Belkin’s Sep Vanmarkcke opened his account at the Tour of Alberta on Friday, winning stage 3 in a full-throttle sprint on a windy circuit around the Edmonton Garrison.
Ramūnas Navardauskas (Garmin-Sharp) took his second second-place finish of the Canadian stage race. Leigh Howard (Orica-GreenEdge) finished third.
To start the race, the peloton took two laps around Wetaskiwin before heading out on the 157.9-kilometer stage.
Once again, Robin Carpenter (Hincapie Sportswear Development) made a breakaway move. This time, however, he was brought back to the field after a few kilometers.
The peloton kept the race together for the first points sprint of the day. Orica GreenEdge’s Daryl Impey won that prize, followed by Robert Forster (UnitedHealthcare) in second and Ryan Anderson (Optum-Kelly Benefit Strategies) in third.
Eventually, a break formed with Chad Beyer (5-Hour Energy), Eric Marcotte (Team SmartStop), Ben Perry (Canadian Cycling), and Matteo Dal-Cin (Silber). Perry initiated the move about 89 kilometers in. Over the course of the next 20 kilometers of racing, the lead group grew as riders bridged across.
However, the break did not last long. The peloton split, and around 41km to go, the fast-charging front group of about 40 riders caught the leaders.
The front group extended its lead in the crosswinds with 30 kilometers left. Race leader Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Shimano) was included with the leaders.
In the penultimate circuit around the Edmonton Garrison, Vanmarcke, Navardauskas, and Howard got away.
Navardauskas initiated the move, attacking with 9.4km to go. The front group stretched, but did not snap.
With 8.6km to go, Howard responded with an attack of his own, drawing out Navardauskas and Vanmarcke. With that, the die was cast.
Howard led the group in the final kilometer. Then, he paused at 300 meters to go, taking his right hand off the bars and looking backward at his adversaries. That lapse in attention was enough for Vanmarcke to make his race-winning jump. The Belgian led the trio into the final corner and took the sprint handily. Navardauskas was second, and Howard finished third.
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