the possibility of Tuft taking the jersey after the TT, and having to defend the lead] the best time to take a leader's jersey in a stage race is 500 metres to go on the last stage."
Although Navigators had the overall lead, they also wore the points jersey and had a rider - Jeff Louder - within striking distance of the podium. Would they settle for just the overall, or was there more on the line for the blue men? "The bottom line is to keep the yellow and win the race overall. If we can move Jeff Louder into third or keep the points jersey, fine, but first and foremost we want to win the race."
How it unfolded
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In the earlygoing, a breakaway formed that seemed like it might have the legs to stay away the whole day, especially if the dwindling field were more concerned with the overall. In that move was yesterday's hero, Charles Dionne (Canada), Tim Johnson (Jittery Joe's-Kalahari) - who may have been spurred on to get a stage win with his wife, Lyne Bessette in attendance, Przemyslaw Mikolajczyk (Paged-MBK-Scout), and the young rider jersey winner Brandon Crichton (Italpasta-Belmire Transport). Jean-Sebastien Maheu (VW-Trek) was also in the move initially, but was dropped as the race progressed. Navigators patrolled the front and the gap grew to just over a minute.
By the tenth lap, with the pack shrinking to under 30 riders, a few more riders bridged up, including Mark Walters (Navigators), John Lieswyn, Justin England (both Health Net) and Canadian Dominique Perras. Perras, who had ridden aggressively all week, seemed hungry for a win to end the week well. But with a few dangermen up the road from Health Net, Navigators went to the front and soon, the pack was together again, despite Bessette pleading from the side of the road, "Hey! Don't chase my husband!"
Ollerenshaw, who definitely was showing the field he had good legs, countered and had a brief lead with Jittery Joes-Kalarahi's Bruno Langlois. But it came back again, with Perras launching once more up the field. Perras managed to get just under a half minute on the field and appeared to be quite capable of taking the win. The lean Canadian climber powered over the steep climb and powered down the short, twisty descent that led to the finish. As Perras soloed ahead, three riders bridged up. Cyclingnews.com's Jennings, Paged's Krzysztof Mermer (Paged - Mbk - Scout) and...Ollerenshaw.
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On the final lap, it became clear that the winner would come from the group of four. Ollerenshaw, who had been riding extremely well up the climbs, ironically, would go on the downhill. "Jeff Corbett [Health Net Director Sportif] told me to attack on the climb, but I didn't know if I could last that long," Ollerenshaw explained. "I had been riding the downhill well...I found a good line and I could get a gap there. It was on one of the last downhill corners...I just killed it and got a gap and put it in the 11 and just went as hard as I could for the last 3km."
For Symmetrics, the dream of retaking the jersey was not to be. "We tried a bunch of times but Navigators was just too strong today. Walters was really impressive, covering moves and it seemed like there were some other guys helping them out. And plus, I'm still pretty tired. It really took a lot out of me after the TT."
For Tuft, who quit cycling a little over a year ago after a few years on Prime Alliance, the renaissance might not have been had Symmetrics not have existed. "It's a great team and it was such a good opportunity with some great guys, and from British Columbia, where I'm from. All the guys are my friends and we do a good mix of races. Sometimes doing just the NRC races can burn you out, so I'm having a great time this year and am enjoying all the trips we do."
The signs of the day, and the week, were obvious: 25 riders were in what remained of the peloton, and only 42 riders were classified as finishers for the entire tour. After a week of rain, winds, epic stages and close finishes, the Tour de Beauce Bell wrapped up with O'Neill taking a well-deserved win.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Matt Hansen/http://7thgroove.com/~hansen/new/
- Tim Johnson's biggest fan, Lyne Bessette was watching the race
- The climb
- Brandon Crichton (Italpasta - Belmire Transport) before the stage
- Svein Tuft (Symmetrics) contemplates the day ahead
- Health Net relax before the last stage
- David O'Loughlin and Mark Walters (Navigators) looking pretty happy in the sun before the last stage
- Nathan O'Neill (Navigators) ready to defend his yellow jersey
Images by Anthony Rancourt
- Wojciech Kalemba (Paged-Mbk-Scout) took the mountains jersey overall
- The start of the final stage bathed in sunshine
- Alexandre Nadeau (Equipe du Quebec) in the pack on stage 6
- Jeff Louder (Navigators) gets out of the saddle on teh final stage
- Tim Johnson (Jittery Joe's) and Charles Dionne (Canadian National Team) ride safely in the bunch on stage 6
- Jittery Joe's had a quiet week in Canada
- Brandon Crichton and Tim Johnson riding together on stage 6
- Krzysztof Mermer (Paged-Mbk-Scout) and Tim Johnson (Jittery Joe's)
- The pack heads uphill on stage 6
- The break worked hard to stay away
- David O'Loughlin (Navigators) finished the stage in 14th
- David O'Loughlin (Navigators) leads his teammates during stage 6
- Doug Ollerenshaw (Health Net) wins stage 6
- Overall winner Nathan O'Neill (Navigators) relaxes post-stage
- Who's a happy camper, then? Nathan O'Neill can smile after winning the Tour de Beauce Bell
- Teammate Oleg Grichkine congratulates O'Neill on a job well done
- The stage podium: (l-r) Cameron Jenings (Team Cyclingnews), Doug Ollerenshaw (Health Net) and Krzysztof Mermer (Paged-Mbk-Scout)
- Navigators men Jeff Louder and Nathan O'Neill celebrate a great week in Canada
- Let 'er rip! Nathan O'Neill (Navigators) celebrates his overall win
- It's time to get down... as the celebrations begin for the Navigators Insurance team
- Some flowers for the winner... who will they be given too?
Results
1 Doug Ollerenshaw (USA) Health Net pb Maxxis 3.26.39 2 Cameron Jennings (Aus) Team Cyclingnews.com 0.19 3 Krzysztof Mermer (Pol) Paged-Mbk-Scout 4 Dominique Perras (Can) Canadian National Team 0.22 5 Mike Jones (USA) Health Net pb Maxxis 0.41 6 Kacper Sowinski (Pol) Amore & Vita-Beretta-Polska 7 Finn Heitmann (Ger) Stevens Racing Team 8 Cory Lange (Can) Symmetrics 9 Charles Dionne (Can) Canadian National Team 10 Bruno Langlois (Can) Jittery Joe's-Kalahari 11 Christian Meier (Can) Symmetrics 12 Wojciech Kalemba (Pol) Paged-Mbk-Scout 13 Mark Walters (Can) Navigators Insurance 14 Sven De Weerdt (Bel) Team Cyclingnews.com 15 Dawid Krupa (Pol) Paged-Mbk-Scout 16 Jamie Burrow (GBr) Amore & Vita-Beretta-Polska 17 Nat Faulkner (Can) Italpasta - Belmire Transport 18 Jeff Louder (USA) Navigators Insurance 19 Timothy Johnson (USA) Jittery Joe's-Kalahari 20 Nathan O'Neill (Aus) Navigators Insurance 21 Svein Tuft (Can) Symmetrics 22 Chris Isaac (Can) Italpasta - Belmire Transport 23 Martin Gilbert (Can) Volkswagen-Trek 24 John Lieswyn (USA) Health Net pb Maxxis 25 Glen Alan Chadwick (Aus) Team Cyclingnews.com 26 Justin England (USA) Health Net pb Maxxis 27 Max Plaxton (Can) Canadian National Team 28 Kimmo Kananen (Fin) Amore & Vita-Beretta-Polska 29 Brandon Crichton (Can) Italpasta - Belmire Transport 30 Andrew Pinfold (Can) Symmetrics 2.30 31 David O'Loughlin (Irl) Navigators Insurance 5.21 32 Alexandre Nadeau (Can) Equipe du Quebec 7.11 33 Przemyslaw Mikolajczyk (Pol) Paged-Mbk-Scout 11.32 34 Tomasz Lesniak (Pol) Paged-Mbk-Scout 35 Johny Hayes (USA) CRCA/Sakonnet Technology 16.29 36 Tom Barras (GBr) Team Cyclingnews.com 37 Jeremy Vennell (NZl) Team Cyclingnews.com 38 Mathieu Roy (Can) Equipe du Quebec 39 Leigh Palmer (Aus) Team Cyclingnews.com 40 Ryan Roth (Can) Canadian National Team 41 Alex Richer (Can) Le Yeti 33.03 42 Jonathan Sundt (USA) Jittery Joe's-Kalahari 36.58 DNF Mike Sayers (USA) Health Net pb Maxxis DNF Vassili Davidenko (Rus) Navigators Insurance DNF Cesar Grajales (Col) Navigators Insurance DNF Oleg Grichkine (Rus) Navigators Insurance DNF Jens Schwedler (Ger) Stevens Racing Team DNF Claudio Bartoli (Ita) Amore & Vita-Beretta-Polska DNF Domenico Passuello (Ita) Amore & Vita-Beretta-Polska DNF Chris Kuhl (USA) CRCA/Sakonnet Technology DNF Cory Jay (Can) CRCA/Sakonnet Technology DNF Evan Elken (USA) Jittery Joe's-Kalahari DNF Richard Bowker (NZl) Italpasta - Belmire Transport DNF Eric Wohlberg (Can) Symmetrics DNF Jacob Erker (Can) Symmetrics DNF Bradley Fairall (Can) Symmetrics DNF Zach Bell (Can) Canadian National Team DNF Dominique Rollin (Can) Equipe du Quebec DNF Jean-Sébastien Béland (Can) Equipe du Quebec DNF Jean-Sébastien Maheu (Can) Volkswagen-Trek DNF Kevin Lacombe (Can) Volkswagen-Trek DNF Raphaël Tremblay (Can) Volkswagen-Trek Teams 1 Health Net pb Maxxis 10.21.19 2 Paged - Mbk - Scout 0.19 3 Team Cyclingnews.com 4 Canada National Team 0.22 5 Symmetrics Cycling 0.41 6 Amore & Vita – Beretta 7 Navigators Insurance 8 Italpasta - Transport Belmire C.C. 9 Jittery Joe's - Kalahari 36.58 Final General classification 1 Nathan O'Neill (Aus) Navigators Insurance 21.52.10 2 Svein Tuft (Can) Symmetrics 0.12 3 Jeff Louder (USA) Navigators Insurance 0.35 4 John Lieswyn (USA) Health Net pb Maxxis 1.17 5 Dawid Krupa (Pol) Paged-Mbk-Scout 1.19 6 Glen Alan Chadwick (Aus) Team Cyclingnews.com 1.38 7 Mark Walters (Can) Navigators Insurance 8 Kacper Sowinski (Pol) Amore & Vita-Beretta-Polska 2.41 9 Krzysztof Mermer (Pol) Paged-Mbk-Scout 2.48 10 Mike Jones (USA) Health Net pb Maxxis 3.05 11 Doug Ollerenshaw (USA) Health Net pb Maxxis 3.42 12 Brandon Crichton (Can) Italpasta - Belmire Transport 4.00 13 Dominique Perras (Can) Canadian National Team 4.59 14 David O'Loughlin (Irl) Navigators Insurance 6.15 15 Wojciech Kalemba (Pol) Paged-Mbk-Scout 6.45 16 Charles Dionne (Can) Canadian National Team 7.31 17 Cameron Jennings (Aus) Team Cyclingnews.com 7.52 18 Kimmo Kananen (Fin) Amore & Vita-Beretta-Polska 9.46 19 Christian Meier (Can) Symmetrics 13.49 20 Martin Gilbert (Can) Volkswagen-Trek 13.56 21 Justin England (USA) Health Net pb Maxxis 15.55 22 Chris Isaac (Can) Italpasta - Belmire Transport 22.17 23 Timothy Johnson (USA) Jittery Joe's-Kalahari 22.31 24 Max Plaxton (Can) Canadian National Team 24.15 25 Finn Heitmann (Ger) Stevens Racing Team 24.37 26 Jamie Burrow (GBr) Amore & Vita-Beretta-Polska 26.07 27 Sven De Weerdt (Bel) Team Cyclingnews.com 26.43 28 Nat Faulkner (Can) Italpasta - Belmire Transport 27.16 29 Andrew Pinfold (Can) Symmetrics 35.37 30 Alexandre Nadeau (Can) Equipe du Quebec 36.20 31 Tomasz Lesniak (Pol) Paged-Mbk-Scout 36.36 32 Cory Lange (Can) Symmetrics 37.03 33 Jeremy Vennell (NZl) Team Cyclingnews.com 54.45 34 Bruno Langlois (Can) Jittery Joe's-Kalahari 57.25 35 Przemyslaw Mikolajczyk (Pol) Paged-Mbk-Scout 1.00.28 36 Mathieu Roy (Can) Equipe du Quebec 1.04.37 37 Ryan Roth (Can) Canadian National Team 1.06.31 38 Leigh Palmer (Aus) Team Cyclingnews.com 1.08.43 39 Tom Barras (GBr) Team Cyclingnews.com 1.12.38 40 Jonathan Sundt (USA) Jittery Joe's-Kalahari 1.18.38 41 Johny Hayes (USA) CRCA/Sakonnet Technology 1.58.47 42 Alex Richer (Can) Le Yeti 2.13.42 Mountains classification 1 Wojciech Kalemba (Pol) Paged-Mbk-Scout 37 pts 2 Doug Ollerenshaw (USA) Health Net pb Maxxis 28 3 Charles Dionne (Can) Canadian National Team 27 4 Mike Jones (USA) Health Net pb Maxxis 24 5 Tomasz Lesniak (Pol) Paged-Mbk-Scout 19 6 Nathan O'Neill (Aus) Navigators Insurance 17 7 Timothy Johnson (USA) Jittery Joe's-Kalahari 16 8 Przemyslaw Mikolajczyk (Pol) Paged-Mbk-Scout 14 9 Glen Alan Chadwick (Aus) Team Cyclingnews.com 14 10 Krzysztof Mermer (Pol) Paged-Mbk-Scout 14 11 Alexandre Nadeau (Can) Equipe du Quebec 13 12 Dawid Krupa (Pol) Paged-Mbk-Scout 12 13 Dominique Perras (Can) Canadian National Team 11 14 Kimmo Kananen (Fin) Amore & Vita-Beretta-Polska 10 15 Jeff Louder (USA) Navigators Insurance 9 16 Leigh Palmer (Aus) Team Cyclingnews.com 8 17 Brandon Crichton (Can) Italpasta - Belmire Transport 7 18 John Lieswyn (USA) Health Net pb Maxxis 6 19 Chris Isaac (Can) Italpasta - Belmire Transport 6 20 Mark Walters (Can) Navigators Insurance 6 21 Cameron Jennings (Aus) Team Cyclingnews.com 5 22 Kacper Sowinski (Pol) Amore & Vita-Beretta-Polska 4 23 Justin England (USA) Health Net pb Maxxis 3 24 Jonathan Sundt (USA) Jittery Joe's-Kalahari 2 25 Svein Tuft (Can) Symmetrics 1 Teams classification 1 Navigators Insurance 65.33.46 2 Health Net pb Maxxis 10.34 3 Symmetrics Cycling 11.15 4 Paged - Mbk - Scout 11.43 5 Canada National Team 32.00 6 Team Cyclingnews.com 37.19 7 Amore & Vita – Beretta 37.26 8 Italpasta - Transport Belmire C.C. 51.53 9 Jittery Joe's - Kalahari 2.37.22
