June 16, 2018 (Quebec City, QC) – Canada’s James Piccoli of the national team won the fourth stage of the 33rd Tour de Beauce on the streets of Quebec City, in front of Danick Vandale (Silber) and Thomas Stewart (JLT Condor).

Member of the main breakaway composed of nine riders, Piccoli attacked with less than four laps to go in this criterium of 35 laps totaling 70 kilometers.

Very aggressive throughout the event, Piccoli rode alone to his best career triumph with a comfortable lead of 46 seconds. He climbs to seventh in the general classification.

Originally from Montreal, the 26-year-old cyclist screamed his joy at the finish line in front of a nice crowd on Grande Allée. Piccoli was able to benefit from the help of two teammates in the breakaway of the day.

“Everything worked well. The opportunity came and the Canadian team played the cards well. It’s a great win,” said the winner.

The victory unfolded in front of Place George V in 1 h 35 m 14s. With the stage win, Piccoli earns on the blue jersey of Quebec City.

“He took off alone at the end, but we participated well in the breakaway and we protected Adam Roberge in the peloton. That was the plan,” added Vandale, pleased with his second place.

Benjamin Perry (Canada) and Jonathan Brown (Hagens Berman Axon) took fourth and fifth place respectively.

No member of the day’s breakaway was threatening the overall standings which remained mainly unchanged on the eve of the last stage in St. George’s. Only the American Thomas Revard, sixth in the overall standings, nearly aborted the breakaway at the halfway point, before taking his place in the main group.

The UnitedHealthcare team did a great job protecting their leader and avoiding mistakes. For several laps, Serghei Tvetcov’s team-mates were lined up at the front of the pack with their yellow jersey well placed in the wheels to protect their yellow jersey.

Besides yellow, Tvetcov also keeps the white jersey as leader of the points classification. The red jersey of best young rider still belongs to Adam Roberge of Silber Pro Cycling, second in the overall standings just 20 seconds from the top.

Benjamin Perry (Canada) will wear the polka dot jersey again this Sunday.

Cyclists remaining in the grueling race now have a rendezvous for the fifth and final stage in the streets of Saint-Georges. The start will be at 11:00 am for 12 laps and 122.4 kilometers, near the intersection of 10th Avenue and 150th Street.

The new champion of the 33rd Tour de Beauce should be crowned about three hours later. In 2017, the champion Andzs Flaksis was eighth at more than two minutes when he won the Tour de Beauce after a last crazy stage.