Grand Prix de Québec: Remco Evenepoel takes narrow victory over Giulio Ciccone in Canadian WorldTour opener

Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) held off Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) in a two-up sprint to win Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec.

Anthon Charmig (Uno-X Mobility) held on for solo third, with a fast-closing Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5) passing Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) for fourth.

Evenepoel ignited an attack with Ciccone and Charmig on the final three circuits of the 20, but never got far ahead of a reduced peloton. With 75 metres to go, Evenepoel made his move from behind Ciccone to seal the victory.

"I had confidence in my sprint as well, so I gambled a bit to start from the front, the head wind was difficult," Evenepoel said afterward. "But I think once [Ciccone] tried to come over, he also felt the wind on the face, and then I managed to keep my advantage. So super happy.

"It was tough. I think he seemed to be pretty strong as well, and he was on the lucky side to have a teammate just behind, so he could stay in the wheels a bit more," Evenepoel said about knowing Lidl-Trek had Quinn Simmons on the attack.

"I need to stay calm and take it day by day because Sunday is another day," he said about a start at GP Cycliste de Montréal. "Then it's next Sunday, and the Sunday after [at World Championships], it's a big two weeks ahead for me."

For his part, Ciccone said he was in the right place at the right time to go with Evenepoel.

"I was in the front with Remco, and I was really suffering, so I had to say congrats to him because he was doing most of the job in the front," he said.

"We try to to cover all the movement in the front [of the race]. I also have to say sometimes you have to be lucky to be in the right place in the right moment. I can say as a team, I think we were like three, four guys in the front, so super strong performance. Finally I finished second. It's my first time here, so yeah, I can say I'm happy."

A late charge by three-time winner Michael Matthews (Jayco AlUla) came up short, as he tried to match an acceleration from Quinn Simmons with 7km to go, but could not catch the USPro champion, who was riding fourth overall on a solo effort to catch the three-rider breakaway. Matthews would settle for sixth place.

Once the top 10 was decided, a group of nine riders converged on the final 50 metres. As Quinten Hermans (Pinarello-Q36.5) led the group across the line for 11th, Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) went down hard next to Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM). The Lidl-Trek rider remained on the ground for a while, and then completed the last 50 metres 2:24 back.

How it unfolded

The 15th edition of the first of two Canadian UCI one-day races with the start and finish in the heart of Québec City in the Parc des Champs-de-Bataille on Avenue Georgie VI. A total of 20 laps are made on a 10.3km route for 206km and 2,780 metres of elevation gain, which is 1.7km shorter than last year.

The opening 2km remain in Parc des Champs-de-Bataille, then use Grande Allée Ouest to descend to the Saint Laurence River for a stretch of just over 3.5km to reach the traditional climb of Côte de la Montagne.

The 400-metre hill serves up a 10% gradient and delivers riders on the north side of Citadelle de Québec on Rue Saint-Louis. A 90-degree left turn onto Avenue Georgie VI for the uphill drag to the finish line.

An effort for an immediate breakaway saw multiple riders attack but nothing serious developed. This only stretched out the 153 starters, representing 18 WorldTour squads, a trio of ProTeams and a Canadian National team, with road champion Jérôme Gauthier and former WorldTour rider Michael Woods.

After two full circuits, six riders got away under the brilliant sunshine and moderate temperatures of 18°C, Storm Ingebrigtsen (Uno-X Mobility) initiating the move. He was joined by Nikias Arndt (Bahrain Victorious), Jonas Rutsch (Lotto-Intermarché), Frank van den Broek (Picnic-PostNL), Aivaras Mikutis (Tudor Pro) and Modern Adventure's Sam Boardman.

The group worked together to expand their lead to 3:12 as they took on lap number three. Behind, Victor Campenaerts (Visma-Lease a Bike) was the first rider to abandon, looking fine but having enough with 175km to go.

Race action held steady like a metronome across the ensuing four laps, with the gap hovering just over three minutes to the six leaders, three of them having raced in Québec City before and three making debuts - Boardman, Ingebrigtsen and Mikutis.

At the front of the peloton were riders from Decathlon CMA CGM, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe and Pinarello-Q36.5, putting their Canadian rider Nickolas Zukowsky on display.

Once on the seventh circuit, with under 135km to go, the gap had deflated slightly to 2:35. Passing along the flat stretch of the St. Lawrence River, the same WorldTour teams rode at the front. In the middle of the peloton were UAE Team Emirates-XRG, bringing Isaac del Toro for the first time in Quebec City. Also tucked in the pack were the purple kits of Jayco-AlUla, with three-time race winner Michael Matthews.

Twelve laps done and eight to go, the gap deflated to under one minute. A little action behind came from 12 riders, which included Quinn Simmons of Lidl-Trek, Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost).

Passing the start-finish for the 13th lap, Boardman dropped back and was swarmed by the peloton, which had closed down the group of 12. Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Premier Tech) pulled out of the race on the back half of the race, as attrition on the hilly laps progressed and many others opted to watch from the sidelines.

The five at the front carried only a 12-second advantage at this point in the race, but they drove on and pushed the gap to 20 seconds on the run along the river. However, on the Côte de la Montagne, Quinn Simmons and Colby Simmons (EF Education-EasyPost) went on a mission and closed down the breakaway.

The deck was reshuffled with six laps to go, Alberto Bettiol (XDS-Astana) and Colby Simmons among the riders in the new move, with original breakaway riders Ingebrigtsen, Rutsch and Van den Broek still there. But more and more tagged on across the circuit and it was now just a reduced peloton, Uno-X riders pulling for another assault up the climb around the Citadelle.

The lead group with five laps to go included Jhonatan Narváez (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Bart Lemmen (Visma-Lease a Bike), Nicolas Prodhomme (Decathlon CMA CGM), Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek), Bettiol, Edoardo Zambanini (Bahrain-Victorious), Anthon Charmig (Uno-X Mobility), Sean Quinn (EF Education-EasyPost), Quinten Hermans (Pinarello-Q36.5), Alessandro Pinarello (NSN), Soudal-QuickStep duo Andrea Raccagni Novviero and Maximilian Schachmann plus Rutsch, who was back from the original front group.

This group of 13 had a 20-second gap with 43km to go on chasers, some of the favourites now accelerating on the climb to emerge from the peloton, including Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM), Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe), Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5), Healy, Quinn Simmons and a trio from UAE of Del Toro, Jhonatan Narváez and Brandon McNulty.

Just four laps remaining, and a long line of riders swept through the Parc des Champs-de-Bataille with 38km to go and there was another regrouping. The flat stretch on the river provided inspiration for Bettiol, who attempted a solo flyer and banked 15 seconds quickly. Quinn Simmons attacked on the ascent behind to spark reactions, and began to reel back the Italian.

With 27.5km to go, Evenepoel, Ciccone, Charming and Pinarello bridged to Bettiol and the Red Bull rider staying at the front for a long pull and pushing the pace for the new lead group. The dangerous move grabbed 20 seconds on chasers and continued as a trio when Bettiol and Pinarello were dispatched on the climb. The chase behind was led by McNulty, Seixas and Quinn Simmons for the penultimate lap.

At the roundabout in the park, chasers were able to size up the trio ahead, Evenepoel still doing most of the work with a 15-second gap. They added another 11 seconds passing a cruise ship on the river and arriving at the base of the signature climb, the Belgian back at the front. Pidcock drove the chase group on the climb, which had dwindled to less than 20 riders. The Briton's tempo allowed the group to see the leaders ahead, the gap down to 16 seconds to begin the bell lap. Once on the final circuit, the chasers lost initiative and started looking at each other, with Seixas re-organising the chase.

Quinn Simmons then set off on a solo attack with 7km to go, followed by Matthews. The Australian was soon joined by other riders, while the US Pro Champion was out of the saddle several times on the flat road along the river with a half lap to go. But did Simmons have enough real estate?

The battle on the final climb went to Evenepoel and Ciccone as they dropped Charmig, setting up a final acceleration that tipped the win to Evenepoel.

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