2010 Tour de l’Abitibi

Brian Lark and Nathaniel Beams on Stage 6.

Nathaniel Beams has raced in Europe. He told the team that today’s race is a good example of a form of criterium racing in Europe called a kermesse. Roughly, a Kermesse is similar to our criterium races. The route of a kermesse consists of a circuit through urban areas so its easier for spectators to view the race compared to a road race. But Nathaniel says a Kermesse in Europe is different from the criteriums we have in America. A kermesse circuit is usually longer. A criterium course in America usually consists of a one mile loop and the caravan of team support cars isn’t allowed to follow the riders on the course. A Kermesse in Europe and today’s Stage 7 in Val-d’Or completes a much longer circuit through the urban center and surrounding neighborhoods.

Each lap today is 12.4 kilometers or 7.7 miles long. As would be the case for a kermesse in Europe, today the caravan of team support cars will follow the riders through the course in Val-d’Or to provide mechanical support. This creates an exciting spectacle. Rather than 128 riders and the caravan of cars speeding for miles down rural roads and only making an occasional turn, in today’s kermesse the racers and caravan will be speeding through spectator lined city and neighborhood streets and be making sharp turns much more often. The black arrows on the course map above show the parts of the course where the climbing occurs. The red arrows show the parts of the course that are the fast descents. The riders will complete 7 laps or 54 miles today and, when it was all over, they will ahve averaged 26.4 miles per hour.

Taylor Gaines was involved in a crash on the first lap. Taylor had some small abrasions. He is fine but disappointed. He had to switch bikes to continue the race. By the time he was on his new bike, the peloton and caravan had sped by. No rider that was dropped today was ever able to catch back on to the pack. Taylor rode hard but his time fell fell outside the cutoff time so he won’t be able to continue in Stage 7 on Sunday.

Below, Brian Lark is moving through a tight corner that consists of alternating patches of wet and dry pavement.

The photograph above was taken by Paul Brindamour. Used with permission.

Early in the race Graham was in a 3 man break. His legs were feeling the effect of 6 days of racing so Graham fell back into the pack after staying away for a lap and a half. In the picture below, Nathaniel and Graham are riding at the front waiting to create or respond to the next opportunity.

The photograph above was taken by Paul Brindamour. Used with permission.

Below, Neal is banking through one of the corners on the fast descent.

The photograph above was taken by Paul Brindamour. Used with permission.

Johnathan Freter rode well today. His arm was still bandaged from his crash in Stage 1. Everyday the soreness in that arm is diminishing. We will think he will be able to start Stage 7 tomorrow without bandages and be as close to 100% as he has been since the Stage 1 crash.

Below, Taylor and Neal on Stage 6

The finish to Stage 6

It was a tough course. The team finished the race in the field saving their energy for Stage 7. Most of the riders moved up in the General Classification. The Team maintained its hold on 8th place.

• Stage 6 Individual Results
• Individual General Classification After Stage 6
• Team General Classification After Stage 6

ProChain Junior Cycling Team Individual Results For Stage 6

Place	Rider Name	Elapsed Time	Time Behind the Leader
40th	Graham Dewart	02:02:50	00:09
56th	Nathaniel Beams	02:02:50	00:09
78th	Brian Lark	02:02:50	00:09
80th	Neal Forbes	02:02:50	00:09
96th	Johnathan Freter	02:02:50	00:09
126th	Taylor Gaines	02:30:04	27:23