Mount-Mégantic (Quebec), Canada – The UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team’s Rory Sutherland (AUS) finished third in Stage 3 of Canada’s Tour de Beauce earlier today, Thursday, June 14, 2012, and Teammate Marc de Maar (CUR), finished seventh. Matt Cooke (Team Exergy) and Francisco Mancebo (Competitive Cyclist) finished first and second respectively on the 165km queen stage that began in Saint-Georges and finished at the top of the decisive Mont Mégantic, one of the staples of the Tour de Beauce.

Sutherland stated, “The boys rode really well for us today. Everyone did a great job. The guys dropped us off at the bottom of the climb right up front and left it to Marc and myself to handle. Thinning the group down and having Marc there with me made a big difference. We could play tactics well and work off each other. Now we are in a good position heading into the time trial tomorrow and then we will know where we stand on GC after that.”

Photo by Brian Hodes - veloimages.com

Team Director, Hendrik Redant, was pleased with the Team’s performance and said, “Today the boys worked well together and were consistently in the front of the peloton. Davide Frattini (ITA) was in the first real break of the day and Ben Day (AUS) finished just behind the leading riders. On the finishing climb it became a “battle of the giants” of this race. Matthew Cooke attacked, followed up by de Maar, with 5km to go.”

“The guys fought hard. Cooke made it to the finish and was able to win the race with very little gap on Macebo and Rory. We are in a very good situation with the long time trial ahead tomorrow,” Redant concluded.

Tomorrow, Friday, June 15, the riders will compete in Stage 4, a 20km time trial in Saint-Benoit-Labre.

Team UnitedHealthcare’s Roster for the Tour de Beauce 2012 (June 12 – 17):
Ben Day (AUS),
Marc de Maar (CUR)
Jason McCartney (USA)
Rory Sutherland (AUS)
Davide Frattini (ITA)
Chris Jones (USA)
Kai Reus (NED)