This 54th edition to Tour de l’Abitibi kicked off with a Spring Challenge on the Monday evening, giving teams time to settle in, build bikes, get the legs spinning and be ready for managers meetings and Team presentations.
Day 1 - Sprint Challenge format | 16 teams | PNWRider: Oscar Wong
Day 1 consisted of one rider per team racing in the Sprint Challenge. In heats of 4 with the top 2 moving on to the Semi final. Oscar made it through qualifications and was out in the semis. Then went on to place 2nd in the consolation final, finishing with a Solid6th overall which determined the caravan order for Stage 1. 🙌🏼
Stage 1 | July16th | RoadRace | 115.6k Rouyn-Noranda- Val d’Or Quebec
Weather 🌤️ / 🌧️ 28c
Fast first stage on Northern Quebec’s hwy 117! Numerous breaks with a reactive peloton kept the tempo high with an average speed of 46.8km/h over 115k! Monty was in one of the first breaks of the day of 7 riders, then Ben and 2 riders bridged to make it a group of 10.The high paced peloton caught that group though.
As riders continued to try to go off the front,Ben managed to get in a three rider break with 30 k to go, and they kept a 35+second lead. Ben eventually went off the front, and solo’d until two different riders bridged the gap. A French National team rider went off the front with less than 2k to go and won the stage, Ben 2nd and Carl Tuffer from Team Canada 3rd. All while we had one PNW Rider at the front there were lots of ups and downs for our team with two mechanicals in the last 20 k with Graham then Oscar, and also a crash with 15k to go with Aaron that got tied up, which made for a tough overall team finish. And to top Ben secured the Best Young Rider Classification was in the Blue Jersey 👕
Stage 2 | July17th | RoadRace | 102km Amos- Val d’Or, Quebec
Weather 🌤️ 18c
Following a high paced multiple attack day with many different riders testing the group, today was a day the peloton mostly stayed together.
A few short attacks off the front but nothing to threatening until 25k to go when two riders got off the front. The gap reached30 seconds, then by time the riders arrived in Val d’Or starting the 3 lap town circuit, the peloton was closing fast.
All our PNW Riders finished in the bunch safe and sound, 5 seconds behind the 2 lead out riders. So not much lost or gainedfor PNW today. Ben continues to lead the young rider classification in the BlueJersey and sitting 3rd on GC.
A few wrinkles with a double flat for Graham at30k, a broken boa on Bens shoe following some contact with 3 km to go. (Nothing a little duct tape can't fix 😉) The group finish together safely.
Stage 3 | July 18th | IndividualTime Trial | 8.3km Val d’Or, Quebec
Weather ☁️ 13c
Solid morning for PNW! The time trial came under cloudy skies and cool temps. Aaron kicked off the morning with a 12:20 TT followed by some strong rides! Overall classification held strong with a couple big changes, one being Monty moving from 22nd to 13th on GC and moving from sixth to third in the Young Riders Classification behind teammate Ben, who is still leading 👕 the blue jersey.
The afternoon consisted of a quick lunch, rest and prep forStage 4 in Malartic, Quebec.
Stage 4 | July 18th | RoadRace | 56.6km Malartic, Quebec
Weather 🌤️ 23c
At only 56k to race in Stage 4, we knew there would be lots of action, with a tailwind home and speeds of 65+ an hr, it was rock n roll! Graham got in a break at the Cadillac Loop with 28k to go, and atone point the gap was upwards of a minute. Most of the group worked together to try and keep their lead but with a crash in the group and some bunny hopping skills to avoid the back wheel of a down rider, Graham pushed forward for theSprint. Unfortunately, the peloton caught them with only a few kilometres from the finish. In an all-out sprint and Graham claimed 8th.
The rest of the squad finished safe in the bunch!
Stage 5 | July 19th | RoadRace | 140km Senneterre, Quebec
Weather 🌤️ 23c
The longest stage of the Tour at 140km (also the longest allowable distance for a road race by UCI regulations for JR NationsCup) was a bit of a hectic one. With Japanese rider going off the front for about 40k, it wasn’t until around a 100-110k in, that the peloton started to splinter and riders were jumping in breaks, and chases began. 20 riders got in the breakaway with all five PNW riders-Aaron, Oscar, Monty, Ben and Graham.Then an attack of three riders got away and the chase was on.
Unfortunately, Oscar flatted but made it back to the peloton by the final climb, Aaron slipped off the back of the lead group at the start of the climb, all while we had Monty, Ben and Graham, in the lead group made the push for the Hill Top Finish on Mont-Bell.
With the GC and Young rider Classification on the minds of our riders, they knew the job at hand and did an excellent job at keeping a high tempo. Success was had! 2 riders in the top 10 on the stage Ben and Monty, Graham 21st, Aaron and Oscar in the splintered peloton.
General Classification saw the biggest change on the week, Graham moving from 51st to 21st, Monty 12th to 6th and Ben back into 3rd from 4th. Super day 🙌🏼
Stage 6 | July 20th | UrbanCircuit Race | 124.8km Val d’Or, Quebec
Weather 🌤️ 19c
The Urban Circuit race, consisted of a 10.4km loop within the city Val d’Or. The 12 lap race with 14 corners and spectators along the route created an exciting vibe and PNW was pumped for the day.
Majority of the day was making sure no key riders were able to get away. There were two breaks throughout the race that didn’t hold, so going into the last few laps everyone was back together.Oscar’s bad luck continued with a broken chain but managed to get back in the peloton. Then on the last lap with about 5-6k to go, Monty went off the front to try and get away, but the peloton wheeled him back in and was caught a few minutes from the line. Full peloton was heading to the line making for an exciting sprint.
Graham launched to a 4th 💥 behind two TeamCanada Riders and the GC Leader from the French National Team. Aaron rode asuper race finishing 19th, Ben and Monty in the group.
Everyone in safe and PNW moved up on GC to 2ndwith Ben 6 seconds ahead of third.
This morning we prep for the Last Stage of theTour de l’ Abitibi, Day 7 | Stage 7 - 2:00pm EST July 21st
Stage 7 | July 21st | RoadRace | 118.3km Senneterre to Val d’Or, Quebec
Weather ☀️ 18c
Starting in the small town of Senneterre, the location of Stage 5, our riders rode towards Val d’Or to complete the 54the dition the Tour de l’Abitibi.
Once in Val d’Or the race moved to a circuit with 10 laps of 5.2km creating a buzz around the finish line, with points and seconds collected on lap 8 and lap 4. This stage was not short of excitement.
Quebec team rider broke from the group quite early and remained out front for a significant distance, all while there were a couple chase groups and breaks. It wasn’t until the circuit that the French& New Zealand riders (sitting 1st & 3rd on GC) got away and increased their lead on every lap. Where Ben was in the battle to defend his blue jersey.The strong Quebec rider on Team Canada was attacking and Ben was on the wheel to defend his Blue Jersey.
Oscar and Aaron struggled with Flats again onStage 7 but again worked and got back to the main peloton. With the twolead riders gone with a gap of up to 2 minutes there was a sprint finish andGraham and Oscar were in the mix and finished 6th and 7th on the Stage. Monty,Aaron and Ben safe in the peloton.
Tour de l’Abitibi | 7 Stages | 667.4 kmcompleted!
Success!
Ben defended his Young Rider Jersey for 6 stages, winning the Young Rider Classification with Monty in 3rd and Graham 9th at the 54th Edition of the Tour de l’Abitibi.
The team showed consistency and perseverance throughout the week resulting in 3rd overall for Ben in the GeneralClassification, 10th for Monty and 22nd for Graham. Oscar and Aaron had mechanical troubles that put them out of GC contention.
A huge thank you to Andrew Davidson, our DS, and Mason Burtnik, our mechanic. They worked tirelessly throughout the week (fixing lots of flats...), and we were incredibly grateful for their expertise and support as our team prepared for and navigated our first Tour de l’Abitibi. We also want to extend our appreciation to the organizers for their tremendous effort in putting together this incredible seven-stage race, from airport transport to meals, medical support, and road safety. Chapeau!
Results: www.tourabitibi.com