July 29, 2009 (Lachine, QC) – On Tuesday evening Martin Gilbert (Planet Energy) took his fifth stage win at the 10-stage Mardis Lachine series followed by team mate Max Vives in second and by Jean-Francois Laroche (Kuota) in third. Gilbert will thus keep his yellow jersey for next Tuesday’s race and is looking unstoppable to take the series title on August 11.

Spectators watched a break of seven riders in the last part of the 50km (without any members of the Planet Energy Team) get caught with only two laps to go. Then the peloton shattered on the last lap leading into the final sprint won by Gilbert.

Speaking to the crowd on the podium, Gilbert credited his victory to a solid team effort. “The team did an incredible job this evening,” he explained. “Because of their work, I was able to win.” He joked that the Mardis Cyclistes – with five intermediate sprints – is good training for this coming weekend’s Tour of Elk Grove where there is only one sprint. Gilbert also alluded to the upcoming Tour of Missouri race where it was recently announced that Planet Energy is the final team selected to race there. This will pit Canada’s top team against ProTour competitors. “It might be me or it might be Keven Lacombe who sprints against Mark Cavendish (Columbia) there. But I think Cavendish [who won five stages at the 2009 Tour de France] can be beaten…”

No crashes marred this evening’s race after some nasty spills in recent weeks. Erik Lyman (Independent), who stands accused of causing some of the crashes, was absent this evening. Lyman has refuted the accusations against him and spoke with Pedal photographer Pasquale Stalteri a few days ago and saying that he would be on vacation this week.

Next week will see a media and celebrity race on Montreal’s new rental Bixi bikes just prior to the senior men’s 50km Saputo Cup race. Pedal has not yet confirmed its presence but skier Jennifer Heil, triathlete Kathy Tremblay, and journalist Yves Martineau will be in the start line.

Results (brief)

1. Martin Gilbert (Planet Energy)
2. Max Vives (Planet Energy)
3. Jean Francois Laroche (Kuota)