What a week for the Cycling BC Abitibi team at the Tour de L’Abitibi. From delayed and cancelled flights to every mechanical imaginable. The team showed calmness and resiliency throughout each of the hiccups, becoming more and more determined to move up the standings against some of the world’s best Junior racers.
For the first 4 stages, check out our post from earlier this week. Stage 5 was a circuit race, 13 x 8 km laps – something our BC riders are VERY familiar with. The goal was to get Cam Fitzmaurice to the front for the final lap in the hopes of cracking a top 20 finish: unfortunately a crash in the final lap threw a wrench in the team’s plans, forcing them to burn more matches than they had planned for. It was a tough race and the boys bounced back with a strong finish.
After shaking the cobwebs from yesterday, the team set out from Preissac averaging 46 km over the 93.7 km race. The USA National team had taken control of this stage yet again, making it very difficult for some of the other teams to make moves that would hold–evident by their 1-2-3 sweep. With a few unfortunate mechanicals and flats into the circuit for our BC riders, moves to break the top 20 were tough, as placement into the circuit was a major factor into where you’d finish. Our top finisher was Cam Fitzmaurice in 40th.
The final and longest stage was 119.7 km. It was a tough race, with the average speed being relatively low (42km/h), but several surges and attacks as riders tried to get the last of the major sprints ($$) and time-bonus sprints to secure their final GC standing for the tour. The Cycling BC boys did an incredible job with Cam breaking into the top 20 with a 19th place finish and Luke Di Marzo finish in the top 30. Several of the riders, including Rowan Morris and Fergus Horrobin took some strong pulls for several km securing Cam a strong position in the pack for the final sprint.
A big congratulations to all of the riders… until next year!
