Verschoor takes stage 2 over Milne

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Martijn Verschoor (Team Type 1-Sanofi Aventis) took the reins on the bunch sprint and won the second stage of the Tour de Beauce on the streets of Thetford-Mines. The Dutchman, who is also a Type 1 diabetic racer, out-paced Shawn Milne (Kenda/5-hour Energy) in second and Danny Summerhill (Chipotle Development) in third.

"My teammate Aldo [Ilesic] was in the breakaway today, normally we would sprint for him but he was a little bit tired," Verschoor said. "All the guys went early, I was a bit stuck and wanted to get out maybe 100 metres earlier. There was a little dip in the road and I was able to get out and go. I'm very happy to get the stage win today, it's my first win in two years."

Scott Lyttle (PureBlack Racing) maintained his overall race lead heading into the 'queen' stage three that will finish atop Mont Megantic. He is also leading the King of the Mountain (KOM) and Points classifications.

"I had a pretty stress-free day," Lyttle said. "The guys did a fantastic job and we are pretty happy. It wasn't easy after yesterday and all the attacking in the beginning today, there were some tired legs. Tomorrow is a big day and hopefully we all freshen up."

Breakaway caught before finishing circuits

The Tour de Beauce stage two offered the peloton 162km of undulating terrain through the mining region around Beauce. There were two intermediate sprints that included time bonuses, along with two KOMs and additional time bonuses at the finish line in Thetford-Mines.

PureBlack Racing assumed the front of the peloton from the start with its overall race leader and previous day's stage winner, Scott Lyttle, tucked in safely behind. There was a lot of activity at the front of the field in the opening kilometres, although no breakaway combination stuck for longer than a few seconds.

"It was a really fast start today but we were OK with a breakaway going as long as it didn't have any threatening GC people in it," Lyttle said. "We were happy to let the big breakaway go today, especially because all of the riders in it were more than 22 minutes down."

A short but steep ascent was followed with an attack from Vladisav Borisov (Amore & Vita) and Daniel Dominguez (Fuji). A chase group formed which included Christian Meier (UnitedHealthcare), Phillip Mamos (Amore & Vita), Ian Burnett (RealCyclist.com), Rob Bush (Chipotle Development) and Aldo Ino Ilesic (Team Type 1-Sanofi Aventis). All riders in the move were 22:44 minutes back in the overall classification and did not pose a threat to Lyttle's overall race lead.

"We have a small group here and three of us are taking on the responsibility to try and get in moves," said Summerhill, who placed third on the day. "My teammate Rob tried to get into the moves and he did it, good job to him. We didn't have to do any work today and we are always happy to have a teammate up there to take the stress off us."

The group gained a four-minute lead and was joined by two additional riders Matthias Friedmann (Champion System) and Darren Rolfe (V Australia). However, mid-race, the breakaway was reduced to six, as three riders, Rolfe, Dominguez and Burnett, fell off the pace.

Back in the bunch, PureBlack Racing received help from V Australia in the chase and the Australian team reduced the gap by half with 40km to go.

The breakaway was soon reduced to four, Mamos, Borisov, Meier and Bush, who rode away over the final KOM ascent. However, the gap to the peloton continued to drop as the field barreled down to the three short finishing circuits.

"The V Australia guys took the initiative to bring the breakaway back after their rider Rolfe got dropped," Lyttle said. "They were keen to have a result and when their boy got dropped they got on the front and lit it up pretty hard. They controlled it to the finish until the teams with sprinters took over."

The field contested three circuits at three and half kilometres each. Teams with strong sprinters included Team Type 1-Sanofi Aventis, RealCyclist.com, Kenda/5-hour Energy, V Australia, Champion System and Chipotle Development.

"The circuits were kind of jostling for position," said Milne, who placed second. "One team would go to the front and then another and it was a matter of timing it right because there was not real order. My team went to the front too and they helped me get on the front. It was a matter of waiting and hoping to get the right spot."