Canadians at the Tour of California
Francois Parisien finishes in 6th position in the second stage of the Tour of California.
Stage two of the Tour of California was punctuated with heavy rain and multiple crashes on the twisty descents leading into Santa Rosa, California. One rider commented on Twitter that he saw more than 25 separate crashes during the 177.2 kilometer race from Davis to Santa Rosa. The Canadian riders are holding their own in this stage race, showing their faces in the breaks and always present in the final move.
Francois Parisien of SpiderTech Powered by Planet Energy was the highest finisher in Monday’s stage, finishing in 6th position. Earlier in the day, Parisien’s team mate Andrew Randell was in an early break that gained as much as 6:40 on the chasing peloton. The break was steadily pulled in by the combined horsepower of Team Radio Shack and HTC-Colombia. Australia’s Brett Lancaster riding for the Cervelo Test Team took the win on the day.
Unfortunately, Andrew Pinfold racing for United HealthCare presented by Maxxis was forced to withdraw from the race when his second crash in as many days, sent him to the hospital to get checked out. Pinfold says, he did suffer “road rash on top of road rash.”
Here are the results for the Canadian riders:
8 Ryder Hesjedal Garmin-Transitions
42 Ryan Anderson Kelly Benefit Strategies
46 Will Routley Jelly Belly Presented by Kenda
53 David Boily SpiderTech Powered by Planet Energy
59 Robert Britton Bissell
70 Andrew Randell SpiderTech Powered by Planet Energy
75 Dominique Rollin Cervelo Test Team
76 David Veilleux Kelly Benefit Strategies
82 Charles Dionne Fly V Australia
108 Guillaume Boivin SpiderTech Powered by Planet Energy
109 Martin Gilbert SpiderTech Powered by Planet Energy
114 Bruno Langlois SpiderTech Powered by Planet Energy
121 Eric Boily SpiderTech Powered by Planet Energy
125 Zachary Bell Kelly Benefit Strategies
Tuesday’s stage takes the riders on one of the most scenic stages of the Tour of California, racing from San Francisco to Santa Cruz. The 182.9 kilometer route is highlighted with the Bonny Doon Road climb after 150 kilometers of racing.
