Pavel Sivakov was supposed to be in Navarre on Sunday afternoon, racing towards Lekunberri in the Vuelta a España peloton. Instead, he found himself an ocean away in a rain-soaked Parc du Mont-Royal, riding to second place at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal. You don’t have to be adaptable to be a pro cyclist, but it helps.
The Frenchman had spent most of the summer cloistered at altitude, preparing himself to ride the Vuelta alongside Geraint Thomas, but at the last moment, Ineos Grenadiers opted not to include him in their line-up. His imminent transfer to UAE Team Emirates almost certainly informed the decision.
It was no way to say goodbye, particularly after six seasons of service, and Sivakov expressed his disappointment in an interview with L’Équipe at last month’s Deutschland Tour. “We're just numbers, we're pawns,” he said then. “That's how I see it.”
It would have been understandable if Sivakov had downed tools and turned his thoughts to his new start as part of Tadej Pogačar’s guard in 2024, but he figured he might as well put his summer of hard labour to use during the final weeks of a campaign that saw a fine Giro d’Italia ended by a heavy crash. He placed fourth overall in Germany and he made the trip to Canada with a particular emphasis on the GP de Montréal.
“I was supposed to do the Vuelta, so it was hard for me to miss out on that, because I had good legs in that moment,” Sivakov said when he took a seat in the press room on Sunday afternoon. “But I accepted the situation, and I did a good Deutschland Tour. The courses in Plouay last week and Québec on Friday weren’t ideal for me, but I was super happy to be able to fight for the win today.
“I motivated myself again very quickly after I got the news. I knew I’d still have opportunities to come in these races. The efforts I was making in training for a Grand Tour were a little bit different, but I still had some good races to prepare for coming here, so I was ready.”
The rain that fell steadily over Montréal on Sunday added an extra degree of attrition to an already demanding course, where the 18 laps of the Mont-Royal circuit added up to some 4,842 metres of total climbing. Once UAE Team Emirates began paring down the peloton in earnest with three laps remaining, it became clear that Adam Yates would be the dangerman in the finale and Sivakov stayed within sight of the Briton’s rear wheel as they took the bell.
Sivakov was the only rider who could track Yates’ acceleration on the final time up the Côte Camillien Houde, and although he was briefly distanced near the summit, he bridged back up over the other side. From there, the pair collaborated smoothly before contesting a two-up sprint on the final rise up the Avenue du Parc, where Yates’ strength proved overwhelming.
“I saw UAE riding on the last laps, so I knew Adam Yates was going to attack in the finale,” Sivakov said. “He’s very strong. I saw him moving up in the bunch, so I got on his wheel, and I was there when he put in a very big attack. I dropped back a little bit over the top, but I came back up to him. From there, we had to collaborate if we wanted to make it to the finish and that’s what we did.
“I’m satisfied with the result. I was hoping I could win, and I did a good sprint, but Adam was just stronger today. It would have been a bigger disappointment if it had been a tighter sprint.”
Perhaps it was only fitting that Sivakov found himself off the front with his once and future teammate Yates, who has enjoyed something of a resurgence since swapping Ineos Grenadiers for UAE Team Emirates last winter. Alongside his primary role as Pogačar’s last man in the mountains, Yates has also managed to carve out some freedom for himself, notching up five wins across the campaign. Sivakov, still only 26 years of age, will doubtless hope to follow a similar trajectory.
“If you have the legs, you can find the opportunities,” Sivakov said of his move. “I’m sure and certain that I’ll have my own opportunities in certain races. And it’s good to ride for such a strong team in any case, it’ll be a great change for next year.”
