A surprise 2nd place finish for Martin Gilbert (independent), thanks to a very strong final sprint, now ranks him 13th in the field. Lambert-Lemay’s teammate Pierrick Naud came in third place but still leads the board with a total of 274 points. Last week’s winner wearing the coveted yellow jersey, Felix Côté-Bouvette (Ekoï-Devinci) finished 6th (244 points on GC).
Lambert-Lemay won the 50km race with a time of 1:02:02. He didn’t break the 58:52 record, which would earn a prize purse of $15,000. The large pack of 108 registered cyclists clocked an average time of 48.3km/h, slower than last week’s average speed of 44.1km/h which had slippery wet conditions and only 42 riders competing.
Mardis Cyclistes founder and president, Joseph “Tino” Rossi was very pleased to have one of Quebec’s cycling heroes, Louis Garneau, riding in this week’s race.
The Garneau-Quebecor team must have been motivated by having the iconic Garneau riding alongside, as they placed 1st and 3rd with Lambert-Lemay and Naud earing152 and 150 points respectively.
Defending series champion Jean-Francois Laroche (Fantino Mondello/Cycles Régis) missed the podium last week, and came in fourth place at round 3. He still picked up enough points today with his good finish and consistent sprints to maintain third place in the overall series standings with 230 points.
Hugues Lapointe (Opus/OGC) was this week’s most aggressive rider scoring 9 points for a 3-stage total of 15 points. Simon-Pierre Gauthier (Garneau-Quebecor) who won the title last week now has a 9 points. This week’s winning performance gives Simon Lambert-Lemay (Garneau-Quebecor) a 7-point total.
The women’s 24.15 km race, placed Rosalie Cardin-Houde (iamgold-Specialized) in front with a winning time of 33:53, followed in second place by Catherine Ouellette (André Cycle-Kaycan-RDS). Third place finish went to Audrey-Anne Blais (André Cycle-Kaycan-RDS).
Among the young men, Thierry Kirouac-Marcassa (VCL-André Cycle) won in his category with a time of 33:53, followed by Antoine Côté (VCL-André Cycle) while Maxime St-Jules (Véloselect) placed third. There were 21 participants in this group.
Gabriel Drapeau-Zgorlaski (VCL-André Cycle) won the 16.1 km minime (boy’s) race and sits 2nd overall (153 points) behind series leader Griffin Schwartz (Independent-RP) who finished second and has 165 points. Third place went to Antoine Dalterio (Espoirs Laval Primeau Vélo).
Among the young girls, Laurie Jussaume (Dynamiks de Contrecoeur) won today’s stage followed by Charlotte Tousignant (Espoirs Laval Primeau Vélo) in 2nd and Emilie Fortin (Espoirs Laval Primeau Vélo) in third.
Tuesday, June 25 will be the fourth stage in the 10-stage series that concludes on Tuesday, August 6, featuring races around LaSalle Park in the Montreal borough of Lachine. The races begin at 5:30 p.m. and the Pro-Elite men’s race starts at 7 p.m. Admission is free for all spectators.
Results
Senior Men
1. Simon Lambert-Lemay (Garneau-Quebecor)
2. Martin Gilbert (Independant)
3. Pierrick Naud (Garneau-Quebecor)
4. Jean-Francois Laroche (Fantino Mondello/Cycles Régis)
5.
6. Felix Côté-Bouvette (Ekoï-Devinci)