June 16, 2005 — The Tour de Beauce may well have earned itself the moniker the “Mid-season Hell of the North” after yesterday’s torrential downpours, frigid weather, and winds that literally blew riders off the road. Of the riders blown off their bikes and into the scenery were Team Canada’s Charles Dionne and Max Plaxton, who did not receive any serious injuries. Greg Reain of Steven’s Racing was not as fortunate however, his spill into a ditch earned him both a black eye and a snapped fork.

Jean-François Racine de l’Équipe du Québec described the weather as “Completely unbelievable; Monday we had to get a fan to cool down the hotel rooms, and yesterday I was wearing two jerseys, arm-warmers, and a jacket. At 60 kilometers to go, I literally couldn’t steer my bike because I was shivering too much.”

The abandons were numerous – 24 in total – in some cases taking two or three riders from the same team. Today the suffering was no different; rain and bad road conditions delayed the start by over an hour and roughly 40 kilometres were removed from the race route, rendering the total kilometres to 143 for Stage 3 in Saint-Joseph.

Several break-away efforts were made early by Team Canada’s Dominique Perras, Kinno Kananen (Amore & Vita), and Tim Johnson (Jittery Joe’s) however none of the moves stuck as the peloton conserved their energy and form in today’s once again nasty weather. With 70 kilometres left in the race, teams Équipe du Québec and Health Net moved to the front of the soggy pack. It wasn’t until the pack approached Frampton that any serious challenges were made; Tim Johnson threw down the gauntlet and made a 40-second break on the pack, and once Saint Joseph was in sight other riders bridged to him.

With 20 kilometres to go, the tiny break-away pack still maintained their 200 metre lead on the rest of peloton. Upon entering Saint-Joseph, the average speed of the pack – previously 50 kilometres/hour — increased even more on the descent towards the 3-kilometre closed circuit that the riders were to navigate three times before their sprint finish.

The break-away staved off the pack bearing down behind them and in the end it was Navigator’s David O’Loughlin who took today’s stage. Current leader Dominique Rollin (Équipe du Québec) was within the peloton and is still leading. Mark Walters (Can) Navigators Insurance is in second and Jeff Louder (USA) Navigators Insurance is in third

Today’s race was a relatively calm affair, likely an effort to conserve energy for tommorrow’s double-event day. The riders are also begining to feel the effects of the weather and fatigue and illness are always a concern especially since many riders may be also suffering from jet lag and also arrived from climates where summer has already established itself. Chilly temperatures also mean muslces contract less easily, and after the heavy racing these athletes have done, many are surely feeling the burn, though not yet from the sun.

Tomorrow begins with a 27 km Individual Time Trial in St-Jean-de-la-Lande followed later by a 60 Km Criterium in Saint-Georges.

Stage 3 – June 16: St-Joseph – St-Joseph, 180 km
Results

1 David O’Loughlin (Irl) Navigators Insurance 3.46.24
2 Vassili Davidenko (Rus) Navigators Insurance 0.03
3 Domenico Passuello (Ita) Amore & Vita-Beretta-Polska
4 Tomasz Lesniak (Pol) Mesetacaffe-Mbk-Scout
5 Mike Jones (USA) Health Net pb Maxxis
6 Kimmo Kananen (Fin) Amore & Vita-Beretta-Polska
7 Svein Tuft (Can) Symmetrics
8 Jean-François Laroche (Can) Equipe du Quebec
9 Wojciech Kalemba (Pol) Mesetacaffe-Mbk-Scout
10 Charles Dionne (Can) Canadian National Team
11 Mark Walters (Can) Navigators Insurance
12 Jean-Sébastien Maheu (Can) Volkswagen-Trek
13 Krzysztof Mermer (Pol) Mesetacaffe-Mbk-Scout
14 Timothy Johnson (USA) Jittery Joe’s -Kalahari
15 Max Plaxton (Can) Canadian National Team
16 Dominique Rollin (Can) Equipe du Quebec
17 Brandon Crichton (Can) Italpasta – Belmire Transport
18 Doug Ollerenshaw (USA) Health Net pb Maxxis
19 Finn Heitmann (Ger) Stevens Racing Team
20 Dominique Perras (Can) Canadian National Team
21 Jeff Louder (USA) Navigators Insurance
22 Dawid Krupa (Pol) Mesetacaffe-Mbk-Scout
23 John Lieswyn (USA) Health Net pb Maxxis
24 Chris Isaac (Can) Italpasta – Belmire Transport
25 Cesar Grajales (Col) Navigators Insurance
26 Kacper Sowinski (Pol) Amore & Vita-Beretta-Polska
27 Glen Alan Chadwick (Aus) Team Cyclingnews.com
28 Jamie Burrow (GBr) Amore & Vita-Beretta-Polska
29 Jacob Erker (Can) Symmetrics
30 Claudio Bartoli (Ita) Amore & Vita-Beretta-Polska
31 Nathan O’Neill (Aus) Navigators Insurance
32 Christian Meier (Can) Symmetrics
33 Justin England (USA) Health Net pb Maxxis
34 Martin Gilbert (Can) Volkswagen-Trek 0.19
35 Cameron Jennings (Aus) Team Cyclingnews.com 0.56
36 Chris Kuhl (USA) CRCA/Sakonnet Technology
37 Oleg Grichkine (Rus) Navigators Insurance
38 Mike Sayers (USA) Health Net pb Maxxis
39 Cory Jay (Can) CRCA/Sakonnet Technology 1.03
40 Eric Wohlberg (Can) Symmetrics
41 Nat Faulkner (Can) Italpasta – Belmire Transport
42 Raphaël Tremblay (Can) Volkswagen-Trek 1.29
43 Christian Heule (Swi) Stevens Racing Team 2.04
44 Sven De Weerdt (Bel) Team Cyclingnews.com 2.55
45 Andrew Pinfold (Can) Symmetrics 3.41
46 Ryan Roth (Can) Canadian National Team 4.03
47 Dustin Macburnie (Can) Yeti 6.23
48 Alexandre Nadeau (Can) Equipe du Quebec 8.34
49 Bradley Fairall (Can) Symmetrics 14.52
50 Cory Lange (Can) Symmetrics
51 Jeremy Vennell (NZl) Team Cyclingnews.com
52 Kevin Lacombe (Can) Volkswagen-Trek
53 Zach Bell (Can) Canadian National Team 17.45
54 Jonathan Sundt (USA) Jittery Joe’s -Kalahari 20.20
55 Leigh Palmer (Aus) Team Cyclingnews.com
56 Richard Bowker (NZl) Italpasta – Belmire Transport
57 Tom Barras (GBr) Team Cyclingnews.com
58 Peter Morse (Can) Yeti
59 Johny Hayes (USA) CRCA/Sakonnet Technology 24.31
60 Mathieu Roy (Can) Equipe du Quebec
61 Evan Elken (USA) Jittery Joe’s -Kalahari
62 Peter Sanowar (Can) Italpasta – Belmire Transport
63 Daniel Maclaren (Can) Italpasta – Belmire Transport
64 Alex Richer (Can) Yeti
65 Przemyslaw Mikolajczyk (Pol) Mesetacaffe-Mbk-Scout
66 Jean-Sébastien Béland (Can) Equipe du Quebec
67 Bruno Langlois (Can) Jittery Joe’s -Kalahari
68 Jens Schwedler (Ger) Stevens Racing Team
DNF Michael Norton (USA) Team Nerac.com
DNF Craig Wilcox (USA) Jittery Joe’s -Kalahari
DNF Martin St-Laurent (Can) Volkswagen-Trek
DNF Luc Dionne (Can) Yeti

GC after Stage 3
 
1 Dominique Rollin (Can) Equipe du Quebec 13.01.24
2 Mark Walters (Can) Navigators Insurance 0.12
3 Jeff Louder (USA) Navigators Insurance 0.16
4 Dawid Krupa (Pol) Mesetacaffe-Mbk-Scout 0.19
5 Svein Tuft (Can) Symmetrics 0.20
6 John Lieswyn (USA) Health Net pb Maxxis
7 Glen Alan Chadwick (Aus) Team Cyclingnews.com 0.28
8 Kacper Sowinski (Pol) Amore & Vita-Beretta-Polska 1.11
9 Brandon Crichton (Can) Italpasta – Belmire Transport 1.16
10 Krzysztof Mermer (Pol) Mesetacaffe-Mbk-Scout 1.17
11 Jacob Erker (Can) Symmetrics
12 Mike Jones (USA) Health Net pb Maxxis
13 Nathan O’Neill (Aus) Navigators Insurance
14 Wojciech Kalemba (Pol) Mesetacaffe-Mbk-Scout 1.37
15 David O’Loughlin (Irl) Navigators Insurance 1.45
16 Eric Wohlberg (Can) Symmetrics 2.17
17 Doug Ollerenshaw (USA) Health Net pb Maxxis 2.51
18 Dominique Perras (Can) Canadian National Team 2.53
19 Jean-François Laroche (Can) Equipe du Quebec
20 Jean-Sébastien Maheu (Can) Volkswagen-Trek
21 Cameron Jennings (Aus) Team Cyclingnews.com 3.46
22 Christian Meier (Can) Symmetrics 5.14
23 Charles Dionne (Can) Canadian National Team 6.03
24 Kimmo Kananen (Fin) Amore & Vita-Beretta-Polska
25 Mike Sayers (USA) Health Net pb Maxxis 8.14
26 Martin Gilbert (Can) Volkswagen-Trek 11.29
27 Cesar Grajales (Col) Navigators Insurance 12.24
28 Justin England (USA) Health Net pb Maxxis
29 Domenico Passuello (Ita) Amore & Vita-Beretta-Polska 17.35
30 Vassili Davidenko (Rus) Navigators Insurance 18.30
31 Timothy Johnson (USA) Jittery Joe’s -Kalahari 18.40
32 Finn Heitmann (Ger) Stevens Racing Team
33 Max Plaxton (Can) Canadian National Team
34 Chris Isaac (Can) Italpasta – Belmire Transport
35 Jamie Burrow (GBr) Amore & Vita-Beretta-Polska
36 Claudio Bartoli (Ita) Amore & Vita-Beretta-Polska
37 Tomasz Lesniak (Pol) Mesetacaffe-Mbk-Scout 19.00
38 Oleg Grichkine (Rus) Navigators Insurance 19.33
39 Chris Kuhl (USA) CRCA/Sakonnet Technology
40 Cory Jay (Can) CRCA/Sakonnet Technology 19.40
41 Nat Faulkner (Can) Italpasta – Belmire Transport
42 Raphaël Tremblay (Can) Volkswagen-Trek 20.06
43 Christian Heule (Swi) Stevens Racing Team 20.41
44 Sven De Weerdt (Bel) Team Cyclingnews.com 21.32
45 Andrew Pinfold (Can) Symmetrics 22.38
46 Kevin Lacombe (Can) Volkswagen-Trek 24.52
47 Dustin Macburnie (Can) Yeti 25.00
48 Alexandre Nadeau (Can) Equipe du Quebec 27.11
49 Cory Lange (Can) Symmetrics 27.13
50 Bradley Fairall (Can) Symmetrics 33.29
51 Jeremy Vennell (NZl) Team Cyclingnews.com
52 Ryan Roth (Can) Canadian National Team 34.37
53 Tom Barras (GBr) Team Cyclingnews.com 38.00
54 Jonathan Sundt (USA) Jittery Joe’s -Kalahari 38.56
55 Richard Bowker (NZl) Italpasta – Belmire Transport 38.57
56 Leigh Palmer (Aus) Team Cyclingnews.com
57 Przemyslaw Mikolajczyk (Pol) Mesetacaffe-Mbk-Scout 42.41
58 Mathieu Roy (Can) Equipe du Quebec 43.08
59 Evan Elken (USA) Jittery Joe’s -Kalahari
60 Bruno Langlois (Can) Jittery Joe’s -Kalahari
61 Jens Schwedler (Ger) Stevens Racing Team
62 Jean-Sébastien Béland (Can) Equipe du Quebec 52.42
63 Zach Bell (Can) Canadian National Team 55.25
64 Peter Morse (Can) Yeti 57.10
65 Peter Sanowar (Can) Italpasta – Belmire Transport 1.01.45
66 Alex Richer (Can) Yeti 1.20.40
67 Johny Hayes (USA) CRCA/Sakonnet Technology 1.24.56
68 Daniel Maclaren (Can) Italpasta – Belmire Transport 1.41.30