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Dauphiné Libéré
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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

Valery Kobzarenko (Navigators Insurance)
Photo ©: Mark Zalewski
(Click for larger image)

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

The field rolls through
Photo ©: Mark Zalewski
(Click for larger image)

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.

The decisive break
Photo ©: Mark Zalewski
(Click for larger image)

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.

The podium for stage one
Photo ©: Mark Zalewski
(Click for larger image)

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

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                 
 

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