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Veilleux takes stage 4 of the Tour of Pennsylvania while Van Heerden takes overall lead
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Kelly Benefit's Canadian strong man David Veilleux won Friday's soggy fourth stage of the American Eagle Outfitters Tour of Pennsylvania, surviving torrential rain and nearly 7,000 feet of climbing to win the sprint ahead of breakaway companions into Latrobe, Pennsylvania.
South Africa’s Christoff Van Heerden (Konica Minolta) finished third and moved into the race lead.
Van Heerden had been sitting in third on the tight GC battle, but the breakaway moved him more than two minutes ahead of previous jersey holders Steven Van Vooren (Johan Bruyneel Cycling Academy), and Canada's, Keven LaCombe (Kelley Benefit Strategies-Medifast), who missed the break.
The overall race remains hot, however: Van Heerden has just a one-second lead over Veilleux and six seconds ahead of Brazilian Stefano Barberi (Z Team).
“All I really had to do was sit on at the back of the bunch and keep my eye on Veilleux in the end,” said Van Heerden who also leads the sprinter competition. “Luckily, I was able to stay up front with the climbers today, and that is what really helped me. The rain also might have slowed the peloton down behind us because it was really tricky and winding — giving us a bigger advantage.”
The sun finally broke through at the finish line in Latrobe just in time for the crowds to watch the exciting but tricky sprint finale on Main Street. Veilleux proved to be the fastest sprinter, taking a convincing victory of several bike lengths.
"I think (Saturday) is going to decide everything,” said the French-Canadian stage winner. “It was really hard today, constantly up and down even between the two KOMs. The goal today was to stay with the main group. My team has been riding great this week, and I am looking forward to the next couple of stages.”
