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Tour de l’Abitibi 2014: Stage 1 report

Bouhanni wins stage one. Photo credit: Christian Leduc
Bouhanni wins stage one. Photo credit: Christian Leduc

On Tuesday, French cyclist Ryane Bouhanni of Team France won the opening road stage at the Tour de l’Abitibi, Canada’s top international junior stage race. Bouhanni who is the younger brother of WorldTour sprinter Nacer Bouhanni of FDJ.com was able to out kick Danish rider Magnus Bak Klaris. The duo finished clear of the peloton by 15-seconds in what was a fast opening stage. Some of the best 17-to-18-year-old riders in the world completed the 115-km stage with an average speed of 45km/h.

The top-placed Canadians were Raphael Auclair (Equipe Quebec) and Pier-André Côté (Team Canada) in 10th and 11th place respectively.

The stage began in Rouyn-Noranda and featured predominantly flat roads en route to Amos. Once the group arrived in Amos, the peloton completed three circuits of 5 km in the town. The high speeds and ferocity of the junior racers is always a talking point regarding the Tour. With its UCI Junior Coupes des Nations status, the Tour de l’Abitibi is an important race for up-and-coming cyclists of the future. Former stage and overall winners include many WorldTour riders such as Taylor Phinney of Team BMC and Canadian Guillaume Boivin of Cannondale Pro Cycling.

Full results can be found at the Tour de l’Abitibi.