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21st Tour de Beauce - 2.2
Canada, June 13-18, 2006
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Stage 1 - June 13: Lac Etchemin, 155 km
Navigators' eastern bloc lights up Beauce
By Mark Zalewski in Luc Etchemin, Quebec
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Arguably the strongest team in this year's Tour de Beauce is the Navigators Insurance squad, which includes former U23 world champion Sergey Lagutin from Uzbekistan who won his rainbows just down the road in Hamilton in 2003. Along with Lagutin is another teammate from a former Soviet country, Valery Kobzarenko from the Ukraine. These two paired up today in a four-man breakaway, using their advantage to launch Kobzarenko to victory in the final five kilometers.
"The last five kilometers was where I wanted to attack," said Kobzarenko. "We knew it was going to be me because I felt good today." An indication of his fitness was the way he easily rode away from the group on a climb with five kilometers to go, especially after riding well last week in the Commerce Bank Triple Crown.
Both Kobzarenko and Lagutin were strong last week, finishing sixth and seventh respectively on the final day, and both spending time attacking all week. But Lagutin was more tired from his overall triple crown win and felt the effects today. "The last thirty kilometers I was finished!" said Lagutin. "After Philadelphia I do not have the legs. So I was looking to see if [Kova] felt good."
Taking second place on the stage was Mexican Fausto Esparca (Tecos) who rode this race last year and was very active today, placing himself in two of the important breaks. "The last twenty kilometers the two guys were working against me," he said. "My legs really stopped working at the last KOM climb." But Esparca is happy with his ride today, staying with the leaders and limiting his losses to the winner. "I will try to stay close to the Navigators guys. Maybe we can work together for good placement on the general classification."
Another rider who really suffered from last week's racing in Pennsylvania was the fourth member of the break, Stefan Parinussa (Sparkasse). "There was so much traveling to get here from Philadelphia. I did not have it and I told them. That is why I did not sprint at the finish. Besides, they were just too strong. But I think I can recover and maybe do well in the time trial."
How it unfolded
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The first stage of the Tour de Beauce rolled along the beautiful countryside with temperatures in the low 20s and sunny skies. While the climbing is not as hard as the next two stages, the inclines were enough to sap energy and make the race interesting.
An early break of Peter Woestenberg (Altipower) and Jean-Sebastian Perron (Calyon-Litespeed) started the main action with Will Frischkorn (TIAA-CREF) bridging up. The trip rolled their advantage to a couple of minutes, taking the first KOM points of the race. This put Frischkorn into the KOM jersey on the road, which he held through the finish.
A chase led by Navigators Insurance and Jittery Joes-Zero Gravity, including Irish champion David O'Loughlin (Navigators Insurance) and Evan Elkin (Jittery Joes-Zero Gravity), put the screws to the break and all was soon back together.
After the feed zone the racing resumed with a dangerous break forming, including Danny Pate (TIAA-CREF) as well as David O'Loughlin and Glen Chadwick (Navigators Insurance). "Dave and I got away at about fifty kilometers with the Pate group," Chadwick said.
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But almost immediately most of the Symmetrics team jumped on the front to do the work, having missed the break. "We started chasing pretty much right away," said Marsh Cooper. "We got on it because a lot of good GC guys were in there."
In the break, all of the riders seemed interested in making it work. But the pressure by most of the Symmetrics team was too much. "We were all working and going fast," said Pate. "I was surprised that they kept us that close and brought us back."
After a section of gravel road, which caused about six punctures in under thirty seconds (out of more than fifty for the Mavic crew to service today) another break went, launched by Kobzarenko. The field, now led by TIAA-CREF was further slowed when Evan Elkin's front wheel was caught in a perpendicular groove in the road, causing him to crash suddenly in the middle of the field. Elkin seemed to avoid serious injury and finished the race -- his bike, however, was missing a front fork following the unique crash.
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This chaos only benefitted the break as it was in its infancy and trying to build momentum. TIAA-CREF continued to try to organize a chase but no other team seemed able or willing. "We did try to save two guys, but after that [first] chase we had nothing," said Cooper. "Nobody helped us," said Danny Pate (TIAA-CREF). "I don't know why they didn't help us, so we just shut it off."
This gave the break around three minutes in the final forty kilometers. At about seven kilometers to go, the race swept down a huge descent, with a final climb at the five kilometer mark. As the break began to ascend this climb the field could be seen in the far distance coming around the corner. This signaled Kobzarenko to make his move, with Esparca unable and Parinussa unwilling to follow. This was the decisive move and Kobzarenko rode to the finish alone, celebrating during the entire final 500 meters.
Tomorrow's stage begin has even tougher climbs with three KOMs and a fast descent into three finishing circuits Saint-Joseph. And while today was beautiful, the typical Beauce rain could show itself as soon as tomorrow.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Mark Zalewski/Cyclingnews.com
- The field rolls through the beautiful scenery in the first stage of the Tour de Beauce.
- Fantastic conditions were enjoyed by all.
- A DFL-Cyclingnews-Litespeed rider sets the pace to keep the early break in sight.
- The first of many rolling hills is negotiated by the peloton.
- Canadian champion Francois Parisien (TIAA-CREF) follows the aero postion of a FRF Couriers-Caravello rider.
- Irish champion David O'Loughlin (Navigators Insurance) sets the pace to bring back the break.
- Jean-Sebastian Perron (Calyon-Litespeed) leads the break.
- Will Frischkorn (TIAA-CREF) put in a good ride, bridging up to the early break solo.
- Danny Pate (TIAA-CREF) takes over on the front of the second main break for Glen Chadwick (Navigators Insurance).
- Will Frischkorn (TIAA-CREF) signals defeat after taking the most KOM points on offer today.
- The Symmetrics team powers along, bringing back a dangerous break.
- Francois Parisien (TIAA-CREF) takes his turn getting water for the team.
- Evan Elkin (Jittery Joes-Zero Gravity) caught his front wheel in a groove, crashing and separating the fork from the frame.
- Fausto Esparca (Tecos-Trek) was active in two of the main breaks today.
- Valery Kobzarenko (Navigators Insurance) powered the break for much of the day.
- Valery Kobzarenko (Navigators Insurance) leads up the last KOM.
- Stefan Parinussa (Sparkasse) had nothing left over from a hard Philadelphia, and held on for fourth.
- A lot of farmland dots the Beauce countryside.
- Fausto Esparca (Tecos-Trek) has a word with Valery Kobzarenko (Navigators Insurance).
- Valery Kobzarenko (Navigators Insurance) once again leads up the climbs.
- Valery Kobzarenko (Navigators Insurance) begins to set-up his final move.
- With four kilometers to go, Valery Kobzarenko (Navigators Insurance) rides away from everyone.
- Valery Kobzarenko (Navigators Insurance) begins his celebration early.
- Valery Kobzarenko (Navigators Insurance) shows his elation with the win.
- Sergey Lagutin (Navigators Insurance) is happy with his teammate's win.
- The race for fifth
- The podium for stage one of the 2006 Tour de Beauce - (l-r): Sergey Lagutin, Valery Kobzarenko and Fausto Esparca
Results
1 Valeriy Kobzarenko (Ukr) Navigators 3.49.48 2 Fausto Esparza Munoz (Mex) Tecos Trek VH 0.21 3 Sergey Lagutin (Uzb) Navigators 4 Stefan Parinussa (Ger) Sparkasse 5 Jairo Salas Atehortua (Col) Colombia Es Pasion 2.23 6 David O'Loughlin (Irl) Navigators 7 Danny Pate (USA) TIAA-CREF 8 John Fredy Parra Calada (Col) Tecos Trek VH 9 Cesar Augusto Grajales (Col) Navigators 10 Jairo Hernandez (Col) Colombia Es Pasion 2.26 11 Jarley Colorado Hernandez (Col) Colombia Es Pasion 12 Gregorio Ladino Vega (Col) Tecos Trek VH 13 Mark Walters (Can) Navigators 2.41 14 Jean-Sébastien Maheu (Can) Équipe Du Québec 2.43 15 Trent Wilson (Aus) Jittery Joe's pb Zero Gravity 16 Koki Simbo (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 17 Dustin Macburnie (Can) Canadian National Team 18 Yovanny Torres Castro (Col) Colombia Es Pasion 19 Diego Montoya (Col) Colombia Es Pasion 20 Cameron Hughes (Aus) Italpasta - Transport Belmire C.C. 21 Francisco Matamoros Navarro (Mex) Tecos Trek VH 22 Glen Alan Chadwick (Aus) Navigators 2.48 23 Andrew Pinfold (Can) Symmetrics 24 Zachary Garland (Can) Équipe Du Québec 25 Hector Rangel Zimarron (Mex) Tecos Trek VH 26 Richard Faltus (Cze) Sparkasse 27 Timo Honstein (Ger) Sparkasse 28 Takeaki Ayabe (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 29 Alexis Rojas Dias (Col) Colombia Es Pasion 30 Edward King (USA) Priority Health 31 Ciaran Power (Irl) Navigators 32 Francois Parisien (Can) TIAA-CREF 33 Cody Stevenson (Aus) FRF Couriers - Caravello 2.55 34 Brent Bookwalter (USA) Priority Health 35 David Veilleux (Can) Garneau - Optik 36 Bernie Sulzberger (Aus) DFL - Cyclingnews - Litespeed 37 Kevin Miller (Can) Fiordifrutta 38 Rodolfo Lopez (Mex) Tecos Trek VH 39 Ger Soepenberg (Ned) Altipower 40 Bruno Langlois (Can) Canadian National Team 41 Ian Macgregor (USA) TIAA-CREF 42 Sebastian Frey (Ger) Sparkasse 2.57 43 Peter Hatton (Aus) Jittery Joe's pb Zero Gravity 2.59 44 Mitsuteru Tanaka (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 45 Philippe Abbott (Can) Italpasta - Transport Belmire C.C. 46 Kane Oakley (Aus) DFL - Cyclingnews - Litespeed 47 Jesus Zarate Estrada (Mex) Tecos Trek VH 48 Brendan Brooks (Aus) FRF Couriers - Caravello 49 Jeremy Vennell (NZl) DFL - Cyclingnews - Litespeed 50 Martin Lazarski (Can) Canadian National Team 51 Mathieu Roy (Can) Garneau - Optik 52 Rahsaan Bahati (USA) TIAA-CREF 53 Jamie Lamb (Can) Garneau - Optik 54 Peter McDonald (Aus) FRF Couriers - Caravello 55 Tony Mann (Aus) FRF Couriers - Caravello 56 Eric Boily (Can) Volkswagen Trek 3.21 57 Dominique Rollin (Can) Canadian National Team 58 Cameron Jennings (Aus) DFL - Cyclingnews - Litespeed 59 Dan Timmerman (USA) Fiordifrutta 60 David O'Brien (Can) Équipe Du Québec 3.42 61 Maxime Vives (Can) Calyon-Litespeed 3.44 62 Raphaël Tremblay (Can) Volkswagen Trek 63 Stefan Loffler (Ger) Sparkasse 64 Derek McMaster (Can) Italpasta - Transport Belmire C.C. 3.47 65 Christian Meier (Can) Symmetrics 66 Brian Sheedy (USA) Priority Health 3.51 67 Thoren Wieditz (Can) Italpasta - Transport Belmire C.C. 68 David Harrigan (Aus) DFL - Cyclingnews - Litespeed 69 Charly Vives (Can) Calyon-Litespeed 70 Simon Kelly (Irl) Team Murphy & Gunn / Newlyn 71 Michael Ford (Aus) South Australia.com - AIS 72 Clovis Auger (Can) Volkswagen Trek 73 Miles Olman (Aus) South Australia.com - AIS 74 Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) South Australia.com - AIS 75 Pim Van Den Berg (Ned) Altipower 76 Joe McDonnell (Aus) FRF Couriers - Caravello 77 Tom Flammang (Lux) Sparkasse 78 Chad Hartley (USA) TIAA-CREF 79 Bryan Smith (USA) TIAA-CREF 80 Joshua Gewirtz (USA) Fiordifrutta 81 Austin King (USA) Jittery Joe's pb Zero Gravity 82 Ryan Roth (Can) Canadian National Team 83 Frank Wierstra (Ned) Altipower 84 Erik Lyman (Can) Calyon-Litespeed 85 Peter Woestenberg (Ned) Altipower 86 Peter Dawson (Aus) South Australia.com - AIS 87 Jean-Sébastien Beland (Can) Volkswagen Trek 88 Phillip Cortes (Can) Garneau - Optik 89 Joshua Dillon (USA) Fiordifrutta 90 Alexandre Lavallée (Can) Garneau - Optik 91 Russel Downing (GBr) DFL - Cyclingnews - Litespeed 92 William Frischkorn (USA) TIAA-CREF 93 Thijs Poelstra (Ned) Altipower 94 Greg Reain (Can) Canadian National Team 4.14 95 David J. Richter (USA) Italpasta - Transport Belmire C.C. 4.19 96 Niek Asbroek (Ned) Altipower 4.39 97 Peter Sanowar (Can) Italpasta - Transport Belmire C.C. 5.56 98 Alexi Richer (Can) Équipe Du Québec 99 Condor Murphy (Irl) Team Murphy & Gunn / Newlyn 6.00 100 Ryan McKenzie (Can) Volkswagen Trek 6.10 101 Glen Mitchell (NZl) Priority Health 102 Matthew White (USA) Fiordifrutta 6.14 103 Christian Lademann (Ger) Sparkasse 6.35 104 Tom Zirbel (USA) Priority Health 7.05 105 Richard England (Aus) Priority Health 7.22 106 Andrew Randell (Can) Symmetrics 7.30 107 Satoshi Hirose (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 8.09 108 Ken Akita (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 8.50 109 Joel Dion-Poitras (Can) Calyon-Litespeed 9.28 110 Jean-Sebastien Perron (Can) Calyon-Litespeed 111 Derek Burke (Irl) Team Murphy & Gunn / Newlyn 112 Brandon Crichton (Can) Symmetrics 10.23 113 Christopher Rozdilsky (USA) Fiordifrutta 114 Sam Bewley (NZl) New Zealand national team 115 Neil Shirley (USA) Jittery Joe's pb Zero Gravity 116 Jacob P. Erker (Can) Symmetrics 117 Svein Tuft (Can) Symmetrics 118 Jean-Michel Lachance (Can) Garneau - Optik 119 Sean Finning (Aus) South Australia.com - AIS 120 Marsh Cooper (Can) Symmetrics 14.38 121 Brooke Boocock (Can) Calyon-Litespeed 15.44 122 Peter John Herzig (Aus) FRF Couriers - Caravello 15.52 123 Evan Elken (USA) Jittery Joe's pb Zero Gravity 15.59 124 Philip Wong (USA) Jittery Joe's pb Zero Gravity 125 Daniel Maggiacomo (Can) Italpasta - Transport Belmire C.C. 126 Darren Shea (NZl) New Zealand national team 16.23 127 Morgan Fox (Irl) Team Murphy & Gunn / Newlyn 17.10 OTL Jeanfrançois Racine (Can) Équipe Du Québec 19.11 OTL Adam Coker (NZl) New Zealand national team 19.26 OTL Daniel Niezink (Ned) Altipower 20.04 OTL Matthew Haydock (NZl) New Zealand national team 25.04 OTL Robbie King (USA) Priority Health 28.41 OTL Alexandre Cloutier (Can) Volkswagen Trek 28.51 OTL Ariel De Cardenas (Can) Équipe Du Québec 33.08 OTL Joshua Marden (Aus) FRF Couriers - Caravello 1.04.56 OTL Martin Picard (Can) Équipe Du Québec DNF Paul Healion (Irl) Team Murphy & Gunn / Newlyn DNF Joshua England (NZl) New Zealand national team DNF Andrew Thompson (NZl) New Zealand national team
