June 12, 2007 (Lac-Etchemin, QC) — The 2007 edition of the Tour de Beauce is living up to its reputation as a leg breaker. The 105-strong peloton set off this morning under sunny skies for the 180-km opening stage that started and finished in Lac Etchemin, and Canada place 1-2-3 on a day that completely shattered the peloton and set the tone for the final overall classification at the end of this week.

Mark Walters (Can) Kodak Gallery Pro Cycling Team of Peterborough, ON, won the stage with a well-timed solo attack executed with 12 km to go, ending a two-year winless period for Walters after switching from the Navigators team to Kodak Gallery over the winter.

“I haven’t won any races in the past two years, and winning solo is the best way to win,” said Walters after the stage.

Walters came out on top of a 14-rider breakaway that formed shortly after the first mountain sprint of the day at the 68km mark. Walters’ teammate and fellow Canadian, Dominique Rollin (Can) Kodak Gallery Pro Cycling Team, won the sprint to take second ahead of Jacob Erker (Can) of the Symmetrics team.

The lead group worked well together in the windy conditions and by kilometre 90 had built a lead of four minutes. The group consisted of Ben Day (AUS) and David O’Loughlin (IRL) of the Navigators Insurance team; Germans Andreas Schillinger and Phillipp Mamos of Team Sparkasse, Danny Pate (USA) of Team Slipstream, Canadians Svein Tuft and Erker of Symmetrics, Gregorio Ladino Vega (COL) and Juan Pablo Magallenes Aranda (MEX) of Tecos Trek, Rollin and Walters, Craig McCartney (AUS) of Savings and Loans, Canada’s Dominique Perras (Équipe du Québec), and Soren Petersen (DEN) of Farso Denmark.

The most serious threat to the leaders came after the third mountain sprint at 112 km, when a group of eight chasers formed. This group was made up of Valeriy Kobzarenko (UKR) and Glen Alan Chadwick (NZL) of Navigators, Dirk Müller (GER – Sparkasse), Francois Parisien (CAN — Slipstream), Andrew Randell (CAN — Symmetrics), Hector Hugo Rangel (MEX – Tecos) and Jacob Nielsen (DEN — Farso). But the group could never get closer than three-and-a-half minutes before being brought back by a Tecos team anxious to keep the ratio of their riders in the break high.

The rolling terrain took its toll in the final kilometers, and Walters saw his opportunity.
“There were a lot of attacks going on, but everyone was just wrecked,” said Walters. “I just gave it a shot.”

Walters is realistic about his chances of winning the overall, however. “I’ll do what I can — Mégantic is a very steep climb for me, and there are guys who time trial better than me as well,” he said. “Maybe the yellow jersey will motivate me.”

One thing seems certain: the overall winner of this year’s Tour will come out of the 11 top riders in today’s stage. Nobody else is within striking distance of the overall lead after the peloton lost more than 14 minutes.

The early part of the stage was marked by a 75-km solo breakaway by Jean-Sébastien Béland (Can) Volkswagen Trek, who was aiming to repeat his feat of two years ago by securing the mountains classification in the first stage. Things didn’t work out so well for Béland this year, however: despite opening an eight-minute gap, he was caught shortly before the second mountain sprint and finished the stage 32 minutes down on the winner.

Results

1. Mark Walters (Can) Kodak Gallery Pro Cycling Team 4:48:59
2. Dominique Rollin (Can) Kodak Gallery Pro Cycling Team 0:26
3. Jacob Erker (Can) Symmetrics 0:26
4. Ben Day (Aus) Navigators Insurance 0:26
5. David O’Loughlin (Irl) Navigators Insurance 0:26
6. Danny Pate (USA) Team Slipstream 0:26
7. Juan Pablo Magallanes Arawda (Mex) Tecos Trek Vh 0:26
8. Philipp Mamos (Ger) Team Sparkasse 0:26
9. Dominique Perras (Can) Québec 0:26
10. Svein Tuft (Can) Symmetrics 0:26
11. Gregorio Ladino Vega (Col) Tecos Trek Vh 0:26
12. Soren Petersen (Den) Farso Denmark Nat 1:32
13. Craig Mccarney (Aus) Savings And Loans Cycling Team 5:11
14. Jacob Nielsen (Den) Farso Denmark Nat 9:29
15. Charles Dionne (Can) Québec 14:02
16. Tilo Schüler (Ger) Team Sparkasse 14:02
17. Ryan Mckenzie (Can) VW-Trek 14:02
18. Jamie Sparling (Can) La-Z-Boy 14:07
19. Derrick St-John (Can) Garneau-Crocs 14:07
20. Peter Morse (Can) Team Spin 12 14:07
21. Stefan Parinussa (Ger) Team Sparkasse 14:07
22. Rob Britton (Can) La-Z-Boy 14:07
23. Ben Raby (USA) Kodak Gallery Pro Cycling Team 14:07
24. Luis Fernando Macias (Mex) Tecos Trek Vh 14:07
25. Glen Alan Chadwick (Nzl) Navigators Insurance 14:07
26. Francois Parisien (Can) Team Slipstream 14:07
27. Joel Dion-Poitras (Can) Eva-Devinci 14:07
28. Connor Trevor (Can) La-Z-Boy 14:07
29. Hector Hugo Rangel (Mex) Tecos Trek Vh 14:07
30. Lars Wackernagel (Ger) Team Sparkasse 14:07
31. Christian Meier (Can) Symmetrics 14:07
32. Buck Milller (Can) Team R.A.C.E 14:07
33. Mathieu Roy (Can) Eva-Devinci 14:07
34. Ivor Bruin (Den) Farso Denmark Nat 14:07
35. Eric Wohlberg (Can) Symmetrics 14:07
36. David Pell (Aus) Savings And Loans Cycling Team 14:07
37. Alex Howes (USA) Team Slipstream 14:07
38. Fausto Esparza (Mex) Tecos Trek Vh 14:07
39. Timo Honstein (Ger) Team Sparkasse 14:07
40. Andreas Schillinger (Ger) Team Sparkasse 14:07
41. Andrew Randell (Can) Symmetrics 14:07
42. Sergey Lagutin (Uzb) Navigators Insurance 14:07
43. Pascal Bussières (Can) Québec 14:07
44. Dirk Müller (Ger) Team Sparkasse 14:07
45. Valeriy Kobzarenko (Ukr) Navigators Insurance 14:07
46. John Fredy Parra Calada (Col) Tecos Trek Vh 14:07
47. Heberth Gutierrez Garcia (Col) Tecos Trek Vh 14:07
48. Mike Dietrich (USA) Kodak Gallery Pro Cycling Team 14:07
49. Will Routley (Can) Symmetrics 14:07
50. Cirian Power (Irl) Navigators Insurance 14:07
51. Greg Reain (Can) Calyon-Litespeed 14:07
52. Cameron Evans (Can) Symmetrics 14:07
53. Ian Macgregor (USA) Team Slipstream 14:07
54. Dustin Macbernie (Can) Team R.A.C.E 14:07
55. Peter Mueller (Aus) Savings And Loans Cycling Team 14:07
56. Dan Timmerman (USA) Kodak Gallery Pro Cycling Team 14:07
57. Tim Hucker (Aus) Garneau-Crocs 18:59
58. William Goodfellow (Can) VW-Trek 18:59
59. Benjamin Martel (Can) Garneau-Crocs 18:59
60. Jamie Lamb (Can) Garneau-Crocs 18:59
61. Michael Joanisse (Can) Garneau-Crocs 18:59
62. Peter Ladd (Aus) Garneau-Crocs 18:59
63. Rene Ahrenkiel (Den) Farso Denmark Nat 18:59
64. Mark Batty (Can) Team R.A.C.E 18:59
65. André Tremblay (Can) VW-Trek 18:59
66. Maxime Vives (Can) Calyon-Litespeed 18:59
67. Jean-François Racine (Can) Garneau-Crocs 18:59
68. David Veilleux (Can) Québec 18:59
69. Cody O’Rielly (USA) Kodak Gallery Pro Cycling Team 18:59
70. Ryan Beliveau (Can) Calyon-Litespeed 18:59
71. Charly Vives (Can) Calyon-Litespeed 18:59
72. Will Dickison (Aus) Savings And Loans Cycling Team 18:59
73. Thorben Wieditz (Can) Team Spin 12 18:59
74. Matt Guse (Can) Calyon-Litespeed 19:02
75. Mark Pozniak (Can) Team R.A.C.E 19:02
76. Martin Gilbert (Can) Québec 19:02
77. Adam Thuss (Can) Team R.A.C.E 19:02
78. Keven Lacombe (Can) VW-Trek 19:02
79. Morten Christiansen (Den) Farso Denmark Nat 19:02
80. Charlie Bryer (Can) Team Spin 12 19:02
81. Jean-Sebastien Perron (Can) Calyon-Litespeed 19:02
82. Dave Vukets (Can) Team Spin 12 19:02
83. Éric Boily (Can) Eva-Devinci 19:02
84. Oleg Grishkin (Rus) Navigators Insurance 19:02
85. Phil Cortes (Can) Calyon-Litespeed 19:27
86. Brett Aitken (Aus) Savings And Loans Cycling Team 25:12
87. Jesse Athony (USA) Kodak Gallery Pro Cycling Team 26:57
88. Jeffrey Dirksen (Ned) Team R.A.C.E 32:26
89. Jean-Sébastien Beland (Can) VW-Trek 32:29
90. Troy Wells (USA) Team Spin 12 32:29
91. Ugo Lapierre (Can) Farso Denmark Nat 39:01
92. Charles Thibault (Can) Eva-Devinci 39:01
93. Eric Robertson (Can) Team R.A.C.E 39:01
94. Jesper Lund (Den) Farso Denmark Nat 44:46
Hors délai Tyler Trace (Can) La-Z-Boy
Hors délai Dave Brooks (Can) La_Z_Boy
Hors délai Ryan Mcnamara (Can) La-Z-Boy
Hors délai Ian Manning (Can) Team Spin 12
Hors délai Camron Holt (Nzl) Team Spin 12
DNF Mike Friedman (USA) Team Slipstream
DNF Charles Bradley Huff (USA) Team Slipstream
DNF Christian Deshaies (Can) VW-Trek
DNF Frédéric Boivin (Can) Eva-Devinci
DNF Raphael Tremblay (Can) Eva-Devinci
DNF Alexandre Cloutier (Can) Québec

Mountain Classification

1. Gregorio Ladino Vega (Col) Tecos Trek Vh 21
2. Ben Day (Aus) Navigators Insurance 18
3. Dominique Perras (Can) Québec 10
4. Philipp Mamos (Ger) Team Sparkasse 8
5. Jean-Sébastien Beland (Can) Volkswagen Trek 7
6. Mark Walters (Can) Kodak Gallery Pro Cycling Team 7
7. Andreas Schillinger (Ger) Team Sparkasse 5
8. Dustin Macbernie (Can) Team R.A.C.E 5
9. David O’Loughlin (Irl) Navigators Insurance 4
10. Juan Pablo Magallanes Arawda (Mex) Tecos Trek Vh 4
11. Svein Tuft (Can) Symmetrics 3
12. Valeriy Kobzarenko (Ukr) Navigators Insurance 2
13. Glen Alan Chadwick (Nzl) Navigators Insurance 1
14. Dominique Rollin (Can) Kodak Gallery Pro Cycling Team 1

Sprint Classification

1. Dominique Rollin (Can) Kodak Gallery Pro Cycling Team 17
2. Mark Walters (Can) Kodak Gallery Pro Cycling Team 15
3. Jacob Erker (Can) Symmetrics 13
4. Ben Day (Aus) Navigators Insurance 12
5. David O’Loughlin (Irl) Navigators Insurance 11
6. Danny Pate (Usa) Team Slipstream 10
7. Philipp Mamos (Ger) Team Sparkasse 9
8. Juan Pablo Magallanes Arawda (Mex) Tecos Trek Vh 9
9. Dominique Perras (Can) Québec 7
10. Svein Tuft (Can) Symmetrics 6
11. Gregorio Ladino Vega (Col) Tecos Trek Vh 5
12. Soren Petersen (Den) Farso Denmark Nat 4
13. Jean-Sébastien Beland (Can) Volkswagen Trek 3
14. Craig Mccarney (Aus) Savings And Loans Cycling Team 3
15. Stefan Parinussa (Ger) Team Sparkasse 2
16. Andreas Schillinger (Ger) Team Sparkasse 2
17. Jacob Nielsen (Den) Farso Denmark Nat 2
18. Ryan Mckenzie (Can) Volkswagen Trek 1
19. Charles Dionne (Can) Québec 1

Team Classification

1. Kodak Gallery Pro Cycling Team 14:41:30
2. Navigators Insurance 0:26
3. Tecos Trek Vh 0:26
4. Symmetrics 0:26
5. Farso Denmark Nat 10:55
6. Team Sparkasse 14:02
7. Québec 14:02
8. Team Slipstream 14:07
9. Savings And Loans Cycling Team 18:52
10. La-Z-Boy 28:08
11. Team R.A.C.E 32:40
12. Eva-Devinci 32:43
13. Volkswagen Trek 37:27
14. Garneau-Crocs 37:32
15. Calyon-Litespeed 37:32
16. Team Spin 12 37:35