Atlantic Track Championships Omnium, Saturday August 23rd 2008 You are invited to ride – if you’ve never ridden on a track we will teach you everything you need to ride confidently and competitively. Remember Rick Mercer learned to ride Forest Hills in London in one night! Since the weatherman appears to be our worst enemy when it come to holding a race here is the plan: -In case it looks like rain we will: A- If Friday night it looks absolutely like it will rain Saturday all day we will cancel it Friday night - check on the centre's website or call to listen to the answering machine message (506) 877-7809 B- If ever the weather would play us trick and we see very early Saturday morning that it is raining and that it will probably not get better soon we will leave a message on the cycling centre’s answering machine at (506) 877-7809 so if you are coming on Saturday morning you can call before you leave to make sure it is still on. We will also update the web site news page by 8:00 on Saturday morning. *For out of Province or out of town riders who need a place to stay because you want to go to the PEI mountain bike race on Sunday contact us beforehand as we will try to find room to accommodate you – email Sheila@atlanticcyclingcentre.com to arrange billeting. Omnium Events: *We will explain every race beforehand in detail for those who have never participated in these events before, they are just special names because they are track events but they are not complicated -200m TT (flying 200) * 200 m TT from a rolling start) -Scratch Race (20 laps) *Like a criterium; first rider across the line after 20laps wins -Pursuit(B group 2000m, A Group 3000m) *It is just a time trial with 2 riders facing off with each other leaving from opposite sides of the track for 12 or 8 laps -Points race (B Group 40 laps Group A 60 laps * Points every 10 laps, 5-3-2-1. An additional 10points if you lap the field, -10 points if you are lapped. Double points for the final sprint. The one with the most accumulated points at the end of the race wins -Kilo (B group 500m) *Another time trial of a shorter version. Categories: We will go with categories based on your time in the first event the 200m TT (Flying 200) A Group > 13.7s B Group < 13.7s *to be determined, we might add another category if we have enough participants, either C group or Women’s group if there are enough female competitors Results: Omnium is based on points accumulated during the championship Points attributed as such for every race 1st 1 point 2nd 2 points 3rd 3points 4th 4 points 5th 5 points 6th 6 points and so forth for each riders that started the event *Rider with the least amount of points at the end of the day wins the championship in his or her category Schedule : *If you can’t make it this early and you need track 101 let us know so we can modify the schedule accordingly 9:30 track opens Track 101 if necessary + Warm-ups Racing begins: 10:45 Flying 200 + dividing of groups 11:15 B group Scratch race 20 laps 11:35 A Group Scratch Race 20 laps 12:00 Pursuit B group 2k A Group 3k 12:30 Lunch Break 1::45 B Group Points Race 40 laps 2:15 A Group Points Race 60 laps 2:45 B Group 500m TT A group Kilometre TT 3:15 Podium presentation and barbecue Registration: 20$(includes barbecue) We will consider giving discounts for out of province riders coming in groups.

If the weather would be nice for once we will go on the velodrome - if not we will mountain bike in preparation for the Wooly Bear Mtn Bike race on the 17th.

Nothing much happened in stage 7. After 3 hard days in the mountains, everyone was more then happy to ride in the group for the whole day. For us especially, this day was more than welcome after all the work we had done in the previous days. The only unfortunate incident happened when, 2 km from the finish, the yellow jersey collided with another rider and crashed. Dustin McBurnie and Cameron Evans nearly avoided this crash. Was everything was said and done, Pena Pena was awarded the time of the peloton as the crash happened in the last 3 km of the stage. This morning though, when we showed up at the start, the other rider involved in the crash, came to see us accusing us (or Cam) to try to voluntarily crash him and the yellow jersey. This was a funny discussion as his story was not standing too much, and it also did not coordinate too much with what we saw on television. After letting argue with himself, we went to see Pena Pena who confirm none of our riders had even touched him. The guys who was accusing us was actually to one who caused the actually crash. The two, Cam and Pena Pena actually shook hands on the start line to kill all the rumors going around the peloton. The stage then went on pretty much uneventful. After working for Cam all week, I actually gave a red light to Dustin to slip himself into a breakaway. After making sure everything would be ok with Cam and that the UCC Team would take control of the race, he went up the road with a group of 8 guys. They never managed to make it up to the initial group of 3, but he still finished 6th in the stage. Cam, André and Ryan rolled in at 1:37 with not too many changes on the GC. Cam did try a few attacks, but was always reeled back in by Pena Pena, his team, or other random riders. Then came stage 8B, the awaited 15 km time trial. The question was on everyone’s lips: Does Cameron have enough distance to bring back Pena Pena? 1:28 is not an easy task over such rider with only 15 km in front of us. The TT was opened with Ryan Belliveau posting the best early time. He virtually led the race for a very long time. He finally finished 11th. His ride probably motivated the rest of the team. In fact, Dustin was the next guys to take the lead to finish 8th, while André Tremblay also finished strong with a 10th position. The table was now set for the big duo. Evans was the first to leave, and the yellow jersey would leave 2 minutes later. At the first time check, km 3, the Columbian had a 9 seconds lead. Since we had talked with Cam not to open this head wind course too hard for the first 5 km, I felt somewhat positive and had hope Pena Pena could explode. Two km’s later, they are tied; time to open up the machine. Evans rode the next 10 km with everything he had opening a total of 39 seconds! Not enough you could say, but still an amazing performance by the 24 year old. Tomorrow’s final stage will take the riders from St-François to Pointe-à-Pitre where they will hit the final circuit (123km). 44 seconds is now the gap and we have a lot of respect for the actual yellow jersey. But rest assure, we will not let him rest until we all cross the final finish line! A few numbers on this Tour:  Minimal: hours on the beach! Come on Monday!  11: the number of power outages at our hotel so far  12: the intensity of Garrett McLeod’s sun burn on his chest (on a 1 to 10 scale) the day after he was pulled out of the race  14: the number of hours in a staff workday  28: the coldest we’ve seen on the car thermometer this far  29: the number of hours on the bike this week… for the leaders!  41: the warmest we’ve seen on the car thermometer this far  43: the number of massage our soigneur, Nena Kennedy did  93: number of riders left in the race  130: the number of Giant and Shimano water bottles we used  130: number of starters  150: the number of Gu gels we hate this week… and we ran out!  220: number of wheels TJ Worden-Rogers had to prepare this week  507: the minimum number of liters of water our team drank this week, not counting the ones we got at the restaurants  1246: total number of kilometers of the race  Thousands: number of spectators and cycling fans along those roads! This project is made possible under the Centre’s Selection program, sponsored by Giant, Nelsons, Yakima, Croissant Soleil, Université de Moncton, Shimano and Gu. For this special project, we also want to send a special thank you to some very special donations which made it possible for us to get down here:  Terry Tomlin Sports Marketing  Nick and Cory Jay  Gavin Giles  Mike’s Bike Shop (who also supplied TJ Worden-Rogers as a mechanic)  Velo NB  Cycling PEI  Bicycle NS

Somewhat of a weird stage is what could describe today’s 140 mountain dual. 3:28 was the difference between Cameron Evans and climbing sensation, Flober Pena Pena. If things worked out our way, it could be enough. The real climbs would only come late (113 km) and only one difficulty was earlier at 56 km. Again, we wanted to put pressure on Pena Pena; after all, it’s his race to lose. He would not fall for it once again. He rode from the back of the peloton and let many guys up the road while the top guns stayed together behind. At one point, almost 40 riders were up the road… not easy on the nerves of a young leader and his manager! Our major problem is we would not get any time splits over race radio from the organization! In order to get one, I had to go up the road myself (that meant having to go through all the local team cars blocking us from doing our work!) to get a real check. The official gap to a group of about 30 guys was officialy 2:30. Nothing too bad, but the yellow jersey group was simply not riding… at all. All they could do was admire Cam’s jersey! In respect for the race, we had to put things to work with Ryan Belliveau and André Tremblay. Dustin, who was covering the front of the race, would wait for Cam in the mountains. Once again, our guys did not look back and left everything they had on the road. Belli exploded in the first km of the Mont Frédérique (cat 1) and André was only able to sustain the fast pace a few extra minutes. Cam had to take things over with Pena Pena in his wheel. The awaited attack finally arrived… and it went up the climb like a space shuttle: “in all my years of racing against many strong guys, I’ve never been dropped like that;” later said Evans. A couple of minutes later, Cam caught up to Dustin who was waiting for him. Together, they tried to limit the loses, but the TV footage showed us the guys was simply impossible to keep up with. No one, of all the guys up the road, were coming even close to his rhythm. On the line, Pena Pena won the race by 50 seconds, and 4:51 over Cam. This means the Columbian now wears the yellow jersey with a 1:23 over Cam. The battle is not lost. A leader would be crazy to think he won before he crosses the last finish line on Sunday. But everyone is very tired and it’ll be hard to surprise him. What’s left for us to do is wait to see how the local and other foreign teams will attack him. If they don’t, his team will easily able to control the race and he’ll limit the losses during Saturday’s 15 km time trial. If they do, it seems like we’re too young and innocent to quit! These young boys have impressed many, including myself this week. Jacky Hardy, a Canadian National team contracted coached based on this island was also very impressed by the determination of the youngest team entering the Tour. Slowly, but surely, we were making some fans along these roads. Many are still hoping to see Cam on the top podium step on Sunday. Three days, four stages, will it be enough? One thing for sure, the new yellow jersey will have to look over his shoulder once and a while! This project is made possible under the Centre’s Selection program, sponsored by Giant, Nelsons, Yakima, Croissant Soleil, Université de Moncton, Shimano and Gu. For this special project, we also want to send a special thank you to some very special donations which made it possible for us to get down here: Terry Tomlin Sports Marketing Nick and Cory Jay Gavin Giles Mike’s Bike Shop (who also supplied TJ Woodburn-Rogers as a mechanic) Velo NB Cycling PEI Bicycle NS

Here's the link for info about Red Mud: http://www.cpei.ca/events/?evt_id=271

Smooth Cycle/CPEI Citizen Road Series - Indian River #3 Saturday, August 9th, 2008 a CYCLINGPEI Citizen Series Event... A new stage of the Smooth Cycle/CPEI Citizen Road Series. This 12km loop course is very familiar with members from the Summerside Cycling Club, playing host to time trial events and a past PEI Bikefest. With rolling hills, it's difficulty rating is low, but fun factor is high! Host: Cycling PEI Sponsored By: Smooth Cycle Type: Comp/Rec — Road Location: St. Mary's Church, Indian River, PE Registration: 8:30 AM - 9:30 AM Start Time: 10:00 AM Cost: $20, Bib if required ($5) Contact: Cycling PEI Mike Connolly - 368-4985 mconnolly@sportpei.pe.ca www.CPEI.ca Directions: St. Mary's Church is located in Indian River. Simply drive towards Kensington and follow the signs to Indian River / St. Mary's Church. Google Maps (46.476548, -63.669358) Course Details: Distances: 12km Loop Male Expert - 7 Laps Male Sport - 5 Laps Male Beginner - 3 Laps Male 50+ - 3 Laps Male U19 - 4 Laps Male U17 - 3 Laps Male U15 - 3 Laps Male U13 - 2 Laps Female Expert - 5 Laps Female Sport - 4 Laps Female Beginner - 2 Laps Female 50+ - 3 Laps Female U19 - 4 Laps Female U17 - 3 Laps Female U15 - 3 Laps Female U13 - 2 Laps Notes: You need to be a CPEI Citizen Membership to participate. For more membership information, please visit www.cpei.ca/membership/ . Simply register online . Forms will be available at registration. « Back

Another day, another plan; That’s the way we need to roll around here. On stage 4, we controlled the race, but we also lost 7 minutes. According to the locals and the media, this was a major accomplishment for Cam to still be in yellow, but the time bomb was on. It was simply a matter of time until Pena Pena took the jersey from him they said. A rider from another team even had to audacity to come and tell me I should show my riders how to ride and stop messing up the breakaway attempts: “It doesn’t matter, I know Pena Pena from last year, and he’ll take 10 minutes on you today. We looked you up on the web, and you’re not that good!” I did not need more to motivate the team and change the plan. The best defensive is the attack. After all, if I get three guys to work for the last five stages with this heat, they’ll all be dead before Sunday! We needed to put pressure on the local king, Pena Pena. If he owns this race like everyone says, he must take it and own it. Within the first few k’s, Dustin went to work and made them panic a little bit. Not too long after, Pena Pena came to see Cam to ask for two Canadians to work with two Guadeloupians (he rider for a local team); deal! This would then bring us to the mountains with fresh legs for Dustin and Cam. Ryan and André punched in to work. Under these circumstances, I was confident Cam would not lose too much time on a one-on-one battle with Pena Pena in the mountains. With Dustin fresh, this meant one or two mountains out of four well covered for Cam. On top of the last climb, the damage was not too bad, about 3:45. With about 20 km of smaller up and down roads, Cam’s group of 4 riders managed to bring down the lead to 3:00, something never seen over the king of Guadeloupe cycling! At the end of the day, Pena Pena moved up to 2nd, but still is 3:28 from Cam. The Columbian is worried, we’re breathing. Although we know a lot of work needs to be done on tomorrow’s last mountain stage. It’s a big fight, but through it we seem to not only making enemies, but some locals and media are starting to lightly cheer for us! Heat rashes and through jersey sun burns (yes, believe me, they do burn through there jersey!), and small dehydration are a common thing around here for the “guy from the cold” as they like to call us. It certainly keeps our soigneur, Nena Kennedy, busier then massages. This project is made possible under the Centre’s Selection program, sponsored by Giant, Nelsons, Yakima, Croissant Soleil, Université de Moncton, Shimano and Gu. For this special project, we also want to send a special thank you to some very special donations which made it possible for us to get down here:  Terry Tomlin Sports Marketing  Nick and Cory Jay  Gavin Giles  Mike’s Bike Shop (who also supplied TJ Woodburn-Rogers as a mechanic)  Velo NB  Cycling PEI  Bicycle NS

Okay - we'll try again - it can't rain every day can it? Aug 23 - come ride the track, stay the night in Moncton and head to PEI for Red Mud the next day. Billeting can be arranged if desired Atlantic Track Championships Omnium Events: -200m TT(flying 200) -Scratch Race 20 laps -Pursuit(B group 2000m, A Group 3000m) -Points race(B Group 40 laps Group A 60 laps points every 10 laps)5-3-2-1 10points for lap, -10 points for lost lap(by the pack) -Kilo(B group 500m) Groups A and B determined by 200m times A Group > 13.5s B Group < 13.5s Points attributed as such for every race 1st 1 point 2nd 2 points 3rd 3points 4th 4 points 5th 5 points and so forth until last place Rider with the least points at the end of the day wins! Schedule: 9:00 track 101 10:00track opens if dry we can start warming up right away 10:30 Flying 200 + dividing of groups 11:0 B Group Scratch race 20 laps 11:20 A Group Scratch Race 20 laps 11:45 Pursuit B Group 2k A Group 3k 12:30 Lunch Break 1:30 B Group Points Race 40 laps 2:00 A Group Points Race 60 laps 2:45 B Group 500m TT A group Kilometer TT 3:15 awards and barbecue To register - email sheila@atlanticcyclingcentre.com

I had such a great race on the weekend that it motivated me to write a news update! I raced the Bromont world cup this weekend, and finished 22nd, my best international result ever. The race was super muddy and very technical. I had a good start and was able to maintain my position on the first few laps, and move up through the racers laps 2-4. It had rained all week, and the trail was new, so the mud was deep and plentiful. However, for our race it stopped raining, and the mud thickened to the texture of peanut butter, which made it very hard to ride. There were 2 sections where we had to run up climbs for 1 minute or so, and when you do that for 6 laps pushing a mud coated bike it gets very tiring. On the last 2 laps I cramped really hard in both quads, and had to pedal a little easier to make it up the climb. I lost 4 positions on that lap, and was so tired I had trouble hanging onto the bars. I finished 22, coated in mud, and completely drained. A sure sign I pushed myself to the limit. The rest of the season has gone really well too. I switched to a new team, XPREZO. They hand make excellent bikes in Bromont, Quebec. Everything is cut, machined, welded and assembled right there in a garage. For results I finished 4th overall in the Canada Cup series, 13th at Nationals (with a mechanical), and 28th at the Mount Saint Anne World Cup. My next race is the TransRockies, an epic 7 day stage race in the Rockies, starting Sunday. You can check out the xprezo website for stories about it, or Pedalmag.com or Canadiancyclist.com for results and photos. Thank you all for your support. Matt Hadley Xprezo Mountain Bike Team

Well, the cat’s finally out of the hat. Columbian climber Flober Pena Pena showed the rest of the pack what he was capable of after hiding for four days. Today’s stage 4 marked the entry in the real mountains. Not to say the event had been ridden over flat and easy roads since its beginning, but today, and until Thursday, the Tour de la Guadeloupe enters 3 mountain stages. For us, with Cameron Evans in yellow, we had to bring him to the mountain safely; they were coming after the 90th km. From the start, attacks would come from everywhere and made our job really hard. Our tactic was to be very selective on who we’d chase down and who we’d let go. With only 4 riders left on our team, the job would be though with that many days to go if we decided to totally control. As expected, Pena Pena went to work very early as soon as the roads went up. After 20 km’s, the selection was made and he was up the road with 6 other guys. Being 13 minutes behind on GC, we figured it would be ok to let him go early on the flatter roads. Unfortunately for us, absolutely no other team or rider were willing to ride with us. Ryan Belliveau had to do a lot of work in the first 40 kms before the first 2 KOM’s. He unfortunately had to pay the price and got dropped on those super steep climbs, and had to ride home alone. André Tremblay then took over, and with some help from Dustin MacBurnie, he manage to get Cam to the foot of the climb with a gap of about 3:45 on the Pena Pena group. It was then the time for Dustin to take care of the climbs. He did very well also, helping Cam considerably dropping the gap on everyone but the eventual solo winner of the day, Pena Pena. The Columbian flew over those mountains and gained another 3 minutes over the yellow jersey; slicing his deficit in half in one stage. “I was ready to give him 3 or 4 minutes today, but he got seven. Every team ganged up on ours and would not work for us. They don’t seem to care if Pena Pena wins the Tour and steals them a spot on the podium. Some of them lost a lot more time then we did by not riding. They had all the interest in the world to ride the flats with us, I have yet to figure out all there local tactics;” mentions the directeur sportif, Luc Arseneau. So Cameron now enjoys a lead of 4:38 over 2nd place rider, but Pena Pena will be looking at changing that over tomorrow’s stage. Stage 5 will also be 120 km, but will go over the toughest mountains on the island, the Mamelles. On a side note, we were happy to be using our Giant and Shimano bottles today, along with our Gu products. Our mechanic, TJ Woodburn-Rogers was also very happy to find his tools (and clothes) at the Pointe-à-Pitre airport last night. Every thing was still held up at customs since Friday! This project is made possible under the Centre’s Selection program, sponsored by Giant, Nelsons, Yakima, Croissant Soleil, Université de Moncton, Shimano and Gu. For this special project, we also want to send a special thank you to some very special donations which made it possible for us to get down here: Terry Tomlin Sports Marketing Nick and Cory Jay Gavin Giles Mike’s Bike Shop (who also supplied TJ Woodburn-Rogers as a mechanic) Velo NB Cycling PEI Bicycle NS

After a moral boosting 2nd place in the TTT last night, we woke up realizing the current yellow jersey was too injured to take the start. Since Cam we now 2nd overall due to the good team performances, he virtually became race leader over breakfast! As a show of respect for the leader who crashed the day before, we did not want to wear the jersey, and the organization never asked us either. During our team meeting, we decided it was too early to defend that lead. After all, 8 guys were within a minute of Cam. We knew many teams would be looking to wear the jersey, and we were willing to wait a bit. We suspected it would go like day one of any great stage race: fast from the gun. This was actually great, as most teams did not even know the yellow jersey was not there, and our boys were allowed to play the breakaway card once more. It was clear, if we made it into any break with a rider menacing Cam, we would not ride. After a few good attacks, the right one was gone early. The biggest mistake of the 2008 edition of the Tour could have been done, they let Cam get into a break! So the rest of the boys could take the day (well ok, part of it) off. Cam, on his side, rode a solid stage. Once the teams realized he was now the leader on the road, they did not cooperate too much with him. With 30 km’s to go, he decided to test his 8 men group. The reaction was not that good, but they still reeled him in. A few minutes later, another guy gave it a shot and Cam was the only one able to jump on his wheel. I was immediately on the radio to tell him to pull through and ride it. Within a few km’s, the gap was made, and they would never be seen again. The other rider would not even be able to pull through Cam’s rhythm. When I went up to him to ask him (in French) to ride with Cam, he pleaded us to let him finish 2nd, and that he would not sprint for the win. After all, we were going for the leader’s jersey, so I was not too concerned with the stage win. The local boys kept his word, and Cam won the stage and took the leader’s jersey at the same time. The big question in all the media at this moment: “Can he climb with the big boys?” Tomorrow’s stage is where it all begins. 90 km’s in the stage, the pain fest will start with category one and two mountains. The total stage will be 120 kms. Defending will not be easy, but our initial goal to take some time over the best climbers before stages 4 and 5 is accomplished (the top one, Pena Pena is now clocked at 13 minutes!). The team is doing well. I should not say this, but they are currently relaxing a bit in the ocean. We came back to the hotel to realize electricity was gone, so we thought it would be a good idea to relax a bit and enjoy the moment.

Due to the rainy weather and the Aug holiday, there will be no member BMX time today.

Hey Peter Wedge gang - Tuesday Aug 5 - road ride with Stuart - if it is pouring rain Stuart will teach you some mechanical things at the Centre and talk about racing, explain the gear restrictions and other rules of road racing

After a tough Saturday at 37 degrees and disappointment of loosing our best young rider, Sunday had to be seen as another by the five remaining riders of the Atlantic Cycling Centre team at the Tour de la Guadeloupe. Nothing was easy on the menu either: a 100 km circuit race and a 30 km team time trial. The 20 km loop was a very twisty one, and, of course, went from the gun! We have yet to receive the official results, but the average speed was around 48 km/h! Cameron was active very early. We knew Ste-Austroberthe, the new team with the leader’s jersey, would not chase him. So why not keep on logging up the minutes before the mountain stages. His break would not cooperate much, so Dustin decided to take charge. A new group of about 12 riders were now up the road, including the two Canadians. Again, lack of cooperation from the group, and only two riders managed to get up the road… to finally take the win. For us, the bad luck (and frustration) streak kept on going. At about 50km/h, Ryan Taylor double flatted and hit the ditch very hard. Dedicated to continue his team mate job, he kept on riding with his left side full of blood. After receiving the treatments from the Tour doctor, he kept on riding for about 30 kms, but the pain got the best of him and had to be taken to the hospital to get x-rayed and stitched. He was released a few hours later with a few war wounds. No need to say the team’s moral was a bit low approaching the TTT with only 4 guys left. We decided to forget about all those bad lucks, and show everyone we were here for a reason… and they did! Second place! We actually only lost by 18 seconds, no need to say a few pulls from either Garrett and / or Taylor would have put us on the top step on the podium. The boys showed a lot of courage, faced major adversity, and we can all be proud of them. Over that, we just received the official results, and we are now standing 2nd overall on GC (Cam) and 4th on the team classification. The worst part about this is the leader crashed hard today, so we’re actually a little worried he’ll pass us the jersey tomorrow morning! We want it, but not right now! The moral has now shifted, everyone is smiling again. If only we could now get the rest of our luggage (yes, we still don’t have tools and water bottles!) and our vitamins, we’d be all set. Tomorrow, 160 km with two Category 3 KOM’s. The big mountain stages are just around the corner, Tuesday and Wednesday. Thanks for reading! This project is made possible under the Centre’s Selection program, sponsored by Giant, Nelsons, Yakima, Croissant Soleil, Université de Moncton, Shimano and Gu. For this special project, we also want to send a special thank you to some very special donations which made it possible for us to get down here: - Terry Tomlin Sports Marketing - Nick and Cory Jay - Gavin Giles - Mike’s Bike Shop (who also supplied TJ Worden-Rogers as a mechanic) - Velo NB - Cycling PEI - Bicycle NS

The trip started a little differently from a dream for what is called the “Atlantic Dream Team” at the Tour de Guadeloupe. Actually, 3 days later, we are still recovering physically and especially mentally from what we’d rather call a nightmare. After about 30 hours of delayed flights, lost baggages, airport time, the team was welcomed in Guadeloupe by, not the organizers, but the custom agents! This was very serious; the biggest local team was caught with EPO and was arrested that same morning. Now, the procedures are on, everyone is completely searched with no exception! This is when the Canadian representatives lost there vitamins! This process is so complicated that, to this date, we still have some missing baggages, namely our tool box and our water bottles! Try to race at 37 degree with no water bottle! The race finally started for the team composed of Dustin MacBurnie, Ryan Belliveau, Garrett McLeod, Ryan Taylor, André Tremblay (replacing his sick team mate Geoff O’Toole), and Cam Evans (replacing his teammate Christian Meier who has now signed with Garmin, and not allowed to race this event). Under pissing rain, we attacked the prologue with not too much expectations, but I think frustration more then anything else. Performance was nothing short of great. All our boys were in the top 17, including a 9th position for Garrett McLeod who immediately took the Espoir (U23) jersey! In fact, this was a little too good and we were marked for the 1st stage. 37 degree was the temperature on the road at the start of the grueling 170 km stage one. Early on, about 25 guys went up the road to battle the formation of the decisive breakaway. Our boys did very well once again by sending four of us to the battle field (Belliveau, Evans, MacBurnie, McLeod). After about 50 km, the selection was clear, 10 riders were left, including Evans. Now, the complicated job of car feeding startsed! On these small roads and lack of cooperation from the local teams, it became very, and I mean very, hard to cover all our boys. No feed zones were established to help us either. In my 10 years in the caravan, I’ve never seen anything like it! It took me over 40 kms to finally feed my 6 guys spread in three groups; in the heat, not funny! The “non-cooperation” got even worst when I was covering the break and Garrett punctured. Not a single local team, including neutral support, offered the young leader a wheel. When I came back to the main pack - and of course, race radio (every team vehicle is offered a radio to communicate with the organization) was not working - I did not know where he was or what had happened the him. We waited for the next group to come by, and we then figured he was with the broom wagon and was either sick from the heat or was riding slowly to the finish to rest it up for the next day. Overall, we served over 60 water bottles, meaning more then 10 each rider on the hard day. “Luc, this is crazy, everyone race this first stage like if was a one day race;” MacBurnie was saying after crossing the finish line. When we got the final results, Evans was 6th for the day, and now lies in 5th overall. Taylor, MacBurnie and Tremblay finished in the back at 6 minutes and Belliveau was a little back as he flatted 50 km from the finish. After many questions to the organizers and commissaires to know where McLeod was, we finally got a set of wheels that was his… but not the body. I seriously started to get worried, but finally someone told me he was in another bus with the volunteers. When he showed up, he explained his whole story. 45 minutes on the side of the road, and not a single team car, nor neutral, offered him a wheel! Once the broom wagon showed up, they did not have any wheel either! He had no choice but to abandon the race with a leader’s jersey on his shoulder. Disappointing for him, but embarrassing for the organizer who did not know what to say about it. We (organizer and other foreign teams) tried everything possible to get him back into the race, but not much we can do since he did not cross the finish line on his bike. Today, a double day awaits us with a 100km circuit race and a 30 km Team time trial. Our team is pumped for the TTT, even without our strongest TT rider. We’ll show them not to cooperate! This project is made possible under the Centre’s Selection program, sponsored by Giant, Nelsons, Yakima, Croissant Soleil, Université de Moncton, Shimano and Gu. For this special project, we also want to send a special thank you to some very special donations which made it possible for us to get here: - Terry Tomlin Sport Marketing - Nick and Cory Jay - Gavin Giles - Mike’s Bike Shop (who also supplied TJ Worden-Rogers as a mechanic) - Velo NB - Cycling PEI - Bicycle NS