With two runners less, the Quebec team led by Pascal Choquette showed all the depth of its team, while the representatives of the fleur-de-lis jersey completed the seventh stage in third place in the team standings, finishing just behind Canada and United States. In the end, it was Canadian team color holder Matthew Ney who was crowned as the new champion of the 53rd edition of the Tour de l’Abitibi.
By his own admission, the coach of the Quebec team Pascal Choquette said he was rather satisfied with the work accomplished by his people. Even if the riders made mistakes at times, he believes that this participation in the 53rd Tour de l’Abitibi will have allowed his colts to gain experience.
“It is disappointing to have lost Julien [Boulé] and Henrique [Martins] in the first stage. Our athletes had some good shots and others not so good during the week, but the important thing is to learn from them. If our athletes have learned during this project, it is the objective to have a race of this kind in Quebec. They can now adjust their work if they want to perform at the international level,” said Pascal Choquette a few minutes after the seventh stage.
In his second year as a junior, Justin Roy secured the top rider among Team Quebec riders with a 13th place overall, while teammates Filipe Duarte and Elyot Ferguson completed the seventh and final stage with the 16th and 17th places for the brown jersey. Due to a crash on the first lap, which caused him to lose several minutes on the peloton, Gabriel Séguin completed the cycling lap in 65th place. His effort contributed to the third place finish for the Quebec team.
In addition to the riders of the Quebec team, several affiliated members within the FQSC distinguished themselves during this 2023 edition of the Tour Cycliste de l’Abitibi. In his second year as a junior, Alexis Bouchard (Team Canada) stood out on the Abitibi climbs to finally get his hands on the polka dot jersey for the best climber of the event. With 17 points, he edged out Nathan Cusack (USA). In addition to his polka dot jersey, the rider from Quebec took eighth place in the cumulative ranking after seven stages.
He is not the only Quebecer playing for the national team to have had success this week, as his teammate Jonathan Hinse turned out to be one of the revelations of the 53rd Tour de l’Abitibi. Holder of the orange jersey and blue jersey with two stages to go, the athlete from Vaudreuil-Dorion performed well in the intermediate sprints as well as in the mass sprints on the various stages, finishing in second place for the orange jersey. The American Alejandro Che took advantage of the last stage to take the orange jersey, he who had stolen the blue jersey on Saturday from Jonathan Hinse. At the end of the seven stages, Jonathan Hinse completed his first participation in the Abitibi event in fifth place overall in addition to having climbed on the podium three times during the stay.
Among the other riders who showed great things during the week, Carl Truffer wore the blue jersey by proxy during the fourth and fifth stages. With a sixth-place finish for the blue jersey given to the best first-year junior rider, he completed the seven stages in 12th place overall.
Rider of the ZVP-Opto Réseau team, Adamo Giammarella has shown a lot of consistency in the various events presented this week. Excellent in the individual time trial with a 10th place, he gave himself a chance to complete the Tour in ninth place for the brown jersey. Giammarella’s team-mate Maxime Corbeil also came out on top with a 15th place overall. These two men are part of the reasons that explain the success of the ZVP-Opto Réseau training. The team led by Gilles Besner completed the event in fourth place in the team standings, ahead of France and Japan.
