Australians ace Beauce time trial

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Ben Day (Fly V Australia) blazed through stage four's 20km time trial with a winning time of 25:02 at the Tour de Beauce on Friday. The Australian was the only rider to go sub-26 minutes and outpaced his fellow countrymen Nathan O'Neill (Bahati Foundation) and teammate Darren Rolfe by more than one minute.

"The last few years I've had some inconsistency with my form, got good results and then not," Day said. "This year it's been pleasant to be on form with great support from my team. It was a hard course but it suited me well. My forms has come out of the blue, and once again I am surprised. Every second counted today."

Day won the Tour de Beauce in 2007 and his performance in the time trial moved him into a commanding lead in the overall classification again. He is hopeful that with the help of his Fly V Australia teammates he will be capable of defending his lead through the final two stages held in Quebec City and Saint Georges de Beauce.

"Tour de Beauce is such an emotional race for me," Day said. "Three years ago when I won the race I was feeling pretty proud of myself, met a girl and chased after her. We got married up here in Beauce six months ago. My wife and my family are up here now. I know this race is not over yet, but if I can bring it home it would be a really special moment."

Day captured enough points as the time trial winner to move into the lead of the points competition. With no mountain points available, stage one winner Rafael Serrano Fernandez (Heraklio-Murcia) held on to the King of the Mountain (KOM) classification lead.

Canada's sole UCI-Continental team, SpiderTech p/b Planet Energy rode two jersey earning performances with Francois Parisien as the event's top Canadian rider and David Boiley as the Best Young rider.

The stage four Contre-la Montre was held on a 20km course that started and ended in Saint-Rene. The time trial travelled out and back on Rue 55. It was predominantly downhill on the way out which made for a grueling return on the uphill back into to the finish line.

"I haven't been back to Tour de Beauce since I won it in 2005 and haven't done a time trial like this since 2007," said O'Neill, an eight-time Australian Time Trial National Champion. "I was motivated so that counts for a lot. It was a beautiful course. I think they found the only road with new pavement in all of Quebec, it was awesome. It was a good test."

The top three riders have all been former Australian Time Trial National Champions; Rolfe in 2000, Day in 2003 and O'Neill in 1994, 1996, 1998, 2002 and 2004-07.

"I beat Ben in the national titles 10 years ago," Rolfe laughed. "I had five years out of the sport but previous to that I was a time trialist and won junior nationals, was top 10 at junior worlds. It's great that the Australians are doing so well here."

Previous race leader and stage three winner Marc de Maar (UnitedHealthcare p/b Maxxis) was asked to heighten his seat due to an unusual saddle that race officials felt dipped too low at the nose. De Maar underwent prostate surgery and used a non-team specific saddle that allowed for more comfort during lengthy time trials. He placed 21st in the event, nearly two minutes slower than Day.

"It was ridiculous because before the start they had some issues with my saddle, and I had to move it up 10 cm," De Maar said. "I have been racing for five years with this saddle and have done three big tours with it and never had any issue. This saddle is legal, the nose always points down, it doesn't matter what position you put it on the bike. I was thinking about not starting. I would never have beaten Ben Day but would have done a much better time trial."

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