17 year old Logan Owen is currently racing the Tour of l’Abitibi with the US Junior National Team. This is the last installment of his time there.
The Tour of l’Abitibi takes place in Abitibi-Temiscamingue in northwestern Quebec. It is restricted to athletes aged 17-18. It is a UCI sanctioned race and is the only event of this size in North America.
Stage 5:
Going into today we knew we were going to have to fight to hold all the jerseys and our team gc lead because of the wide open roads and the changes in elevation on the profile. As we began the 107km stage it seemed as if all the Canadian teams had banded together. Nothing was getting away until the 50km mark when, after chasing breaks all day, our team went to the front and split the field in a cross wind section. However it all came back together and we just kept it together for the bunch sprint. From riding on the front and covering breaks all day our team was pretty gassed so we couldn’t give Darville a proper leadout so he ended up 3rd. But we held all the jerseys and our team gc after the queen stage of the race.
Stage 6:
Today it seemed like more and more teams banded together and we had another tough fight on our hands. We started the 115km stage and we were able to just follow the small breaks that would form and let some dangle at 30-40 seconds up the road. After controlling the race we brought it down to the finishing 3 laps of a 5km circuit with the peleton all together. At this point we put everyone on the front except TJ, our gc leader in the brown jersey, and gave Darville a proper lead out but he came in 4th after having to dodge another rider in the final corner. But once again we defended everything very well and were looking good going into the last stage.
Stage 7:
Going into today we knew every team was going to be trying their hardest to get in a break which would make it harder for us to control. So our plan for the day was for everyone to make sure nothing got more than 30 seconds up the road and for us to follow the guys who were dangerous in the brown, orange and blue jersey competition. So we kept everything together for the 40km until we hit the first of 10 laps around a 5km circuit. This is when a $250 mayors sprint was up for grabs so everything got strung out and somehow 3 of our guys got up the road with 8 guys immediately after the sprint. So the other 3 of us weren’t too worried about it as we expected them to sit on because that was what we were told to do if we got in a break. That group was able to stay away until the finish and by the end they finished 2.5 minutes up on us.
So I lost the blue jersey but it went to my teammate who was up the road in the break. We kept all the jerseys, won team gc by over 7 minutes, and finished 1,2 and 3 on individual gc and were only the 2nd team in history to ever do this. All in all it was a very successful tour for us.
Summary:
Throughout this week I learned how strong of a group we were when we all worked together and that we could accomplish anything with the great directing of Barney King. This trip has really taught me a lot about how important it is to work as a team and how if you do it well you can succeed. It was a great experience and hopefully we can repeat our outstanding performances next year and get even more stage wins!
Thanks for reading.
Logan Owen
