An incredible week of bike racing in one of the last professional bike races in North America. We were treated to perfect weather all week and a brutal course with hard racing from the first to the last kilometer that was raced during the 5 stages.
Stage 1: 180k of attacks and finally a break of strong men slips off with Conn McDunphy in it to take 5th on the stage. Liam Flanagan was 4th in the field sprint that would finish 30s behind.
Stage 2: The team of the race’s leader let a soft break up the road with 2 riders in a brutal headwind and just set a soft tempo to rest up until the final climb where 4 riders from Team Skyline would make it to the line with the front group, positioning us well in the overall Team classifcation
Stage 3: We wanted to create chaos and make sure that the best placed teams in GC could not just let a soft break up the road and control before reaching the iconic Mont Megantic. The plan was to continuously attack all day to make the oppositions’ jobs as difficult as possible and allow our climber to save his legs for the brutal final 9k climb at over 10%. The opening Kms were raced very hard and when things started to settle down Liam attacked with a group of four and got some separation. Then Conn McDunphy followed a chase move that would make contact with the break soon after. Team Skyline drove the break hard for the next 150 km to try and give Conn the best opportunity at a stage win and to make the peloton’s chase as hard as possible. Along the way, Liam won each of the 3 KOMs that bolstered his campaign for the coveted Polka dots jersey. An effort that added to the handful of points gained earlier. in the week. At this time the Team’s director decided that Liam would focus on the Mountains classification. Liam secured the points, then turned himself inside out for Conn to position him by the 5km mark prior to the last climb. It was a monumental effort by Liam as he felt the pains of cramping and dehydration his team car eventually got to him with bottles and some Coca Cola. He was able to “paper boy” to the finish. Conn was eventually caught inside the final with 2km Adam Lewis maintained contact with the hard chasing Yellow Jersey group. He would finish 5th on the day and Conn in spite of being caught held his position for a top 20 finale. The Team took over the lead in the team GC!
Stage 4: The Team completed the days task in positions 8th, 11th, 12th, and 15th. Each respectable rides on their own, but unable to glue together a proper lead out for a top result
Stage 5: A brutal city circuit up through St Georges. We came in with a plan and a few goals:
1. Win the stage 2, Win the KOM classification and 3. Win the team classification.
Early in the stage, Conn went up the road with a group of non-CG-threatening riders and got a gap of about a minute. With 20k to go, once the cooperation in the group began to wane, Conn attacked the group and went solo. We would start the last lap with a 15s advantage and was success in holding off the hard charging bunch for a heroic performance and stealing the top prize of the day with a solo victory.
Goals achieved: 1. Stage won, 2. Mountain Classification (KOM) secured, 3. Team General Classification solidified. And as a bit of a bonus Adam was awarded with a 6th position in the overall individual GC rankings.
