May 30, 2018 (Saint-Georges, QC) – Only a few weeks after the presentation of the Tour of California, the only UCI WorldTour event in America, where the top cyclists on the planet faced off against each other, the headliners of the America Continental peloton will travel to the 2018 Tour de Beauce as motivated as ever!

Currently, at the top of the UCI America Tour team standings, the Rally Cycling, United Healthcare, and Holowesko/Citadel are teams most definitely to watch, especially the latter as Latvian cyclist Andzs Flaksis will attempt to repeat at Tour de Beauce champion. Flaksis perfectly executed the team’s winning strategy in what proved to be a spectacular final stage in 2017, jumping from 8th to first in the general classification to earn the yellow Jersey Desjardins.

However, these three contenders will face a steep challenge to contain the aspirations of the many other teams vying for the America Tour standings, teams that could very well cause several surprises.

This will undoubtedly be the case for UCI Continental teams Team Inteja (Dominican Republic), Jelly Belly P/B Maxxis (United States) and Silber Pro Cycling (Canada), all of whom have already been very successful in Beauce in the recent past and are excited to showcase their colors again this year.

As for the American team Axeon Hagens Berman, comprised entirely of U23 riders, there is no doubt it will want to make every effort to keep the yellow jersey, won last year by Greg Daniel, now with WorldTour team Trek-Segafredo.

However, it is likely that the top step on the final podium will be strongly pursued by Robin Carpenter (Holowesko/Citadel), who finished third in Beauce last year and won the Tour of Alberta later in September, edging the big names of the World Tour. The American cyclist had a great start to the season by taking the overall standings of the Joe Martin Stage Race early in April.

Amateur teams Applewood Garneau p/b Smart Savvy+ (Canada), Team NCCH (Canada), Ride with Rendall (Canada) and VeloSelect-Apogee (Canada) will also be on hand to challenge for the victory and earn valuable experience against America’s best.

Finally, the addition this year of a Quebec Provincial Team and the Canadian National Team will turn heads. On the side of the Fleurdelisée team, it will include a selection of the best prospects of the province and will be driven by veteran Bruno Langlois, who will be attending his 20th Tour de Beauce, an impressive record! Of note is the presence of young Guillaume Davidson of Saint-Georges, who will start his first Tour de Beauce. As for the national team of Canada, no doubt it will be to watch. Team Selection is still to be confirmed as management is working to finalize the project details. The final list should be known and disseminated shortly.

In short, the action will not fail, while the pack will still be composed this year of top athletes from more than twenty countries, many of which are some of the best hopes of global cycling.

Sanctioned by the International Cycling Union (UCI) as a 2.2 category race, the Tour de Beauce is a must for the men’s cycling elite and the most important stage race in Canada for 2018.