June 20, 2019 (Mont-Mégantic, QC) – Defending champ, James Piccoli (Team Canada), claimed the brutal 169km queen Stage 2 on Mont-Mégantic at the 34th annual Tour de Beauce, as fellow Canuck, Nick Zukowsky (Floyd’s Pro Cycling), took over the race lead. Keegan Swirbul (Floyd’s Pro Cycling) was second and Kyle Murphy (Rally UHC Cycling) finished third.

Canada saw 5 riders in the top 10 on the renowed climb with Adam Roberge (Team Canada) 5th, Zukowsky 6th, Ben Katerberg (Cycling B.C.) 7th and Pier-André Côté (Rally UHC Cycling), recent winner of three stages at GP de Saguenay, in 9th.

The peloton faced difficult weather with heavy showers and a maximum temperature of 15° C. Despite several attempts nothing stayed clear on the hilly stage with five KOM Classification climbs as a group of 30+ riders arrived at the base of the feared 4km climb in Parc National Mont-Mégantic.

Well-protected by his Canadian National teammates, Piccoli broke away alone maintaining about a 20-second gap that melted slightly in the last stretch. Five strong pursuers were just behind him, including Swirbul, Murphy and Serghei Tvetcov (Rou) Floyd’s Pro Cycling Team but Piccoli kept up the pace by managing his effort perfectly.

In rain and fog, the defending champ raised his arms after 4:15:00 to take the win and put himself back in contention at 33 seconds behind Zukowsky who finished sixth today.

“The race was really open with a lot of breaks. It was chaos but I had all my teammates to help me. They did it perfectly and I’m happy to have finished the job,” said Piccoli. Last year, Piccoli began a comeback in the overall standings when he won the Quebec City Criterium before getting his hands on the title on the last day in the streets of Saint-Georges.

A frozen, Zukowsky, the new yellow jersey wearer and champion of the Grand Prix Saguenay last Sunday, could hardly smile on the podium as riders battled wind and rain on the summit climb. “We tried to join him but he was really strong,” said Zuke.

The dangerous Tvetcov, seconnd at Beauce last year, finished 4th in the stage, while Quebec’s Adam Roberge (Team Canada), in 5th today and 8th overall, is also a strong time trial rider.

Friday’s double-stage day features a challenging 19.4km individual time trial on Friday morning in Saint-Prosper, Stage 3a, followed by a short early evening 77km, Stage 3b, that ends at the top of the wall on 20th Street in Notre-Dame-des-Pins. More fireworks are coming.

Results here.