June 08, 2017 (La Baie, QC) – Team Canada’s Guillaume Boivin claimed second on the 166.1km Stage 1 in La Baie won by Steve Fisher (USA) Canyon Bicycles Pro Cycling with Ulisis Castillo Soto (Mex) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis in third as the GP de Saguenay got underway.

With three laps of the 15.ikm loop remaining Boivin bridged solo to an initial early break of 10 riders that had almost two minutes on the first chase group that included lots of heavy hitters included Bruno Langlois (Can) Garneau Québecor and Ryan Roth (Can) Silber Pro Cycling. The lead group had three Canyon riders as the team was very strong on the opening stage.

“I haven’t raced since the Tour of Azerbaijan,” explained Boivin, “so I wasn’t sure how I’d go, but I knew I was strong from recent training. I really surprised myself during the bridge. I just did a supertuck on the descent and got away from the group and decided I might as well go!”

“I haven’t seen a move like that in a while,” commented Kevin Field, Team Canada’s Director Sportif. “It was very bold to bridge alone and cover almost a 2-min gap – it reminded me of say Svein Tuft as there aren’t many riders who would attempt such a move.”

The 11 riders pressed on but along the way three got dropped leaving eight to battle it out. With about 3km to go three leaders emerged as Boivin, Fisher and Castillo forged ahead with five chasers behind and the pack gaining.

“The three leaders were not decisive enough near the end and the chasers caught them. In the final sprint to the line Fisher won with Boivin second and Castillo third – a great start for the team and the best situation for us. We planned not to win as we didn’t want the pressure to defend the jersey. Now Canyon has to do the work. Unfortunately we lost a rider today as Raphael Auclair abandoned and I hope he’s ok as he was going really well prior to this race.”

Silber was a marked team and struggled today noted Field who said they might come out swinging on stage two.

Results (brief)

1. Steve Fisher (USA) Canyon Bicycles    4:06:10
2. Guillaume Boivin (Can) Team Canada
3. Ulisis Castillo Soto (Mex) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
4. Francisco Mancebo (Esp) Canyon Bicycles
5. Diego Milan Jimenez (Dom) Inteja-ULB Dominican Cycling Team
6. Travis Samuel (Can) H & R Block    0:03
7. Jack Burke* (Can) Aevolo Cycling  
8. Kaler Marshall (USA) Canyon Bicycles     0:20
9. Bruno Langlois (Can) Garneau Québecor    0:44
10. Chad Beyer (USA) Canyon Bicycles
11. James Piccoli (Can) Team Canada  
12. Serghei Tsvetkov (Rom) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis    0:53
13. Benjamin Perry (Can) Team Canada    3:03
14. Ryan Roth (Can) Silber Pro Cycling   
15. Jokin Extabe Leturia (Esp) Novo Nordisk    3:17
16. Juri Rupnik (Slo) H & R Block    4:17
17. Jonathan Sandoval (Mex) Foundation Cycling
18. Chris Prendergast (Can) H & R Block    5:41
19. Gage Hect* (USA) Aevolo Cycling
20. Laurent Gervais* (Can) Aevolo Cycling   

*U23

Full results here.