June 14, 2017 (Saint-Georges, QC) – Quebec’s Émile Jean of Silber Pro Cycling Team powered to victory at the 185km opening stage of the 32nd Tour de Beauce, after a well-launched attack in the final sprint to the line to don the yellow jersey at the legendary UCI stage race – post-race interview with Jean below.

American Ian Garrison (Axon Hagens Berman), 19, settled for second place, while Travis McCabe (USA) United Healthcare), 28, claimed the final podium spot at 10 seconds behind in the lead chase group. Jean recently won Stage 2 in La Baie at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Saguenay demonstrating his capable sprinting talent – full interview with Jean below.

Jean and Garrison were the final two protagonists from a 25-rider strong break that formed early on as Oscar Clark (USA) Holowesko / Citadel p/b Hincapie Sportswear was the first to escape on the 31km intial flat section out of Saint-Georges in cool and windy weather.

Clark was caught on the first of eight laps on the 15km St-Odilon circuit as eight riders including Jean, Bruno Langlois (Can) Garneau Quebecor and Chad Beyer (USA) Canyon got up the road.

Soon after the break swelled to 25 riders and the gap started to grow eclipsing 17 minutes at one point. Many top contenders  including Ryan Roth (Can) Silber and Francisco Mancebo (Esp) Canyon missed the winning move. Novo Nordisk and Lowestrates were absent from the break.

While the chasing pack tried in vain having missed the train, the leaders were motivated and on a mission. Leaving the road circuit of Saint-Odilon-de-Cranbourne, the final battle began with the USA’s Beyer particularly active.

The attacks began and it was Garrison, Jean and Laurent Gervais (Can) Aevolo who opened a gap that was suddenly 40 seconds with 10km to go as the chasers tried to reel them in. But the trio had other plans and when Gervais popped and it was a two-horse race between Jean and Garrison.

Jean, 23, originally from Trois-Rivières, still had energy in the tank and took the lead over Garrison on the difficult 300-meter final upward sprint to the finish.

“Last week’s victory gave me confidence [at GP de Saguenay]. I found myself in the right group and I knew I had chances. This is the stage I was aiming for,” said the winner post-race.

All of the jerseys up for grabs were captured by riders in the winning break. Jean was all smiles in yellow while the White Points jersey went to McCabe. Ignacio Sarabia Diaz (Mex) Inteja, will wear the best climber’s jersey and Garrison is in red for the Under 23 competition.

Canadian road champion, Langlois, in 11th overall commented, “At the start of the race, we were racing well in the break, but more than 15 guys joined us. The group was now quite large and several in the break didn’t contribute,” said the 38-year-old veteran.

Action continues with the 169 km Stage 2 and the grueling climb up Mont-Mégantic for more fireworks.

Interview with Jean

Results here.