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Tour de Beauce 2014 : Early break wins in Quebec City

June 15, 2014
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QuebecOn Saturday, Leonardo Pinizzotto (Amore Vita-Selle SMP) won the fourth stage of the Tour de Beauce ahead of Brodie Talbot (Team Budget-Forklifts). The duo were the two remnants of the day’s early break-away. They were able to just barely hold off the main field lead by Jure Kocjan (Team SmartStop) by meager 13-seconds at the finish.

Once again the weather was a major facet in the day’s racing. The race featured nine laps of a 14.5-km course that is both mentally and physically taxing. The parcours are technical with several sharp bends, narrow streets and various forms of road furniture interspersed throughout. The wet conditions only added to the difficulties faced by the field. The opening three laps were aggressive and fast as an early break-away was imminent. However it took over 30km before the break finally established a worthy gap. The major teams were all jockeying to ensure that the break’s composition was to their tactical advantage.

The move that forced a split contained five riders, eventual winner Pinizotto, his teammate Viesturs Luksevics, Bjorn Selander (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies), Robbie Squire (Jamis Hagens Berman and Brodie Talbot. There was a chase group that formed but it never made it across the gap. Race leader Tom Skujins (Hincapie Development Cycling) had his team ride on the front and control the pace as the day’s racing progressed. The gap reached a peak of three minutes before the Hincapie team slowly brought the break to within reach. In the closing laps the early move splintered and ultimately Pinizotto road away from Talbot in the finale.

Skujins held onto his race lead finishing fifth on the stage. Mike Woods (Amore Vita–Selle SMP) was the top Canadian placing 11 on the stage. He finished just ahead of Garett McLeod (Team H&R Block) and Rob Britton (Team SmartStop) in 13 and 14 respectively.

The general classification remained largely unchanged; Skujins sits comfortably in first with 1:17mins lead over Serghei Tvetcov (Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis) in second. Rob Britton is the top Canadian in fourth, 1:43mins behind Skujins.

Today is the final stage of the 2014 Tour de Beauce in St-Georges, QC. The stage will be 124-km in length – riders will complete 12 laps of the 10.4-km.