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Tuft locks up Tour de Beauce, Wilson scores win in final stage

Tuft: 'We came to win Beauce, and nothing was going to stop us.'

By Rob Jones
Published: Jun. 15, 2008

The 23rd Tour de Beauce ended on Sunday with Symmetrics' Svein Tuft recording the first Canadian victory since 1995. Tuft and his team held off repeated attacks by both the Tecos Trek and Team Type 1 squads to take the overall victory.

Matt Wilson gave Team Type 1 a victory in the final stage, and that team also wrapped up the Points and Climber's Jerseys, plus the top overall team on general classification.

Symmetrics went into the final 125-kilometer stage facing the same situation as in the previous stage: Tecos rider Bernardo Colex Tepoz only seven seconds behind in the GC, and a trio of TT1 riders within 65 seconds.

The stage, a 13.9 kilometer circuit covered 9 times through the streets of Old Quebec and along the St Lawrence River, featured a tough climb and 500 meter false flat run in to the finish line; which was certainly conducive to a last ditch breakaway effort by Colex, or multiple attacks by TT1 to wear down the Symmetrics squad.

However, Symmetrics stuck to the game plan that had worked in the previous stage: let a non-threatening breakaway go up the road, and keep the pace high enough in the peloton to discourage attempts by potential rivals. Christian Meier, along with Andrew Randell and Andrew Pinfold, was in charge of the tempo on the flat sections at the top of the climb and base of the descent, while Jacob Erker and Cam Evans took care of pacing duties on the climb.

The plan worked to perfection. A group of five went up the road starting on lap two - Dustin Macburnie (Team Race Pro), Matt Wilson (TT1), Philipp Mamos (Sparkasse), Matt Shriver (Jittery Joe's) and Ciaran Power (Pezula). They were joined on lap four by Chris Jones (TT1) and Florencio Ramos Torres (Tecos Trek), with an eighth rider, Jairo Perez Suarez (Colombia), jumping across to make the final selection.

A chase group formed, but did not manage to make it to the front and eventually dropped back to the peloton. The front group took the gap up to three minutes, but that was as much space as Symmetrics was willing to give them, since Jones was only 5:42 down on Tuft in the general classification.

By the start of the final lap the gap was below three minutes, and TT1 sent Jones off the front of the lead group to try for the stage win. He quickly gained 18 seconds, but as the chase got organized that dwindled and he was caught before the base of the climb. His team mate Wilson counterattacked, taking Suarez with him. Wilson managed to stay away for the stage win, followed in by Mamos, Shriver and the rest of the break.

Behind, Symmetrics was managing the peloton carefully, and did not panic when TT1 sent off Glen Chadwick on repeated attacks on the climb. Instead, they maintained their tempo and reeled him in each time along the top of the course.

"We wanted to see if we could put them under pressure," explained Chadwick "but the team was riding well, and it was hard to get more than a few seconds on your own because of the headwind on the flats. I think Evans was the key again, just like in stage five."

It was all going to come down to the final climb, and the question was: could Colex get the few seconds he needed?

The answer was no, as Tuft followed the last attempt by the Mexican rider to get away and rolled across the line beside him, three seconds behind Moises Aldape (TT1) and just ahead of Valeriy Kobzarenko (TT1).

"Symmetrics was very well organized," commented Colex. "They kept the pace hard, so I knew that the last lap would be my only chance. Our Tecos riders attacked at the bottom of the climb, but we couldn't drop Tuft, he was just too strong. But, I am still very happy with my second place; I have never finished so high in a race of this calibre."

As far as Tuft was concerned, all credit went to his teammates. "The guys rode another amazing stage. I think we demoralized the other teams with how strong the team was and the pace they kept up. Everyone left it on the road today."

"Kobzarenko, Chadwick and Colex were all attacking, but not once did I panic, because the way the guys were riding I had nothing to worry about. The last time on the climb was unreal, because Colex gave it everything, and I knew that I would die before not staying with him, because I wasn't going to go back to the guys and say 'Sorry' after all they had done."

"We came to win Beauce, and nothing was going to stop us."

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