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June 15, 2007 - Mont-Mégantic, Quebec - Team Slipstream/Chipotle continued it’s strong run at the Tour de Beauce Thursday, in the toughest stage of the race - a rolling 153km stage that finishes with the steep 4 km ascent to the top of Mont-Mégantic.

Early in the stage, one breakaway escaped and was pulled back by the yellow-jersey team. At the crest of the second KOM hill, a dangerous group formed, including Slipstream’s Danny Pate who is in the top 10 on General Classification. This move lasted for 20km before getting caught, with one lone rider, Dirk Muller, staying out in front with a small lead.

As the peloton once again regrouped with just 25km to go in the stage, one more breakaway attempt went off the front, which included Slipstream’s Quebecor Francois Parisien (3rd in Stage 2). After this group caught the leader, Muller attacked again in an attempt to go solo again.

Parisien was the only rider of the breakaway able to bridge to Muller, and the two turned onto the mountain road with 5km left and started the ascent of Mont-Mégantic.

The two riders went back and forth on the first steep sections of the climb, but soon Muller’s efforts of the day took their toll and Parisien was able to drop him. As Parisien rode alone in the lead up the climb, only Glen Chadwick of Navigators was chasing from behind.

Chadwick caught Parisien and the two rode together to the finish, with Chadwick jumping away in the final 500 meters to take his second stage win in a row. Parisien grabbed his second podium finish in a row, and showed that nearing Canadian Nationals, he has recovered from months of knee trouble and time off from racing to regain the form he had as 2005 Canadian Champion.

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Quebec native keeps team’s roll going at his “home” race

June 13, 2007 - Vallée-Jonction, Quebec - In today’s second stage of the Tour de Beauce, Quebec native Francois Parisien led the charge from Team Slipstream on his home turf and kept the team’s momentum going following teammate Danny Pate’s strong ride in Stage 1.

Just 40km into the 170km stage, a promising breakaway rolled off the front of the peloton, including all the major teams except Slipstream. Just as the peloton was settling down to let the breakaway test itself, Parisien snuck off the front and managed to bridge to the break.

With Parisien on board, the breakaway had the numbers and the dynamic to work well together, and maintained a consistent 5 minute advantage for most of the day.

With 20km remaining, Navigators rider Glen Chadwick attacked over the top of the final KOM climb and managed to hold on to a small lead for the rest of the race. Hard work by Parisien and fellow-Quebecois Charles Dionne narrowed Chadwick’s lead to 20 seconds, but couldn’t quite pull him back.

In the end, Parisien used a strong sprint to take 2nd in the group, for 3rd overall on the stage. Team Slipstream’s Alex Howes, Danny Pate, and Ian MacGregor finished with the main pack, just over five minutes behind.

For the overall Tour de Beauce standings, Danny Pate remains the team’s GC threat, sitting in 8th place overall, just 0:36 down. Tomorrow’s stage will certainly continue to shake up the race, with an infamous finishing climb to the top of Mont Megantic (600m of elevation gain over the last 25km of the race).