June 6, 2010 (Saguenay, Quebec) – Playing the “classical” yellow jersey defence strategy to perfection, the Slovenian National Team managed to protect Luka Mezgec’s lead in order to win the overall title of the Coupe des Nations-Ville de Saguenay on Sunday.

The 21 year old Mezgec could not thank his teammates enough “They were brilliant, really. They were so strong, always riding at a high steady rhythm and slowly catching all the attackers, I think every single one of them could have won this race. I was never worried or isolated for the whole stage, and all I had to do was to follow a few attacks from 2nd and 3rd overall, Colombian Camilo Andres Suarez and American Ben King. This win is as much my teammates as mine.”

A group of 30 riders or so came to the finish line together downtown Chicoutimi, and after LeBon win yesterday it was another Frenchman who took the honours, Arnaud Demare. Germans Marcel Meisen and Phillip Ries came in 2nd and 3rd on the day.

Canadian Arnaud Papillon came in 12th on the day but more importantly, he finished 5th overall, a slim 15 seconds down on Mezgec. “Obviously when you are so close to the lead you are aiming at winning, but I happy with my race. More so, it is good for me to show that I have the level to be very competitive at this level,” said the 21 years old Papillon.

David Boily was again on the attack today, pulling a solo move with 30km to go for about 10km, and he managed to hold on to his lead to win the King of the Mountain competition.

Canadian National Team director Vincent Jourdain was happy with his team efforts “With Arnaud Papillon 5th place overall, David Boily best climber jersey and Hugo Houle 3rd position on stage 1, it’s been an excellent week. More so, I am very satisfied with the way the team behaved as a unit, working well together. I think we have a good depth of talent in this category right now”.

This concluded the 3rd edition of the race. With the popular and sporting success of the event, it will no doubt be back and keep growing next year.

The 3rd edition of UCI Nations Cup-Ville de Saguenay (Quebec, Canada) was held from June 3rd to 6th 2010. It is the 6th of 7 races part the UCI Nations Cup for the world’s best male riders aged 19 to 22 years old. It is the only event of this series outside Europe.

Results

1. Arnaud Demare (Fra) France 3:04:16
2. Marcel Meisen (Ger) Allemagne
3. Philipp Ries (Ger) Allemagne
4. Gavin Mannion (USA) USA
5. Arnaud Courteille (Fra) France
6. Youheni Patenko (Blr) Mixte UCI
7. Nikita Umerbekov (Kaz) Kazakhstan
8. Geoffrey Soupe (Fra) France
9. Armindo Fonseca (Fra) France
10. Christopher Juul-Jensen (Den) Danemark
11. Joël Zangerle (Lux) Luxembourg
12. Arnaud Papillon (Can) Canada B
13. Nairo Alexander Quintana (Col) Colombie
14. Ki Ho Choi (Hkg) Mixte UCI
15. Blaz Furdi (Slo) Slovénie
16. Gabor Kasa (Srb) Mixte UCI
17. Luka Mezgec (Slo) Slovénie
18. Vladislav Gorbunov (Kaz) Kazakhstan
19. Benjamin King (USA) USA
20. Carson Miller (USA) USA
21. Arman Kamyshev (Kaz) Kazakhstan
22. Marek Canecky (Svk) Mixte UCI
23. Camilo Andres Suarez (Col) Colombie
24. Johan Chaves (Col) Colombie
25. Jhon Darwin Atapuma (Col) Colombie 0:04
26. Jarlinson Pantano (Col) Colombie
27. Hugo Sebastian Salazar (Col) Colombie
28. Yevgeniy Pelyaikin (Kaz) Kazakhstan
29. Johan Lebon (Fra) France 0:09
30. Andi Bajc (Slo) Slovénie 0:18
31. Sebastian Lander (Den) Danemark 0:40
32. David Boily (Can) Canada A
33. Hugo Houle (Can) Canada B
34. Fabian Danner (Ger) Allemagne 0:54
35. Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eri) Mixte UCI
36. Mathieu Desniou (Fra) France
37. Mike Willam (Ger) Allemagne
38. TOM Thill (Lux) Luxembourg
39. Marcus Christie (Irl) Irlande 1:01
40. Matteo Dal-Cin (Can) Canada B 1:01
41. Daniil Fominykh (Kaz) Kazakhstan 1:01
42. Cole House (USA) USA 1:08
43. Keir Plaice (Can) Canada A 1:11
44. Pierrick Naud (Can) Canada B 1:11
45. Nicki Rasmussen (Den) Danemark 1:11
46. Jan Tratnik (Slo) Slovénie 1:18
47. Ricky Jørgensen (Den) Danemark 2:30
48. Mads Meyer (Den) Danemark 2:30
49. Yannick Meyer (Ger) Allemagne 2:30
50. Spencer Smitheman (Can) Canada A 6:12
51. Jamie Riggs (Can) Canada A
52. Tom Schanen (Lux) Luxembourg
53. Ivo Lux (Lux) Luxembourg
54. Pelle Clapp (Den) Danemark
55. Simon Lambert-Lemay (Can) Canada B
56. Sascha Weber (Ger) Allemagne
57. Ramon Carretero (Pan) Panama 10:34
58. Jorge Castillo (Pan) Panama 10:36
59. Miras Bederbekov (Kaz) Kazakhstan
60. Michael Joanisse (Can) Canada A
61. Corey Farrell (USA) USA
62. Blaz Jarc (Slo) Slovénie

Final GC
1. Luka Mezgec (Slo) Slovénie 13:24:20
2. Camilo Andres Suarez (Col) Colombie 0:11
3. Benjamin King (USA) USA 0:13
4. Arnaud Courteille (Fra) France 0:15
5. Arnaud Papillon (Can) Canada B 0:15
6. Christopher Juul-Jensen (Den) Danemark 0:17
7. Ki Ho Choi (Hkg) Mixte UCI 0:29
8. Arman Kamyshev (Kaz) Kazakhstan 0:33
9. Marek Canecky (Svk) Mixte UCI 0:38
10. Carson Miller (USA) USA 0:51
11. Geoffrey Soupe (Fra) France 1:06
12. Jarlinson Pantano (Col) Colombie 1:14
13. Nairo Alexander Quintana (Col) Colombie 1:30
14. Gabor Kasa (Srb) Mixte UCI 1:30
15. Blaz Furdi (Slo) Slovénie 1:39
16. Johan Chaves (Col) Colombie 1:46
17. Hugo Sebastian Salazar (Col) Colombie 3:25
18. Yevgeniy Pelyaikin (Kaz) Kazakhstan 3:29
19. David Boily (Can) Canada A 4:10
20. Mathieu Desniou (Fra) France 4:39
21. Joël Zangerle (Lux) Luxembourg 5:58
22. Ricky Jørgensen (Den) Danemark 6:04
23. Andi Bajc (Slo) Slovénie 6:06
24. Daniil Fominykh (Kaz) Kazakhstan 7:07
25. Hugo Houle (Can) Canada B 7:12
26. Pierrick Naud (Can) Canada B 7:17
27. Mads Meyer (Den) Danemark 8:46
28. Nicki Rasmussen (Den) Danemark 10:18
29. Matteo Dal-Cin (Can) Canada B 11:08
30. Keir Plaice (Can) Canada A 11:13
31. Marcus Christie (Irl) Irlande 13:10
32. Johan Lebon (Fra) France 14:29
33. Marcel Meisen (Ger) Allemagne 14:41
34. Arnaud Demare (Fra) France 14:53
35. Nikita Umerbekov (Kaz) Kazakhstan 14:53
36. Jhon Darwin Atapuma (Col) Colombie 15:00
37. Gavin Mannion (USA) USA 15:20
38. Vladislav Gorbunov (Kaz) Kazakhstan 15:28
39. Sebastian Lander (Den) Danemark 15:58
40. Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eri) Mixte UCI 16:20
41. TOM Thill (Lux) Luxembourg 16:22
42. Cole House (USA) USA 17:18
43. Simon Lambert-Lemay (Can) Canada B 18:07
44. Sascha Weber (Ger) Allemagne 18:07
45. Youheni Patenko (Blr) Mixte UCI 18:38
46. Jan Tratnik (Slo) Slovénie 19:32
47. Philipp Ries (Ger) Allemagne 21:07
48. Pelle Clapp (Den) Danemark 21:32
49. Spencer Smitheman (Can) Canada A 22:09
50. Yannick Meyer (Ger) Allemagne 23:47
51. Ramon Carretero (Pan) Panama 24:40
52. Armindo Fonseca (Fra) France 28:53
53. Fabian Danner (Ger) Allemagne 31:42
54. Mike Willam (Ger) Allemagne 34:13
55. Jamie Riggs (Can) Canada A 36:00
56. Ivo Lux (Lux) Luxembourg 37:00
57. Tom Schanen (Lux) Luxembourg 39:35
58. Jorge Castillo (Pan) Panama 40:28

Team Classification

1. Mixte UCI 40:14:13
2. Slovénie 01:10
3. Colombie 01:54
4. France 02:15
5. Danemark 07:47
6. Kazakhstan 08:17
7. USA 10:13
8. Canada B 12:56
9. Canada A 26:48
10. Allemagne 47:46
11. Luxembourg 58:07