June 17, 2017 (Quebec City, QC) – American Ian Garrison (Axeon) narrowly won the fourth stage of the 32nd Tour de Beauce, ahead of Robin Carpenter (USA) Holowesko and Matteo Dal-Cin (Can) Rally in the streets of Quebec City on Saturday afternoon – interviews below.

The three cyclists on the podium came together for a furious sprint on the difficult false flat of Grande-Allée. In a last push before raising his arms, Garrison, 19, launched his bike at the finish line to beat his opponent by the width of a tire.

Garrison missed his chance for a victory in the first stage as he finished second behind Canada’s Emile Jean (Silber). The rest of the peloton followed about fifteen seconds later. The Silber Pro Cycling team took advantage of the help of a few riders from the Garneau-Quebecor squad to lead the pack in the hunt to catch the break.

The 35 laps totalling 70 kilometers of this crit race were completed in 1:32:55. Gage Hecht (Aevolo) and Edward Anderson (Axeon) also made the break of the day but cracked before the end. The gap of the breakaway riders remained relatively stable at around 45 seconds for a long time.

In the overall standings, Alexander Cowan (Can) of the Silber Pro Cycling team retains the yellow jersey as well as the Red jersey as the Best Young rider. He was the victim of a heavy fall at the beginning of the race on the cobbles near the fountain of Tourny but his injuries are superficial and Cowan looks ready to defend the jersey at the final stage on Sunday.

“It was a tough race and I crashed, but that’s bike racing. The team is strong and I am confident,” said the 20-year-old after the podium ceremony. Team manager, Gord Fraser, remained cautious in his comments after the race.

Following the Stage 4 Crit, Matteo Dal-Cin of Ottawa, takes the White jersey at the points classification leader, and Nigel Ellsay (Can) Silber retains the KOM jersey as the best climber.

The last stage in Saint-Georges will be very exciting with good battle between several teams. Nothing is guaranteed for the yellow jersey and the Silber Pro Cycling squad will have to develop a strategy to counter teams such as Jelly Belly and Aevolo.

Fellow Canucks Jordan Cheyne (Jelly Belly) and Jack Burke (Aevolo) can still win and a surprise is always possible on the final day. Canadian champion veteran Bruno Langlois remains the best Quebecer at 11th in the overall standings.

The cyclists still in the race now have an rendez-vous for the final stage in the streets of Saint-Georges. The start will be at 11am for 12 laps of the 10.2km urbacn circuit totalling 122.4 kilometers. Fans are invited to join the celebrations near the intersection of 10th Avenue and 150th Street.

The new champion of the 32nd Tour de Beauce is expected to be crowned about three hours later while the survivors will not be numerous at the finish. The final stage of the 2017 Tour de Beauce will be webcast live at the following link.

Interview with Matteo Dal-Cin

Interview with Alec Cowan

Full results here.