July 22, 2016 (Notre-Dame-du-Nord, Que.) – It took only a quarter of today’s 100.7km race for the winding roads of the Témiscamingue region to get the better of the racers and provoke the crash of at least 60 riders belonging to fifteen teams.
American Joshua Anderson of Washington Spin Development was among the lucky ones who were able to avoid the incident, which allowed him to be crowned winner of this stage despite the numerous attempts at break away on the part the American and Danish national teams. The Danish racer Jakob Egholm won the silver medal, while Canada’s Kurt Penno of Stingray Trek Lacasse claimed third.
The Racers Defend Their Jerseys
There have been no changes regarding the jerseys; therefore McNulty, Grall, Strong, and Gillian will bear the same colours as today during the next stage. The holder of the brown jersey attempted to break away several times during the race, but was unsuccessful. It was a close call for Strong who almost lost his polka dot jersey to Ethan Palamarek of Team Iamgold, who finished only one point behind. The American national team retains its top position in the overall team rankings with a 33 second lead over its closest rival—Denmark.
Canadians Among the Top 10
Jonathan Cassivi of Team Québec finished 6th today, whereas Amos racer Charles-Étienne Chrétien took 8th place, followed by his teammate Noah Simms in 9th. As for Olivier Hamel, he finished in 17th position. According to Suzanne Fortin, President of the Tour de l’Abitibi, “the Québec racers are doing good considering they are facing the international elite.”
Saturday, the Hydro-Québec Stage
Tomorrow the racers of the Tour de l’Abitibi will be back in Rouyn-Noranda for the Mont-Brun Stage. At 4:45 p.m., the racers will leave Rouyn-Noranda to cover a loop of 97 kilometres through Mont-Brun. They will then complete 3 laps of the 3.7 km circuit, and are expected to finish the race at 7:15 p.m. During this stage, Hydro-Québec will give out gifts to the first 200 spectators at the finish line!
Results (brief)
1. Joshua Anderson (USA) Washington Spin Development 2:17:59
2. Jakob Egholm (Den) Team Denmark
3. Kurt Penno (Can) Stingray Trek Lacasse
4. Cullen Browne (Nzl) Stingray Trek Lacasse
5. Lucas Grall (Fra) Team France
6. Jonathan Cassivi (Can) Team Quebec
7. Garrett Belanger (Can) Centurion Next Wave
8. Charles-Etienne Chretien (Can) Team Canada
9. Noah Simms (Can) Team Canada
10. Gabriel Drapeau-Zgoralski (Can) Novo Nordisk
11. Hayden Strong (Nzl) Team New Zealand
12. Carne Groube (Nzl) Team New Zealand
13. Abdellatif Salimi (Mar) Team Morocco
14. Quinton Disera (Can) Centurion Next Wave
15. Thierry Kirouac Marcassa (Can) Team Canada
16. Mohammed Medrazi (Mar) Team Morocco
17. Olivier Hamel (Can) Team Quebec
18. James Fouche (Nzl) Team New Zealand
19. Phillip Truppelli (USA) E.C. Devo
20. Tyler J. Stites (USA) Team USA
GC after Stage 5
1. Brandon A. McNulty (USA) Team USA 9:09:14
2. Ian Garrison (USA) Team USA 0:29
3. Morten Hulgaard (Den) Team Denmark
4. Mikkel Bjerg (Den) Team Denmark 0:37
5. Andreas Kron (Den) Team Denmark 0:48
6. Cameron A. Beard (USA) Team USA 0:51
7. Jakob Egholm (Den) Team Denmark
8. Tyler J. Stites (USA) Team USA 0:56
9. Christopher H. Blevins (USA) Team USA 1:01
10. Kevin Goguen (USA) Washington Spin Development 1:09
11. Jules Gilliam (USA) Team USA 1:09
12. Nickolas Zukowsky (Can) Team Canada 1:10
13. Ruben Bacon (USA) Stingray Trek Lacasse 1:15
14. Joshua Anderson (USA) Washington Spin Development 1:19
15. Matthew Staples (Can) Team Canada
16. Thierry Kirouac Marcassa (Can) Team Canada
17. Ethan Palamarek (Can) IAMGold 1:29
18. Jacob Skrip (USA) Young Medalists 1:32
19. Carne Groube (Nzl) Team New Zealand
20. Hayden Strong (Nzl) Team New Zealand 1:33
Full results here.