August 16, 2006 (Montr̩al, Quebec) РMardis Cyclistes de Lachine Saputo saw its grand finale yesterday evening, the last of 10 stages that began on June 6. The weather was perfect and a crowd of 1,000 turned out to cheer on the cyclists. Dignitaries on hand included Montreal Mayor, Gerald Tremblay.

Éric Boily (Volkswagen/Trek) won the stage, leading in five intermediate sprints and the final sprint. Charly Vives (Calyon Litespeed) came in second, slightly ahead of his older brother, Maxime (Calyon Litespeed).

Not surprisingly, the overall winner was Sébastien Moquin (Sleeman Clear Énergie), with 836 points. Moquin also won the series in 2003 and 2005. Martin Gilbert (Kodakgallery.com/Sierra Nevada), who could not participate in the final stage, won the series in 2001, 2002 and 2004. Boily’s impressive performance moved him into second place overall.

“Hanging onto the yellow jersey was my plan,” said Moquin. “And with that assured, the team worked hard to help Pierre-Olivier (Boily) win third place in overall points. At one point I panicked because I wasn’t marking enough points and I was caught up in two falls, but now it’s time to celebrate!”

Guillaume Boivin (André Cycle id/Cad) was the best junior racer while Daniel Bélisle (Cinelume-Cycles Performance) took the title for the masters despite a back injury in the Coupe Pro-elite category.

In the Junior Lait’s Go Cup, Charles-Alexandre Cloutier (Espoirs Laval) broke away from the peloton four laps from the finish for the victory. The group sprint for second was won by William Garneau (Louis Garneau Optik) while David Boily (Ste-Foy-Qc Metro) completed the podium.

Simon Lambert-Lemay (André Cycle id/Cad) came in fourth in the stage finishing the series on top with 1,258 points inlcuding seven stage victories. Lambert-Lemay also won the Lait’s Go Cup in 2005. Hugo Houle (Vélocité Drummond) won the second place in overall points with 977 points. Garneau’s performance this evening secured him third place overall with 916 points.

At the end of the awards ceremony, those on the podium, including organizer Tino Rossi, began spraying each other with champagne and water while fireworks erupted in an adjacent field. Rossi ended the evening by thanking everyone for their presence and saying: “see you next year!”

Results:

Seniors

1- Éric Boily, Volkswagen Trek, 1h 00m 37
2- Charly Vives, Calyon Litespeed
3- Maxime Vives, Calyon Litespeed
4- Czeslaw Lukaszewicz, Sleeman Clear Énergie
5- Pierre-Olivier Boily, Sleeman Clear Énergie
6- Sébastien Moquin, Sleeman Clear Énergie
9- Erik Lyman, Calyon Litespeed
10- Jean-François Laroche, Sleeman Clear Énergie

Final Overall

1- Sébastien Moquin, Sleeman Clear Énergie, 836 points
2- Éric Boily, Volkswagen Trek, 740
3- Pierre-Olivier Boily, Sleeman Clear Énergie, 662
4- Martin Gilbert, kodakgallery/Sierra Nevada, 559
5- Dominique Rollin, Vélo Club Roubaix, 481
6- Daniel Bélisle, Cinelume-Cycles Performance, 469
7- Michel Detry, VCM-Cycles Régis, 459
8- David Veileux, Louis Garneau Optik, 440
9- Czeslaw Lukaszewicz, Sleeman Clear Énergie, 409
10- Nicholas Rowe, Espoirs Laval, 389

Junior Lait’s Go 24-km 59 participants

1. Charles-Alexandre Cloutier (Espoirs Laval) 00:31:45
2. William Garneau (Louis Garneau Optik)
3. David Boily (Ste-Foy-Qc Metro)

Junior Lait’s Go Overall Points

1. Simon Lambert-Lemay (André Cycle id/Cad) 1258
2. Hugo Houle (Vélocité Drummond) 977
3. William Garneau (Louis Garneau Optik) 916