Mroz wins Beauce opener
Poland's Piotr Chmielewski (Mroz) took the lead after the first stage of the Grand Prix Cycliste de Beauce on Monday evening. The 7-day, 8-stage race is the only UCI sanctioned race (2.4) in Canada. The first stage followed a unique format, with each team covering a 13.3 km circuit in a team time trial formation. The race was staged around the historic Plains of Abraham in Quebec City. The fastest team then nominated a member who would wear the yellow leader's jersey for the next stage. Chmielewski's Mroz team finished 8 seconds ahead of the Saturn squad and 19 seconds in front of
By Rob Jones, VeloNews Correspondent
Poland’s Piotr Chmielewski (Mroz) took the lead after the first stage of the Grand Prix Cycliste de Beauce on Monday evening. The 7-day, 8-stage race is the only UCI sanctioned race (2.4) in Canada.
The first stage followed a unique format, with each team covering a 13.3 km circuit in a team time trial formation. The race was staged around the historic Plains of Abraham in Quebec City. The fastest team then nominated a member who would wear the yellow leader’s jersey for the next stage.
Chmielewski’s Mroz team finished 8 seconds ahead of the Saturn squad and 19 seconds in front of Mercury. Both Saturn and Mroz had riders go off course after one of the turns, and a number of teams expressed concern about the open (to traffic) roads.
“This is a very good race,” said one member of the Mroz team, “but this stage is too dangerous if they do not close the roads.”
The race continues Tuesday with a 173 km stage in the Beauce region south of Quebec City and concludes on Sunday after more than 900 km of racing.
Results
Stage 1 – Plains of Abraham TTT 13.3 km
1. Mroz – Supradyn Witaminy (Pol) 17:07
2. Saturn Cycling Team (USA) 17:15
3. Mercury – Viatel (USA) 17:26
4. Team Nürnberger (Ger) 17:39
5. Mapei-Quick Step (Ita) 17:51
6. Navigators Cycling Team? (USA) 17:52
7. 7UP – Colorado (USA) 18:00
8. Équipe Canada (Can) 18:03
9. IBM Lotus (RSA) 18:05
10. Cantina Tollo Acqua & Sapone (Ita) 18:09
11. Ville de Charleroi – New Systems (Bel) 18:12
12. Saint-Quentin Oktos (Fra) 18:14
13. Ficonseils – RCC Conseils Assurances (Sui) 18:18
14. HSBC (RSA) 18:27
15. Équipe du Quèbec (Can) 18:30
16. Sympatico.ca Cycling Team (Can) 18:31
17. Tecos-Turbo (Mex) 18:36
18. Volkswagen (Can) 18:40
19. Oryx (Can) 19:24