GP Montréal: Van Avermaet wins over Sagan

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Olympic champion Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) claimed a hard-fought victory in the GP Montreal, reversing the result of two days earlier in Quebec and getting the better of world champion Peter Sagan (Tinkoff).

The Belgian bided his time in the headwind, pinning Sagan to the barriers with Diego Ulissi (Lampre-Merida) and then powering away for the victory. Sagan out-kicked Ulissi to take second.

It was just the latest in a series of successes for Van Avermaet, who in addition to winning the gold medal in the Olympic road race in Rio, won a stage in the Tour de France, two stages and the overall in Tirreno-Adriatico, and the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.

"I always said that I could do more and finally this year it has happened. I was always a good rider but not winning that much and this year everything has come together and I have won some big races. I'm finally there where I want to be," Van Avermaet said of his win.

"It was really hard. To win like that in a sprint against Peter Sagan is really good for me. I'm really happy with my season and my form as I've been able to win a lot of races. To finally win here in Quebec and Montreal is really nice after so many times on the podium. I'll definitely be coming back to these races,"

The 205.7km race started out under sunny skies, and it was not long before a breakaway was let go - in fact, it was within the first kilometre that Fabien Greiller (Direct Energie), Matteo Dal-Cin and Benjamin Perry (Canada), and Lukas Postlberger (Bora-Argon 18) went clear.

They were immediately allowed a solid gap, with some other riders jumping out of the peloton in an attempt to get across. Sean De Bie (Lotto Soudal) and Jasha Sutterlin (Movistar) made it across and helped the breakaway get to five minutes, but the peloton held them there for a full 150km before tipping the balance in the other direction.

With four laps to go, the breakaway was back down to its original four, and crumbling under the pressure of the peloton. An acceleration from Astana fractured the peloton in to pieces, with 25 riders making the split.

The breakaway was swept up as the final lap approached, and a new breakaway sparked by Cyril Gautier (AG2R La Mondiale) grew to nine riders before being caught on the final lap.

Rui Costa (Lampre-Merida) put in a promising move with 7km to go, holding onto the lead until the very final U-turn with 500m to go when Sagan led the peloton to his wheel.

But the world champion was on the front too early and in an attempt to move behind, he found himself boxed in by Van Avermaet and Ulissi with nowhere to go, and it was the BMC rider who claimed the win.

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