June 19, 2011 (St-Georges, QC) – Spain’s Francisco Mancebo Perez (Realcyclist.com) became the new champion of the Tour de Beauce, maintaining his lead in the overall standings following the 6th and final stage, a 125km circuit race through the streets of Saint-Georges. With his combined time of 18:31:18 Mancebo ended up with a 45-second lead over Bernardo Colex (Mex) Amore & Vita and 49 seconds over the top Canadian Svein Tuft (SpiderTech p/b C10). Team Canada’s Dominique Rollin finished in 13th overall.

Mancebo’s victory had a special meaning for his Directeur Sportif, Gord Fraser, a regular fixture at the Tour de Beauce, as much as a rider as a Directeu Sportif. “The Beauce race has always been special for me,” said Fraser, “And to have played a part in this victory for the yellow jersey is really meaningful. It is my first win here as Directeur Sportif and that is really special for me. We arrived here early in order to prepare ourselves after the competitions in Philadelphia and that was useful. The team put in a big effort.”

Interview with Gord Fraser


Fraser recalled that exactly 10 years ago he contributed as a teammate Henk Vogels took the win (2001). “I know the courses and routes in the Beauce like the back of my hand, and that really helps. We were able to bring Francisco where he wanted to be and after that he did the work. He’s a very strong rider.”

Mancebo and his team worked extremely hard on the final stage to keep the pack at a reasonable distance from a 4-man breakaway group that included Tuft and American Alex Howes (Chipotle). This group, at one point, had almost a 1-minute-50-second lead, which in virtual time meant Mancebo had lost the yellow jersey.

The Realcyclist.com team reacted and were able to catch the break at the 100km mark. “I had said yesterday that it was necessary to work hard,” commented Mancebo, “And that’s exactly what I did. Up ahead, in the breakaway, we knew that those guys were tired, and we were a little more rested in the pack so we were able to narrow the gap in no time.”

Canadian Tuft, the winner of the final stage, gave all he could and was rewarded with another stage win when he crossed the finish line. In the break for 50+km Tuft didn’t slow down when the break was caught. “Pat [McCarty] counter-attacked immediately and I followed suit. Mancebo and Colex [Bernardo] spent some energy in bringing back the pack, so that I could take advantage again.”

Interview with Svein Tuft



“We came here to get the yellow jersey and we knew that the riders were strong but we didn’t know just which team would appear,”added Tuft. “If there’s one thing I would do over in this race, it would be the first stage where I left a little too much time between myself and the leaders. What I liked above all was the teamwork. Everyone put in a big effort and that’s what is most satisfying.”

Besides his second stage win, Tuft was back on the podium claiming 3rd overall in the final standings and again as SpiderTech won the overall Team Classification. On top of his yellow jersey, Mancebo also took home the white Points jersey. The King of the Mountain for the best climber went to Scott Lyttle (Pure Black Racing) and the best young rider was awarded to Alex Howes (USA) Chipotle.

SpiderTech powered by C10 Stage 6 Final Report

Svein Tuft of Team SpiderTech powered by C10 raced to his second stage victory of the 2011 Tour de Beauce as the 2011 edition came to an end on Sunday with the presentation of the sixth stage and final stage of Canada’s top cycling stage-race.

More than 100 cyclists took part in this 2011 edition stage, and the remaining 50 attacked the urban course in the city of Saint-Georges de Beauce for a total distance of 125 km. Tuft won the stage with a time of 3:02:05, 18 seconds ahead of the Canadian Andrew Pinfold (United Healthcare). Brett Trivers (Garneau-Shoe Club) of New Zealand finished third.

“Today was a pretty good one. Initially, we wanted to blow the race apart and put all the pressure on Mancebo. When my first break got caught, Pat [McCarty] was awesome covering the moves, which allowed me to relax and recover for the final time up the climb. From that point, I made my plan for the attack, which stuck to the finish,” said Tuft, a champion of the 2008 Tour de Beauce. “We came here at the Tour de Beauce for the Overall, but sometimes that doesn’t always work out. The week was great and the team was superb. I am very proud of the guys and the way they raced this week.”

Tuft of Langley, British Columbia, finished the race in third place of the General Classification. It’s Francisco Mancebo-Perez of Team RealCyclist.com that won top honors and the yellow jersey of the race leader, completing the six-stage race with a time of 18: 35: 36, 25 seconds ahead of his closest rival, Mexican Bernardo Colex of Amore & Vita.

New Zealand’s Scott Lyttle of PureBlack Racing grabbed the title of the best climber – King of the Mountain, while Alex Howes of Chipotle was the Best Young Rider (U23). Mancebo-Perez also won the Points classification of the six-day race.

Team SpiderTech powered by C10 ends this Tour de Beauce with four podiums, including two stage wins. The only Canadian-based UCI Pro-continental team finished first overall in the team rankings among the 17 teams registered for the event.

Kevin Field, team director for SpiderTech at the Tour de Beauce, could not have been more proud of the guys who raced: “This tour has been a big success in terms of results, but more importantly, beneath the surface, also a success for the way the team rode as a team. This Tour de Beauce was the biggest achievement. The inter-team communication, the cohesion, the tactical execution and commitment was at a new level for us.”

“In our race meeting, we discussed several things, but one of the most important was that even if it is all back together on the last lap – don’t give up. The tenacity Svein showed in his final attack was bang-on-point. We were willing to risk it all today and that is what you need to do. I am just really happy for the guys, they were just fantastic today,” continued Field.

Cyclists from Team SpiderTech now have a only a few days to celebrate their successes at the Tour de Beauce before taking part in the 2011 IMMUNITY-FX Canadian Road Championships powered by Canaccord Wealth Management, to be held this upcoming week in Burlington, Ontario. Will Routley (Whistler, BC) and Svein Tuft will defend their Canadian titles in the road race and time trial race respectively. SpiderTech’s Hugo Houle is also the reigning Canadian U23 Champion in time trials.

Full results HERE.