After a two-year absence due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec, the first of two Canadian one-day WorldTour races in three days, ran its 11th edition on Friday, with Benoît Cosnefroy (France/AG2R-Citroën) the surprise solo winner after a perfect move inside the final 2 km. It was his second one-day WorldTour victory. He is the second Frenchman to win the race after the inaugural champion Thomas Voeckler in 2010. Guillaume Boivin was top Canadian.
The Course
Riders faced 16 laps of a 12.6-km route, each containing Côte des Glacis, where the KOM sprint point sat; the steep, 300-metre Côte de la Montagne; and the slightly longer, but milder Côte de la Potasse in the latter half before a kilmometre of 4 percent ascent to the line.
It’s time to race in Québec!
16 laps of the 12.6km circuit in the heart of Québec City await us today when we roll out at 11:00 CEST.
Our numbers 👇
141 Houle
142 Boivin
143 Clarke
144 Fuglsang
145 Neilands
146 Nizzolo
147 Vanmarcke🇨🇦 #GPCQM pic.twitter.com/IyH8uAWbyy
— Israel – Premier Tech / Israel Cycling Academy (@IsraelPremTech) September 9, 2022
Two previous winners were in Québec: Michael Matthews (2018, 2019) and Peter Sagan (2016, 2017).
Hugo Houle, Guillaume Boivin and Antoine Duchesne were the Canadian WorldTour riders, and national champion Pier-André Coté, Nicolas Coté, Thomas Schellenberg, Matteo Dal-Cin, Carson Miles, Quentin Cowan and Nicolas Rivard made up Team Canada.
Schellenberg and Rivard were the first Canadians in an attack, but it was Carson Miles who chose the right move to join. Miles bolted with 2021 Giro d’Italia runner-up Damiano Caruso and three others. Miles started to vacuum up the KOM points atop Côte des Glacis, but he kept in mind that there were much more points offered at the crests in the final four laps. The Miles-Caruso Quintet had a 4:00 gap with six laps to go.
Van Aert’s Jumbo-Visma, Matthews’ BikeExchange-Jayco and Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert controlled the business end of the peloton. Miles fell off the pace with 67 km to race and Caruso was left with Lotto-Soudal, Quick Step and Cofidis companions.
Movistar and Jumbo-Visma’s pursuit pace ejected Geraint Thomas, Miles and Hugo Houle. With 52 km remaining the Caruso foursome held 2:00.
When the gap hit the minute mark, Quinn Simmons attacked from the peloton,…
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