June 14, 2018 (Mont-Mégantic National Park, QC) – Canada’s Jack Burke, of Jelly Belly, took the yellow jersey, winning the summit of Mont-Mégantic on the 169km Stage 2 at the 33rd Tour de Beauce, ahead of Thomas Revard (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon and Serghei Tvetcov (Rou) United Healthcare.
The 23-year-old cyclist who lives in Squamish, British Columbia made a decisive attack with less than four kilometers to go on the final climb. Digging away, he was never threatened and rode away with the win. Revard tried to get closer, but he was unable to do so and finished 30 seconds behind the winner.
All day, the peloton faced difficult weather conditions with heavy showers and a maximum temperature of 12 degrees Celcius. Several cyclists suffered throughout the already difficult stage from this cool and wet weather.
“Many people complained about the weather, but I love this type of day. It was great. Where I live, it always rains like that, without interruption,” explained Burke who crossed the line with a time 4:16:01 following 169 kilometers of hard racing.
Quebec rider Adam Roberge (Silber Pro Cycling) had a great performance as well, finishing just off the podium in fourth place. His teammate, Pier-André Côté, winner of the first stage who started the day in yellow did not try to defend the jersey.
In addition to Burke in yellow, Revard will wear the Red Jersey as Best Young Rider, while Benjamin Perry (Team Canada) now wears the Polka Dot Jersey as the top climber. The White Jersey, leader of the Points classification, belongs to Rui Oliveira.
The story of the day is summed up quickly. A breakaway of three riders animated the race before being taken without surprise at the foot of Mégantic mountain. Their gap never exceeded three minutes and included the winner of this same stage last year, Matteo Dal-Cin (Rally), the reigning Elite Men’s road champ, who attempted the same attack as last year. But several teams wanted to get their hands on the yellow jersey.
In the overall standings, Revard is 34 seconds behind Burke, while Tvetcov is 53 seconds behind. In fourth place, Montreal’s Roberge is only 58 seconds off the pace.
The yellow jersey could again change hands after the individual time trial of 19.4 kilometers on Friday morning, taking place in Saint-Prosper as the 10-time Canadian ITT champion, Svein Tuft (Team Canada) is likely to perform well.
Canadian U23 time trial champ, Roberge, 21, should also have a great stage. The battle promises to be fierce on Stage 3a as the leader, Burke, took second place in the time trial in the U23 category at the 2016 Canadian nationals, and 4th in the same stage at the 2017 Tour de Beauce.
Later in the evening, a short 78-kilometer Stage 3b will finish at the top of the wall on 20th Street in Notre-Dame-des-Pins, around 7:30 pm
The last Canadian to win the Tour de Beauce is Tuft in 2008 while Jacques Landry was the last Quebec champion in 1994.
Results here.
