The Tour de Beauce got underway in Quebec on Wednesday and Rally UHC Cycling kicked things off in style with Ty Magner winning the opening stage and moving into the overall race lead.
The reigning US Pro criterium champ was the fastest finisher out of a select breakaway group, sprinting to the victory in Saint-Georges.
“We’ve all been grinding in Europe off and on all season, so to come home to North America and get this W for the team feels great,” Magner said.
Things played out according to the pre-race plan for Magner and his Rally UHC Cycling teammates on the hilly 177 km stage.
“The plan was to follow moves,” Magner said. “We didn’t want to be put in a situation to ride the front all day. Eventually, Hincapie blew the race apart on the KOM, and a few of us bridged across to the winning move.”
Magner and two other chasers caught up to the early breakaway, and the new six-rider lead group maintained a healthy tempo to stay out front despite a spirited pursuit from the chasing peloton.
As the break made it closer to the finish with time still in hand, Magner shifted his focus to a possible sprint victory.
“I tried to conserve a bit in the move and focus on winning the stage while a few of the others focused on maintaining our gap,” Magner said. “It was the perfect situation for us.”
Three of the six breakaway riders were dropped from the front group before the finale and the leaders held on to contest the stage in a sprint. Magner let his speed do the talking, with a little help from a timely bike throw.
“The last 3 kilometers were tough and I really had to work for it,” Magner said. “I hit the front early in the uphill sprint which wasn’t ideal, but did a good enough sprint to win by half a wheel.”
Adam de Vos escaped the peloton late to finish seventh on the stage while Pier-André Coté convincingly won the field sprint for eighth.
With his stage 1 victory, Magner now sits atop the general classification at the Tour de Beauce. He will take the leader’s jersey into Thursday’s stage 2, where the always-challenging Mont Megantic summit finish awaits.
Stage one results
1 MAGNER Ty Rally UHC Cycling 4:15:14
2 ZUKOWSKY Nicolas Floyd’s Pro Cycling ”
3 RHIM Brendan Arapahoe – Hincapie p/b BMC ”
4 LANGLOIS Bruno Brunei Continental Cycling Team 0:15
5 PRADO Ignacio de Jesús Canel’s – Specialized 0:37
6 JAMIESON Adam 0:43 Team Canada
7 DE VOS Adam Rally UHC Cycling 1:15
8 COTÉ Pier-André Rally UHC Cycling “
9 RUBARTH Max 1:17
10 MILÁN Diego Inteja Imca Ridea DCT ”
General classification standings after stage one
1 MAGNER Ty Rally UHC Cycling 4:15:04
2 ZUKOWSKY Nicolas Floyd’s Pro Cycling 0:04
3 RHIM Brendan Arapahoe – Hincapie p/b BMC 0:06
4 LANGLOIS Bruno Brunei Continental Cycling Team 0:21
5 PRADO Ignacio de Jesús Canel’s – Specialized 0:38
6 JAMIESON Adam 0:48 Team Canada
7 DE VOS Adam Rally UHC Cycling 1:25
8 COTÉ Pier-André Rally UHC Cycling “
9 RUBARTH Max 1:27
10 MILÁN Diego Inteja Imca Ridea DCT “
