Spain’s Caja Rural – Seguros RGA claims Stage 1 at the 2015 Tour de Beauce

Spain’s Caja Rural- Seguros RGA put in strong performance Wednesday at the Tour de Beauce in St. Georges, Que., with two members taking the top two spots of the Stage 1 podium. Dion Smith, riding for Hincapie Racing Team, placed third.

Fresh from his win in Philadelphia, Carlos Barbero Cuestra adds another feather to his helmet with Wednesday’s results. Along with teammate Eduard Prades Reverter, Cuestra crossed the finish line after a hard, fast sprint in the race’s last metres, edging past the peloton to claim the stage. It was the end result, however, of a solid team effort that saw Cuestra, Reverter, teammate Fernando Grijalba Perrez, and five others blast past the pack in an eight-man breakaway—and keep that momentum going throughout the race.

By the final sprint, the group from Caja Rural – Seguros RGA had put Cuestra and Reverter, their two strongest riders, in a strategic position to take the win. The strategy worked in Philadelphia, and it seemed to work pretty well once again.

“I felt great,” Cuestra said after the race, speaking through an interpreter. “I am very happy with this stage victory as the team worked so hard for us. The guys knew I was good and we knew that the last metres of the finish, uphill, would suit very well with Eduard and me. It was the same kind of finish in Philadelphia.”

Despite the team’s two strong performances in Philadelphia and Quebec, however, they’re still being cautious going forward, rather than hitting the competition on all cylinders. “We have different strategies depending on the positions of the other teams,” said sports director Jose Miguel Fernandez, “and we run one step at a time.”

The Tour’s second stage, meanwhile, kicks off Thursday morning at Mont-Mégantic in Lac Mégantic, Que.—a 169 km climber’s playground.