Race Overview

Tour de Grand Montréal

^{30 May - 2 June 2005}

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Stage Review - Stage 3        Click here to jump on this page to >> Results   GC after Stage 3     

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A STAGE WIN FOR BEUTLER, A YELLOW JERSEY FOR WOOD

Australian Oenone Wood (Nurnberger – Versicherung) worked hard and finally got the yellow leader’s jersey after the third stage of the Tour du Grand Montréal.  She did so with panache, after a cavalcade with three other riders, which lasted almost 60 of today’s 80 kilometres of racing.  Switzerland’s Annette Beutler (Quark) outsprinted Wood and their two accomplices to win the stage in two hours, two minutes 5 seconds, at an average speed of 39.3 km/h.  Denmark’s Dorte Lohse Rasmussen (S.A.T.S.) and Canadian Erinne Willock (Webcor Cycling) completed the foursome, finishing third and fourth respectively.  The pack crossed the finish line 3 minutes, 44 seconds after the four runaways, who are thus the only candidates to the final podium. Wood leads Beutler, Rasmussen and Willock by 10, 18 and 23 seconds respectively.  

Geneviève Jeanson (ACDA – RONA), who had started the day in yellow, finished in the main field.  She now ranks fifth in GC, an endless 3 minutes, 48 seconds behind Wood.   

The stage’s fate was determined toward the 23rd kilometre, when the riders climbed for the third time the chemin du Coteau, the only difficulty on an otherwise flat course.  Queen of the Mountain points were at stake, and Beutler launched the attack.  “I like to race aggressively”, she said, “there was a QOM spot, so…”  Wood, Rasmussen and Willock took her wheel.  Jeanson did not.  “I saw them go, but I couldn’t respond “, Jeanson explained.  “I guess I wasted energy in my breakaway yesterday.  Call me pancake Gen, flat as a pancake.  But I have no regrets, I had fun.”

Out there, the leading foursome worked well together.  Very quickly the gap became meaningful.  All teams with a claim to GC victory (Nurnberger – Versicherung, Quark, Webcor, SATS ) had a good, top-eight rider in the break. So back in the field, nobody had any reason to work – except Jeanson and her teammates, of course, who were left by themselves.  They tried.  But to no avail.

The break was well organized.  They kept working together until the last few hundred metres.  “Rasmussen was in front, I was second wheel and Annette (Beutler) was third wheel”, said Wood.  “Then with about 300 metres to go Annette attacked into the last corner and she got a gap coming out, I tried to chase her down but didn’t quite get up.”

 Le Tour du Grand Montréal is a four-day, five-stage race held from May 30 to June 2.  Tomorrow’s stage is a 115 kilometre race in Saint-Hilaire.

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Results - Stage 3  

80km at 39.3km/h   73 Starters, 2 did not finish

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General Classification After Stage 3

Total Distance so far - 243.02 km at 36.13km/h average