Team Canada continues to have good racing at the Tour de l’Avenir Femmes. Stage 2 was a 119.3km race from Villaroger to Condove that featured some climbs in the first three quarters before finishing on the flats. Kiara Lylyk had a great race to take 6th in the bunch sprint, finishing 7th overall. France’s Églantine Rayer took the win, with her teammate Marion Bunel keeping yellow.
Bunel is only 16 seconds ahead of Isabella Holmgren, however. The Canadian finished safely in the bunch and continues to lead the mountains competition. As for the rest of Team Canada: Mara Roldan finished 15th, Laurie Millette 21st, Ava Holmgren 41st, and Jazmine Lavergne 54th. It was a tough day of racing, with 12 cyclists abandoning.
There is one stage remaining, and Stage 3 is a doozy.
The race heads from Bobbio Pellice to Colle delle Finestre, Italy, for a total of 125.9km. The last 16 km are hors catégorie, with an average 9 percent gradient.
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The Tour de l’Avenir is seen as a younger sibling to the Tour de France, with many famous riders having won it, including Miguel Induráin, Laurent Fignon, Nairo Quintana, Egan Bernal, and Tadej Pogačar.
Over in the men’s Tour de l’Avenir, Michael Leonard had a tough day at the office. The Canadian finished 85th, 14 minutes behind winner Florian Samuel Kajamini of Italy. Leonard now drops from 5th overall to 21st. The Canadian won the prologue and wore yellow in Stage 1. He is joined by compatriots Félix Bouchard, Jérémie La Grenade, Jonas Walton, Leonard Peloquin and Quentin Cowan for the seven stages in France.
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