Caja Rural takes Stage 2 at the Tour de Beauce

The Tour de Beauce moved on to Stage 2 on Thursday, changing locales from Saint-Georges to the hills outside Lac-Mégantic, and it was once again Spain’s day to shine—although not without a fight.

Starting in Lac-Mégantic and climbing to the summit of Mont Mégantic National Park, the second stage of the Tour—a 169 km race, ascending 1848 m—belonged once again to Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, who owned the competition during Stage 1 in Saint-Georges. After Stage 1, riders Amets Txurruka and Pello Bilbao, two strong, reputed climbers, were identified as the cyclists to watch going into Thursday’s competition. That prediction turned out to be strikingly accurate.

Surging ahead in an 80-km breakaway, Optum presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies seemed to have the race in the bag as it neared the foot of Mont Mégantic. “We road 80 km in a breakaway and the rider from Hincapie seemed strong,” said Optum’s Guillaume Boivin, “but I knew that if we made it to the bottom of the climb, I was confident he would let me go. For a chance at the top, he would have needed a two and a half minute gap.” Caja Rural, meanwhile, was spending its well-banked energy as it closed in from behind. “The Caja Rural team had to work hard to bring its riders at the bottom of the hill,” Boivin said. Optum, however, was working to put Mike Woods and Phil Gaimon in a position to take the mountain.

As the pack climbed, a crash involving a dozen riders did away with that strategy completely. Woods, Gaimon and one other rider were taken out of contention by the accident, with Woods hit especially hard. “It happened just before me,” he said. His chances of claiming the stage totally shot, Woods, however, soldiered on and finished the stage—despite being badly banged up by the crash.

“I was like Superman,” the Canadian rider said, recalling the crash. “I flew over some riders before going down. My bike went into the ditch and by the time that I got up to jump in the saddle, the main group was already too far ahead for me to rejoin. It was too late. But it was the ideal situation for me; everyone on the team worked hard and I felt in better shape than last year.”

The makeup of the peloton, of course, was completely reshaped by the crash, making the race’s decisive fight a contest between Caja Rural and Hincapie. Txurruka battled third-place finisher Tom Skukins in the last 2 km. As the race neared the summit, the fight continued for several more minutes, until Txurruka went on the offensive during its final stretch. “I attacked in the final kilometre,” Txurruka said. “I am very comfortable in mountain races and once again the team did a lot of work at the front of the pack. We were all in the attacks.”

Dumped by Txurruka in that last kilometre, Skujins found himself edged by Bilbao, giving the Caja Rural rider the advantage needed to claim a second-place finish. Skujins—last year’s Mont Mégantic stage winner—remains confident going into the rest of the race, though. “I hope I can repeat my last year’s crown, or it could be Dion Smith, who is strong in the time trial.”

Still, Txurruka nonetheless concedes that his greatest challenge in the race is ahead of him. “Tomorrow in the time trial, it will be more difficult for me,” he said. “I’m not the best in this kind of race.”

That time trial happens Friday morning in Saint-Georges, followed by the criterium in the evening.