March 27, 2007 (Touraine, France) — Russian Yuri Trofimov (TMS) won the 186km Roue Tourangelle on Sunday (Mar. 25) with a time of 4:18:30, followed by Australian David Tanner (POM) and Ukrainian Dnytro Krivtsov (ISD). Trofimov also won the Paris-Troyes the previous Sunday (Mar. 18) and finished second in the Loire-Atlantic Classic last Friday (Mar. 23) behind winner Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) Agritubel.

Also competing in all of these UCI races was the Canadian team Calyon/Litespeed. For Calyon/Litespeed, Roue Tourangelle represented a brilliant finish to their French training camp.

In the Loire-Atlantic, no Calyon/Litespeed riders placed among the first 77 cyclists across the finish line. They, like most of the 158 who started the race, were pulled aside by the commissaires on the last lap for security reasons. It was a similar situation at Paris-Troyes where Calyon/Litespeed finished well back in the peloton. But this Sunday, Jean Sebastien Perron finished in the pack only 18 seconds behind winner Yury Trofimov (Rus) Team Moscow Star, while Greg Reain was just 2:03 back and Erik Lyman 5:05 back. Maxime Vives and Phil Cortes were pulled out of the race by “an overzealous commissaire,” while Ryan Belliveau did not compete in order to recover from Friday’s Loire-Atlantic Classic. Charly Vives had already returned to Canada for his university studies.

“Considering the (small number) of kilometers pedaled this year by some of my cyclists (compared to the competition), I am very happy with these results,” declared team manager Bernard Vives. These results are not super, but my cyclists were rubbing shoulders with a very high level of competition and still competed very well,” continued Vives. The team manager is also the father of cyclists Maxime and Charly.

Vives is already talking about repeating the experience in 2008, but with a longer stay in France and more preparation for the riders. “We came here not to win but rather to perfect our training,” said Vives. He notes that the team is leaving France more united and with a better understanding of how European cycling differs from North America.

In France, it is often said that cycling is an individual sport that is practiced by teams and Calyon/Litespeed seems to understand this. Vives hopes that other Quebec teams will participate in European races in the future.

Results – Roue Tourangelle

1. Yury Trofimov (Rus) Team Moscow Star 4.18.30 (43.172 km/h)
2. David Tanner (Aus) VC La Pomme Marseille
3. Dnytro Krivtsov (Ukr) ISD-Sport-Donetsk 0.18
4. Martial Roman (Fra) Entente Sud Gascogne
5. Joseph Lemoine (Fra) St Cyr Tours Vlac
6. Mariusz Wiesiak (Pol) Nippo Corporation-Meitan Hompo Co. Ltd – Asada
7. Thibault Mace (Fra) Vend̩e U РPDL
8. Cédric Drouet (Fra) Rue d’Or St Amandoise
9. Simon Le Brun (Fra) Rue d’Or St Amandoise
10. Luis Filipe Albino Silva (Por) Duja / Tavira

37. Jean-Sébastien Perron (Can) Calyon-Litespeed Pro Cycling Team
89. Greg Reain (Can) Calyon-Litespeed Pro Cycling Team 2.03
97. Erik Lyman (Can) Calyon-Litespeed Pro Cycling Team 5.05
DNF Maxime Vives (Can) Calyon-Litespeed Pro Cycling Team
DNF Phillip Cortes (Can) Calyon-Litespeed Pro Cycling Team
DNS Ryan Belliveau (Can) Calyon-Litespeed Pro Cycling Team