September 17, 2006 (Aigle, Switzerland) — Amputee cyclists Éric Bourgault (LC 2) and Mark Breton (LC 1) placed 11th and 14th respectively in the road race event at the 2006 IPC Worlds today. Canada’s Rico Morneau (HC B) earned a fabulous 10th place, and Mark Beggs was 16th.

Today the road races began following the time trial events, and Rico Morneau (Montreal, QC) performed really well with a 10th place finish in the HC B (Hand Cycling) division on the 46-km course with a time of 1:22:14. Mark Beggs (Montreal, QC), who was racing in the same category, finished in 16th with a time of 1:27:52. Germany’s Stefan Baeumann won the event crossing the finish line in 1:22:10.

Éric Bourgault (Orford, QC) completed the 69.6-km route in the fourth group with an 11th place finish out of 22 riders. Spain’s Roberto Alcade won, followed by Belgium’s Jan Boyen in second and Norway’s Morten Jahr in third.

The road races were held in rainy conditions. “There was heavy rain, which limited the breakaway possibilities during the race. The race was particularly hard, most of all because of the poor meteorological conditions, but I did well in the end. My legs were feeling great and I was in shape,” commented Bourgault.

Mark Breton, of Charlesbourg, QC (LC 1) was 14th in his division on a 81.2-km course. “When the race started, my legs did not feel really good. I said to myself that I would wait for the breakaway to attack,” said Breton. “Because of the rain, the race was a bit dull, there was not much action,” he added, also mentioning that the course was not technical enough.

Altough some cyclists crashed at the end of the race, before the final sprint, Breton managed to get around the accident. “I’m quite satisfied with my position. All in all, the IPC Worlds went very well for me,” he added. Breton was as close as 0.04 to the winner, Wolfang Sacher from Germany, who is already aspiring to improve his ranking next year.

The 2006 Paralympic World Cycling Championships will conclude on Monday, with the road races in the other categories. Jean Quévillon (QC) and Brayden McDougall (AB) will take part in the cerebral palsy event in the CP 3 division, while Lisa Stowe (AB) will ride the amputees (LC 1) road race event.

All four tandem teams will also be on the starting line: Québec’s Pierre-Olivier Boily and Stéphane Côté, Brian Cowie and Devon Smibert (AB), Gene Della Siega (BC) and Craig Deveer (ON), as well as Shawn Marsolais and Clare Cameron (BC) in the women’s field, which will be the final event.

Results — 2006 IPC Worlds — Road Races

HC B
1. Stefan Baeumann, Ger, 1:22:10
2. Max Weber, Ger
3. Marcel Pipek, Cze
10. Rico Morneau, Can, 1:22:14
16. Mark Beggs, Can, 1:27:52

LC 1
1. Wolfang Sacher, Ger, 1:59:19
2. Michael Lindgren, Swe
3. Mark Bristow, GBr
14. Mark Breton, Can, 1:59:23

LC 2
1. Roberto Alcalde, Esp, 1:42:17
2. Jan Boyen, Bel
3. Moren Jahr, Nor
11. Éric Bourgault, Can, 1:46:01

Full results and other divisions available here.

Competition programme available here.