Costa claims GP Montreal

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Rui Alberto Faria da Costa (Movistar) out-paced a late-race breakaway of three to secure the victory at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal on Sunday.

The Portuguese climber won the drag race to the line ahead of Pierrick Fedrigo (FDJ) in second. It was the third win of the season for the 25-year-old after his Tour de France stage win at Super Besse and the overall victory in the Vuelta a la Comunidad de Madrid.

“This is a very important victory because it is a WorldTour win,” Costa said. “The Tour win was also a special victory, obviously, because the Tour is the Tour and that is the biggest race that you can win at. But, I felt really strong today and I think I had a really strong team.”

Grand Prix Cycliste de Quebec winner Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) put in a stunning final bid to catch the trio ahead and sprinted from a chasing group, but fell short catching only Stefan Denifl (Leopard Trek) but failing to close down the two seconds to the riders ahead.

Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Cervelo) earned the events Best Canadian Rider award for finishing 11th place on the day. Danny Pate (HTC-Highroad) won the King of the Mountain (KOM) compeition, while Yukiya Arashiro (Europcar) secured the Most Aggressive rider award for his lengthy time spent in the breakaway.

"I can’t say that I am disappointed to race here in Canada, Quebec City and Montreal," said Hesjedal who came into the races as a favourite. "For me, it is a very important part of the season. Even if I was last both days I would still have enjoyed myself."

Last lap furry over Mont Royal

Costa launched an attack out of a fading breakaway on the last climb up the circuit’s decisive Mont Royal. He was quickly followed by Rigoberto Uran (Sky Pro Cycling) and Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Cervelo). Behind the trio, several riders made their respective attacks including Robert Gesink (Rabobank).

A three-man move was the next to go on the descent through the city streets that included Costa, Fedrigo and Denfil. "The problem in the finale was that I was a little bit out of competition and had cramps," said Fedrigo, who is recovering from Lyme disease. "I’m not at my best level but I am on my way back."

A fierce chase from behind was led by Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Cervelo) in an attempt to close the roughly seven-second gap to the three breakaway riders with five kilometres to go.

Olympic gold medalist Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) was the next to make a move out of the chase group. However, the tactics between the chase group resulted in the breakaway gaining an additional 10 seconds on the descent along Ste-Catherine down to the finish line on Avenue du Parc.

Gilbert started the small bunch sprint behind the breakaway riders with roughly 800 metres to go and passed Denfil at the line for third place.

"We came down the climb with a 15-second lead and so we were pretty confident that we would stay away," Costa said. "We never looked back. Once the red flame was over, the only thing left in my mind was to win. There was not thinking of anything else. I knew that Fedrigo was the man to beat and I went for it."

Four men make the breakaway on Mont Royal

The peloton lined up on Avenue du Parc for the second annual UCI WorldTour Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal on September 11, in a moment of silence in memory of the 9/11 tragedy.

The 205.7km race took place on a challenging circuit previously used as a World Championships course in 1974, Olympic Games in 1976, a men’s World Cup in the 1980s and 1990s, and a women’s World Cup in the 1990s and 2000s.

The riders contested 17 laps of a 12.1km loop that started along Avenue du Parc at the base of circuit’s significant ascent up Mont Royal. Riders descended the Chemin Remembrance and the Cote des Neiges before beginning a technical battle through the downtown streets surrounding the Universite de Montreal. The continued along a lengthy descent down the Cote Ste-Catherines back onto Avenue du Parc to the finish line.

A breakaway of 18 riders rode off the front of an aggressive peloton on the first climb over Mont Royal. The peloton merged back together on the lengthy descent along Ste-Catherines. Sylvester Szmyd (Liquigas-Cannondale) stretched his legs over the climb on the third lap picking up points toward the KOM competition.

Danny Pate (HTC-Highroad) was the next to go over Mont Royal on the fourth lap. He was later joined by Danilo Di Luca (Katusha), Yukiya Arashiro (Europcar) and Anthony Geslin (FDJ).

Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) was forced to take a bike change due to a mechanical at the start of the fifth lap, and luck continued to elude Gilbert as he was forced off his bike a second time, this time crashing into the course fence at the end of the fifth lap. He utilized help from teammates Maarten Neyens and Oscar Pujol to get back into the peloton on Mont Royal at the start of lap six.

"Honestly, I think that third place is a superb result because I crashed and I was really scared," Gilbert said. "When I hit the ground I told myself maybe it was over for the world championships. I managed to get back on the bike and I felt better as the race went."

The breakaway of four riders continued to work well together increasing their gap to 6:30. The gap dropped significantly to four minutes during laps seven, eight and nine. Rabobank and Sky Pro Cycling were responsible for setting a strong tempo.

Di Luca made use of his time off the front of the field by picking up the majority of KOM points at the top of Mont Royal each lap. The leaders gap decreased to 2:45 minutes with five laps to go, as strong climbers back in the peloton rallied toward the front of the field before Mont Royal. The four were reeled back in on the 15th lap.

The demise of an all-day breakaway of four rider led to a new and larger group of opportunist that included David Veilleux (Europcar), Svein Tuft (SpiderTech p/b C10), Michael Barry (Sky Pro Cycling), Tom Danielson (Garmin-Cervelo), Maarten Wynants (Rabobank), Danny Pate (HTC-Highroad), Gregory Rast (RadioShack), Cristiano Salerno (Liquigas-Cannondale), Gorazd Stangelj (Astana), Alberto Faria (Movistar), Francesco Reda (Quick Step), Jean-ChristophePeraud (AG2R-La Mondiale), Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil-DCM) and Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis Le Credit).

Barry made his move on the ascent with two laps to go opening up a small gap ahead of his breakaway companions. His move was later countered by Peraud on the shorter and steeper ascents through the city.

Back in the field, Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) launch an attack over the climb and was followed by top climbers Robert Gesink (Rabobank) and Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Cervelo). The peloton reunited on the descent down onto the technical city streets, in continued pursuit of the 14-man breakaway ahead with a mere nine-second lead.

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