I'm recovering this week from an intense weekend stage race, the Coupe des Ameriques, in Sutton, Quebec. For veteran cyclists that have a day job, a weekend stage is as close as we'll get to experiencing the thrill of multi-day stage racing.

This race is 4 stages in 3 days, with the first three stages, although short, are all within 24 hours.

The Opus/Powerwatts A squad had a full line up again with Carl Dessurault, David Albert, Michel Courval and myself.? On the first stage Friday evening, a mass start hill climb, Carl Dessurault finished in 11th place only 21 seconds off the winner Claude Samson, then I followed in 15th place 29 seconds off.

Then the next morning was a 12.8Km time trial. I missed 3rd place by a second and 17 seconds from the first place Sebastien Laflamme (16:35). I was happy with my effort averaging 45.5Km/hour on a rolling course.

So the first two stages of individual efforts established? the GC (general classification, or cummulative time) before the mini 30km road race on Saturday afternoon.

The mini road race, being short in distance, without any significant climbs, turn out to be a hammer fest with an average speed of 44.9 km/hour. Constant attacks all being reeled in, except for one last attack by Craig Hawkes who managed keep the pack away by a slim 2 seconds for the last few kilometers.

So we went into the final stage, a 90Km road race on Sunday morning with Carl and I and 6th and 7th place, 45 seconds from the leader Sebastien Laflamme. We talked about our strategy, and our goal was to have fun. Since we were within reach of the podium, we decided we would be aggressive thoughout the race as this was going to be a relatively short road race. The entire team (Carl, David, Michel, and I) were continuously attacking and counter attacking.

Usually in the Quebec master's circuit, textbook racing and team work to protect a riders lead is not very common. But in this road race, Cinelune/Cycle Performance and Sport Bazar teams had one mission: protect the podium positions of Frederique Belanger and Sebastien Laflamme. So Frederique and Sebastien were very quiet during the race, and they had their respective teams neutralize every attack. The result again, was an extremely fast race, with the first two thirds averaging at 45km/hour before the major difficulty of the race, the Scenic road climb.

So the 90+ rider pack was basically intact at the base of the climb, a 4-5 kilometer climb at an average of about 8% grade. Only about 25 riders made it to the top in the main group. After the climb was about a 10km flat section before the finish. Carl placed another solid attack but it all came back together. After the climb, I was on edge of having cramps in my thighs, so unfortunately, I stayed quiet.

So the overall GC was left unchanged, Carl and I finished 6th and 7th respectively. The outcome of races are usually not very predictable, but this time it was a textbook race with the leading teams working to protect their lead by covering every attack.

In retrospect, knowing that all the "domestics" didn't make it up the major climb (they had done their job), I probably should have waited and kept my matches for the last 10km. That is easy to say after the fact, and making up 45 seconds in 10km is not an easy thing either...

The Opus/Powerwatts B Sqad, as usual this season, dominated the field. Stephane Le Beau and Erick Provost took the 1st and 2nd stops on the GC. It's hard to beat that! Congrats!

Here is a picture of me during the time trial.