June 17, 2017 (St-Georges. Que.) – Christopher Lawless (USA) Axeon Hagens-Berman took the win in rainy conditions at the 77km Stage 3b St-Georges Criterium as Alec Cowan (Silber Pro Cycling) retained the yellow jersey with two stages remaining.
Following a neutral start at the Complexe Sportif Lacroix-Dutil in downtown Saint-Georges seven riders formed a break that quickly swelled to 18 including Jordan Cheyne (Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis) in second overall who suffered a flat and lost contact.The only GC threat up the road was Latvian Andzs Flaksis (Holowesko-Citadel) at more than two minutes back as three more riders dropped off and the 14-strong break took charge reaching a gap of 1:40.
Silber and Team St-Etienne p/b ProBikeShop moved to the front of the chasing pack but the deed was done as the lead group hit the last kilometer before facing a steep and punchy climb with an average 18% grade. Serghei Tvetcov (Rom) Jelly Belly P/B Maxxis led a 5-rider attempt to escape but the break brought them back. Another bid by Sepp Kuss (Rally Cycling) saw Lawless and Steve Fisher (USA) Canyon overtake him as Lawless took the win with Fisher second as Kuss settled for third. Cowan, 20, from Calgary, also kept Best Young Rider jersey as Taylor (TJ) Eisenhart (Holowesko-Citadel) took over the White Points jersey while Nigel Ellsay (Can) Silber Pro Cycling retained the KOM polka dot jersey. Cheyne recovered to remain second overall with fellow Canuck Jack Burke (Aevolo) in third.Full results here.