June 12, 2006 – The 21st edition of the Tour de Beauce will be officially launched tomorrow morning with Stage 1, a 153km road race beginning at 10:00 am in Lac-Etchemin and finishing at 2:00 pm in the same town.

The Tour de Beauce runs from Tuesday, June 13 until the final stage on Sunday, June 18 and features 22 teams including squads from Germany, Australia, Canada, United States, Netherlands, New Zealand, Ireland, Mexico and Japan.

Nearly 150 riders, from 16 different countries, will cover almost 830 km in the Beauce, Etchemins and National Captial region.

Last year’s edition was won by Australia’s Nathan O’Neill (Health Net), but O’Neill will not be battling for his title this year since he now rides with a new team. However, the 2005 winning team, Navigators Insurance, will be at the Tour de Beauce defending their title.