Written by Canadian Nippon at 02:17 12/6-2022
With the Sprint Classification all but wrapped up Canadian Nippon started focusing on the last stage of the Tour of Norway as the team had a chance to score even more points and even more stage glory. The team was trying to decide between sending either Iriving Watts to lead when he didn`t match the stage very well but collecting a few more points might so the dominate tour that Canadian Nippon actually had during the tour. Irving Watts would place well but most likely would have a chance at winning the stage due to the straight sprint aspect or send Quentin Worthen a lead-out sprinter to the lead as he had the best chance to win the stage and would boost the confidence of the rider used almost exclusively as team mate if given the lead and the expected result came during the stage but either way the team still needed to navigate the last mountains stage of Gudvagen-Lillehammer.
Stage 8 – Tour of Norway: Gudvagen-Lillehammer – 205km
The king stage of the Norway Tour takes the riders across the country from the fjords in the west to the eastern inland.
It all starts in Gudvangen with spectacular views of Kjellfossen, a waterfall of 705 meters, and Nerøyfjord that is on the UNESCO’s World Heritage List. The fjord is only 250 meters wide at is narrowest point with steep valley sides rising to 1,800 meters to frame it in.
From Gudvangen the race takes the participants to Flåm and further to Lærdal through the World’s longest tunnel at 24.5 kilometers. Spending more than 30 minutes inside a mountain can take its toll on the riders and it will be interesting to see if anyone can take advantage of the tunnel to create the day’s break away.
From Lærdal the race goes up the mountain pass leading to Hemsedal, one of Norway’s biggest ski resorts. After Hemsedal a detour is taken to get one extra mountain on the route before the final climb in the Olympic city of Lillehammer (1994 Winter Olympics).
The last climb up from Lillehammer to Gaiastova at the top of the Hafjell ski resorts takes the riders from 180 meters to 950 meters and can decide the General Classification of the Norway Tour.
It was tough day in the seat for all the riders but more for one then most that would be Canadian Nippons`s Captain Irving Watts as to what happened is still very much debatable but riding around the back of the peloton having the green jersey secured on his back he somehow crashed coming down one of the final mountain descents. Having most wonder would an abandonment determine the Sprinter Classification. The team doctors worked hard to patch the Canadian rider back together and in a gutsy effort he climbed back on the bike to finish the stage. Now the question became could he ride again tomorrow and really secure the jersey simply by finishing the tour?
In the end the Kholadeth Ammouayphone would win the stage ahead of the main General Classification contenders with General Classification leader Radoslav Dechev placing second and all but winning the General Classification on the road only needing to complete the parade stage around Oslo later in the day since it would be the sprinters that determined the final stage with no real times expected to be gained during the stage.
Canadian Nippon Results:
104th – Abel Frint
132nd – Morris Tomasin
133rd – Quentin Worthen
134th – Conan Guillot
136th – Trevor Reis
138th – Irving Watts
Final Stage (Stage 9) – Tour of Norway: Oslo Avslutning
The parade stage that can see the Sprinter Classification come down to the wire with a good number of points still on offer. The terrain in Oslo Avslutning hardly includes any climbs and has only easy downhills. The terrain has no hills and has no flat distances. The flat ending of the stage makes the finishing an extremely technical sprint demanding everything from the sprinters. The route is incredibly technical.
This year’s tour Oslo Avslutning should not see any changes in none of the Classifications with the Youth Classification, General Classification and Sprint Classification already being secured with only a race abandonment causing a change; not matter what at this point only death would stop a rider from finish the stage. This means team mates of sprinters would be allowed to fly as it will be the best sprinters that will determine the stage finals results so with Irving Watts injured the choice was an easy one for Canadian Nippon team manager to send Lead-out sprinter; Captain Quentin Worthen to the lead of the sprinters train during todays stage.
In the end the stage came down to a bunch sprint with three riders launched successfully with Joey Halligan winning the stage just inches ahead of Quentin Worthen and Marcin Pajak but it also seen a scare crash as the teams rounded the bend towards the final kick as Conan Guillot would go down while leading out the peloton of sprinters luckily not being collected by anyone else.
“It was lucky that he wasn`t collected by anyone during his crash but it came just as the hornet nest was become stirred up and the rest of the team was able to avoid following him into the crash.” commented the team manager when asked about the crash. Abel Frint the next closest rider was able to avoid him and guide not only the rest of the Canadian Nippon sprint train towards the finish but the rest of the sprinters. “It was a scary moment and the team has now two crashes in the past twenty-four hours. We will need to look into what we can do to limit the crashes in the future as it has cost us two very good riders and could have cost us more if Watts didn`t tough out the remained of the tour with the green jersey on his shoulders.” Added the team manger when asked about the crashes and what could be done to prevent them in the future.
In the end Tour of Norway was very successful for the team as they collected stage victories during stage 1, stage 2, stage 3 and stage 6 with podium finishes in stages 1, stage 7 and stage 9 while scoring enough points to hang onto the Sprinter Classification. While finish a bit on the down side with two major injures to two of the team leading riders in Conan Guillot and Irving Watts that will most likely result in the sprint team being rested now for the next few weeks or month as the team recovers. This also effects the time trials team as Conan Guillot has been riding more this season with the Time trails team and only aiding the sprint team during tours.
Canadian Nippon Stage Results:
2nd – Quentin Worthen
12th – Morris Tomasin
15th – Trevor Reis
51st – Abel Frint
127th – Conan Guillot
138th – Irving Watts
Sprinter Classification:
1st – Irving Watts 140pts
2nd – Joey Halligan 128pts
3rd – Marcin Pajak 120pts
General Classification of Canadian Nippon:
25th – Conan Guillot
29th – Abel Frint
53rd – Irving Watts
92nd – Quentin Worthen
Blue Lagoons of Nollywood
The following day the sprint team was actually back in action with team schedule to part in the Blue Lagoons of Nollywood with Irving Watts scheduled to take the lead of the team again but his injury forced a replacement with Ensio Jarvinen taking the lead for the first time since his crash and injury a month ago.
In the end it would be another crash that would hold back the team as lead-out sprinter Trevor Reis would go down in the final kilometers of the race and would affect a bunch of the sprinters in the final kick seeing his Captain unsuccessful in being lead-out by the remained of sprint team finish a distant twenty-fourth on the day.
Mackay Time Trial
Abel Frint and injured Conan Guillot would rejoin the Time trials team for 41km race in Mackay, Australia. Mackay is a city on the eastern coast of Queensland, located about 970 kilometres north of Brisbane on the Pioneer River. Mackay is nicknamed the sugar capital of Australia because its region produces more than a third of Australia's cane sugar, however in recent years, the mining industry has become the mainstay of the local economy.
Mackay is widely recognised as the gateway to the Bowen Basin coal mining reserves of Central Queensland. It is the single largest coal reserve in Australia, with 34 operational coal mines. Mackay has become the location of choice for many mining service companies that supply and consult to the mine operators. This is due to its strategic proximity to the mines, major highways and train lines, and the Hay Point coal terminals.
Mackay has a humid subtropical climate with monsoonal low pressure systems and tropical cyclones occasionally affecting the area during the wet season. Average maximum temperatures range from 30°C in summer to 23°C in winter, while minimums range from 23°C to 11°C.
The 41 km race winds along the coast and with a slight undulation at times. Although mostly flat, the route is known to include some technical sections requiring precision handling from riders to navigate correctly. Nevertheless, it’s likely to be a time trial specialist who will be climbing to the top step of the podium at the conclusion of the day’s racing.
In the end it was another podium finish when Abel Frint would hold onto his tempo after coming off the difficult Tour of Norway only days before the race. Leonard Arnold, CCFC, was the fastest rider among the participants in the individual time trial race, Mackay Time Trial. Leonard Arnold was incredible fast on the final kilometres, as he was only second at the last split time. Infront of him was Swashbucklers's Ahn In-myong who became second overall on the stage.
Safety Concerns
It was reported during the Tour of Norway that Canadian Nippon was starting to consider hiring a mechanic that would be in charge of the team safety making sure that the equipment wouldn`t be the cause of any of the teams’ crashes. Of course, this was on the back of crash that almost caused Irving Watts abandonment of the Tour of Norway. Leading many to question what actually caused the crash of Irving Watts in the first place. Did someone tamper with the bikes of Canadian Nippon or simple was it just a unlucky event for a rider riding in the form of his life dominating a tour? Either way after two more crashes it looks like Canadian Nippon has had enough of the crashes and have hired Safe Manager and Bike Mechanic, Stewart Baldinger to join the team.
“Crashes are always going to be part of bike racing when the riders with great skill keep the wheels so close to each other at such high speeds but we as a team need to make sure that we are doing everything possible to keep our riders safe during the races. So today we announce the signing of Stewart Baldinger.” Announced the team manager Robert Bouchard at press conference this morning.
“I am happy to be take the position of Safety Manager and Head Bike Mechanic at the Canadian Nippon cycling team and I will implement a few quick changes to the teams’ practices so that we can reduce the crashes. As for the crashes the team has had in the past forty-eight to seventy-two hours, I am not going to comment on them but we will review them as team to see if we can prevent further incident from happening. Thank you for the understanding as we investigate each individual crash and for the privacy as we investigate.” commented the new hired Manager Stewart Baldinger, making it clear he was going to say anything further at the time.
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Comments
Nice win with the SC in Norway!
Thanks it has been six seasons since I had a run at tour jersey so it was nice to pop off like the team did during this tour. Not completely unexpected but completely doesn`t happen like that.
With the good in this game comes the bad and the injuries just prove that!!
Congrats on the SC!
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