Tour de Beauce: Josh Burnett triumphs atop Mont Mégantic to win stage 3
New Zealander takes over the race lead with two stages to go

Josh Burnett (MitoQ) won the queen stage 3 at Tour de Beauce at the summit of Mont Mégantic, taking the event's leader's jersey. Burnett took a solo win by 26 seconds ahead of Ian Lopez (Aevolo) and 30 seconds ahead of third-placed Félix Hamel (Ecoflo Chronos).
The peloton contested the queen stage 3 at the Tour de Beauce, which offered a 168.9km race from Lac-Mégantic to the top of Mont Mégantic. The final ascent traditionally shakes up the general classification at the five-day race.
A nine-rider breakaway emerged during the race, but only one rider made it to the final climb, Conn McDunphy (Skyline), but with only a minute lead. The strongest climbers in the race emerged on the lower slopes of the ascent, distancing overnight leader Tyler Stites (Project Echelon).
Burnett made his winning move in the closing leg of the ascent, gaining nearly half a minute on his rivals and taking the stage win. He now leads the race into the penultimate stage 4, a circuit race in Quebec City on Saturday.
Stites limited the time loss on the mountain and remains in second place overall at 44 seconds back, while Lopez is now third overall at 52 seconds back.
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Kirsten Frattini is the Deputy Editor of Cyclingnews, overseeing the global racing content plan.
Kirsten has a background in Kinesiology and Health Science. She has been involved in cycling from the community and grassroots level to professional cycling's biggest races, reporting on the WorldTour, Spring Classics, Tours de France, World Championships and Olympic Games.
She began her sports journalism career with Cyclingnews as a North American Correspondent in 2006. In 2018, Kirsten became Women's Editor – overseeing the content strategy, race coverage and growth of women's professional cycling – before becoming Deputy Editor in 2023.
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