July 23/07 6:00 am - Tour de L'Abitibi: Stage 8, 9 and Final GC

Posted by Editoress on 07/23/07
 

Tour de L'Abitibi Quebec

American Taylor Phinney was declared grand champion of the Tour de l'Abitibi's 39th edition following the final criterium. He now proudly wears the final brown jersey, only 4 seconds ahead New-Zealander Tom David in the final general time category. Quebecer Guillaume Blais-Dufour also goes home proud, finishing third, 10 seconds behind Phinney. Since it is Taylor Phinney's first year in the junior category, he is therefore also recipient of the blue jersey.

However, it is a Japan National team member, Kazushige Kuboki, who won the stage with a 26 seconds lead ( 1hour, 15 minutes and 44 seconds). Two laps before the end, the cyclist engaged in a breakaway with his colleague, Ryoma Nonaka. Nonaka was reached by the pack not too long before the finish when all were working extra hard to win themselves a spot on the podium. It is after all José Blonco of the american Major Motion team who stood on the second step, while Québec team's Guillaume Blais-Dufour completed the trio with the same time as Blonco: 1 hour, 16 minutes and 10 seconds.

In the final points category, Guillaume Boivin ended up with the orange jersey after Stage 9 with 97 points. His companion, Guillaume Blais-Dufour, was not far behind with 90 points, while Taylor Phinney finished with 80.

Thanks to Taylor Phinney, Benjamin King and Daniel Summerhill (all three in the 9 first positions in the individual general category), the USA beats another national team, New-Zealand National. Byron King, coach of the American team, was visibly proud, having said the Tour de l'Abitibi was a goal that highly motivated his racers.

The Tour de l'Abitibi will welcome all athletes next year as it celebrates its 40th anniversary.