Nathan O'Neill (Colavita-Bolla), won stage 5 of the Grand Prix Cycliste de Beauce on Saturday, less than a year after suffering a life-threatening injury at the Tour de 'Toona.

O'Neill won the 14km individual time trial with a time of 17 minutes and 9.09 seconds, less than a second ahead of Viktor Rapinski (Navigators). Svein Tuft (Symmetrics), was the top North American finisher, in fifth place, 22.41 seconds behind O'Neill, and one spot ahead of Scott Moninger (Health Net). Overall race leader Tomasz Brozyna (Action ATI), finished third in the stage, and continues to hold the yellow jersey, 41 seconds ahead of O'Neill. O'Neill vaulted over Moninger after former second-place holder Radoslaw Romanik (Hoop CCC), had a poor race, finishing 11th and dropping to fourth overall.

O'Neill, the Austrialian time trial champion, suffered a horrific crash last summer at 'Toona, breaking his neck and risking paralysis. After six months of rehabilitation and recovery he began racing again, only to injure his knee in February; the mishap required surgery and kept him off the bike until May. His win at Beauce, and second-place ranking, caps a remarkable comeback for the 29-year-old rider.

Race leader Brozyna finished third on the day and retains his yellow jersey

Photo: Rob Jones

"I didn't know how good a ride I was having," said O'Neill afterwards. "I wanted to win the stage, but the most important thing was to move up in the general classification. I would like to win the overall, but 41 seconds is too much; the Polish team is too strong for the remaining two stages.

“This has been a real confidence-builder. Realistically, I didn't have high expectations coming into Beauce. The toughest part today was in the middle 4 to 5 kilometers, the rest was fairly routine. I rode hard and solid, but I was never in distress."

Moninger was pragmatic coming into the stage, knowing that it wasn't the best course for him. "It was a tough one today, not really my type of course, being so flat. I knew that it would be damage control today for me. There were a lot of big guys out there - I was probably the best placed rider under 160 pounds!"

Moninger sits 6 seconds behind O'Neill, with Romanik at 1:01 and Rapinski at 1:45. This evening the riders face a 50-lap, 75km criterium in Saint-Georges, on a tough circuit with a short little 12 percent climb each lap. Tomorrow the final 165km circuit race takes place around Saint-Georges - 15 laps of an 11km circuit with an 8 percent climb per lap.