The Colombian squad Medellín-EPM returned to the Tour de Beauce with clear intentions of defending its title, and on Thursday it delivered a stage win thanks to veteran rider Robigzon Leandro Oyola. The Conti team happens to have former Grand Tour star Oscar Sevilla, who, much like former Canadian champion Bruno Langlois decided, hey, let’s keep racing pro-am races in our 40s. Because why not? (Sevilla is 49, and Langlois is 47.)
Leandro Oyola, who is also up there at 37, took the dub on Stage 2 of Canada’s longest-running UCI stage race after attacking as part of a late breakaway and holding off the chasing peloton over the 169-km route to Saint-Odilon-de-Cranbourne.
Sweltering conditions at the Tour de Beauce
It was a hot day in Beauce, and Oyola crossed the line in 3:52:51, averaging 43.6 km/h. Just behind was Britain’s Adam Lewis (APS) and 10 seconds clear of Ireland’s Killian O’Brien (Skyline), who rounded out the podium.
It was, as per Beauce tradition, a quick opening hour. There was a large breakaway that got clear. The gap never got more than two minutes for much of the day.
And then, the chase began. The race came back together inside the final 40 km before a solid move formed near the finish. Oyola, Lewis and O’Brien managed to break clear with less than 10 km remaining and managed to stay away.
Top Canuck was Jérôme Gauthier (Project Echelon), sprinting to fourth place after narrowly missing the winning move. The 21-year-old from Abitibi finished ahead of former race leader Wilmar Andres Paredes Zapata.
Mont Mégantic on Friday
All jokes aside, for all the middle-aged riders who read the pages of Canadian Cycling Magazine, here is some inspiration. Langlois (Vélo Cartel / Siboire) continued to impress in his 24th Tour de Beauce appearance.
He gave some excellent advice to his teammates half his age for any race, whether it’s Beauce, the Tour de France or your local midweek race: “It was important to be at the front!” Langlois finished safely in the bunch with the same time.
As far as the overall, Lewis’ second-place finish was enough to move him into the overall race lead. Marshall Erwood kept the best young rider jersey, while Samuel Couture remained in the lead of the mountains classification heading into Friday’s summit finish on Mont Mégantic. Stage 3 is definitely going to shake things up with its famous leg-breaker. Mégantic is 5.3 km long with an average gradient of 9.6 per cent and ramps over 15 per cent.