Cadel Evans victorious in Black Diamond
Former world champion and Tour de France winner Cadel Evans (BMC) won the fourth stage of the Tour of Alberta on Saturday. The Australian won a tactical breakaway sprint to the line ahead of Simon Geschke (Argos-Shimano), Tom Jelte Slagter (Belkin), Ben Day (UnitedHealthcare) and under 23 road champion Antoine Duchesne (Team Canada) in Black Diamond.
“I didn’t know how fast the finish area was and I had to play a bit of luck, mainly patience and waiting it out to the end,” Evans said. “In terms of terrain, the stage wasn’t too difficult compared to a Tour de France stage, but it was cold and that was a shock to the system. The fatigue in the legs from yesterday made today hard. We collaborated really well as a group, first with nine riders and then with five of us. It was good to keep the collaboration going and then play out the sprint in the final few hundred metres.”
Rohan Dennis (Garmin-Sharp) maintained his lead in the overall classification heading into the Stage 5 finale on Sunday in Calgary.
The penultimate stage of the Tour of Alberta was a 169-km race around the town of Black Diamond. It included two king of the mountain ascents on the shorter circuits at 82 km and 120 km during the race.
A breakaway formed with Canada’s Ryan Roth (Champion System), Nic Hamilton (Jelly Belly presented by Kenda) and Duchesne (Team Canada). Also in the move was Slagter (Belkin), Day (UnitedHealthcare), Geschke (Argos-Shimano), Clay Murfet (SmartStop presented my Mountain Khakis) and Evans (BMC), who was the highest placed in the overall at more than 17 minutes back behind Dennis.
The riders quickly gained just under 11 minutes ahead of the field led by BMC and Garmin-Sharp, teams that contributed to the chase at the front of the main field for most of the race.
Slagter won the two king of the mountain ascents on the smaller circuits. He and Geschke tried to gain time on their breakaway companions after the second ascent and opened up a 15-second gap.
Evans, Day and Duchesne bridged across to form a lead group of five riders. They built more than a minute lead on the four chasers and 12 minutes ahead of the main field before reaching the finishing town of Black Diamond.
Day attacked with two kilometres to go and held a small lead. With 300 metres to go, Geschke started his sprint, caught and passed Day, but nipped at the line by Evans .
Duchesne earned the most aggressive rider jersey for his effort during the stage. “I’ve been watching these riders all my life. Being up in the break and then making the split was really amazing, really cool. Gord [Fraser] told me to be patient and not to cover too many moves at the end. That’s what I tried to do. Sprints aren’t my cup of tea and I did the best I could.”
Stage results:
- Cadel Evans (BMC)
- Simon Geschke (Argos-Shimano)
- Tom Jelte Slagter (Belkin)
- Ben Day (UnitedHealthcare)
- Antoine Duchesne (Team Canada)
Overall classification:
1. Rohan Dennis (Garmin-Sharp)
