Gerrans wins Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec
By Cycling News
Australian out-sprints Dumoulin and Navardauskas on the Grande Allée
Simon Gerrans secured Orica-GreenEdge's 100th win at the WorldTour Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec on Friday. The Australian came back from an untimely late-race mechanical to win the uphill sprint along the Grande Allée ahead of Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Shimano) and Ramanus Navardauskas (Garmin-Sharp).
Lampre-Merida led the race into the final climb over the circuit’s decisive Cote de la Montagne with current world champion Rui Costa in a good position. Orica-GreenEdge took over the pace setting as the race crested the climb as Costa remained in tow. Bauke Mollema (Belkin) made a move over the second and shorter climb on the course, but his move was shut down by several riders who tried to bridge across in the closing kilometers.
Lotto Belisol’s Jelle Vanendert made a strong attack and cleared the field in the last kilometer but he was soon joined by Tejay van Garderen (BMC) and Jan Bakelants (Omega Pharma-QuickStep). The trio led the race into the last few hundred meters on the long and uphill straight away towards the finish line but they were caught by a swarm of sprinters left in the field.
Dumoulin started his sprint and looked to have the race locked up, however, Gerrans took a run at him from a few meters back and sprinted past him at the line, taking a commanding win. The finish was marred by a crash, with FDJ’s Arthur Vichot hitting the pavement and being taken away my medical services with a suspected broken collarbone.
“I'm really proud of this victory. It's come off the back of a long season, so I'm really pleased to be back in good form after a strong start to the season, a good spring and a difficult Tour de France. This is a really special victory. I want to say thanks to my teammates. They supported me all day: Meier by controlling all day, Jens Keukeleire went in the break and the whole team supported me in the sprint. This is a win for the collective,” he said.
"I honestly thought my race was over after having a mechanical late on but the team car was well placed and I got back on quite quickly. But I only knew I had a chance of fighting for victory in the last five kilometres when we caught the break."
“Tom started his sprint nice and early. It was a good move because there was some hesitation in group. When he went I had to go early too. I was lucky I got a gap on the guys and got passed Tom just before the line. He showed how strong he is and I'm sure he'll win a lot in the future.”
After his victory in Quebec, Gerrans is now looking forward to Sunday's Gran Prix Cycliste de Montreal. No rider has ever won both races in the same year.
“I'm sure we'll see a similar group of guys fighting out for victory,” he predicted. “The parcours is different, it's more demanding than Quebec, so it's shaping up to be a great race.”
Tom Dumoulin was disappointed to take another close second place after missing out on victory at the recent Tour of Alberta stage race in Canada. However the Dutchman was proud of his performance and to have finished second in a WorldTour race.
“When you get passed in last five metres, your first reaction is to be pissed. But maybe tomorrow I'll look back with a positive feeling,” he said. “I've had a lot of second places this year and last year. Alberta was more disappointing and I also lost in the last five metres but this the first time I've got a result in a Classic, with the best riders in action. I'm really happy about that.”
“I knew it was really early to go but I had (teammate) Geschke on my wheel and no time to discuss anymore. Either he let a gap go for me in the headwind or he had to go with me and I lead out for him. I had to go, I had no other choice and so I've no regrets. It was a shame I got second on the line but that's racing.”
Navardauskas also had no regrets about finishing third after being in the late breakaway.
“I was feeling tired after the Tour de France and took some time off. But after riding the Tour of Alberta, I've been feeling better. I was happy to race today and had good form and good legs. I was in break and felt good, so tried my best. I'm happy to take third,” he explained.
How it happened
The Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec City is the first of two WorldTour events held in the Canadian province of Quebec, with the second held on Sunday in Montreal. Riders faced 11 laps of an 18.1km course for a total of 199.1km on a challenging course with two decisive climbs, the first over the Cote de la Montagne, after 14km, and the smaller ascent on the Cote de la Potasse located 16.2km into the lap.
The riders lined up on the Grande Allée, heading out on a gentle descent through Les Plaines d’Abraham park and back up to the Grande Allée Ouest. The riders dropped down to the Rue Champlain and raced along the St. Lawrence river before making a turn back up through the port of the walls of old Quebec City and up the first climb.
The first attack came from the first kilometer, when Belkin's Dennis Van Winden got away. He was joined on the lap by Jan Polanc (Lampre-Merida), Moreno Moser (Cannondale) and Yukiya Arashiro (Team Europcar) creating the four-man group that would stay clear for the next eight laps.
The short but steep Cote de la Montagne was expected to cause the field to dwindle on each lap. The four escapees took advantage of the second climb on course over the Cote de la Potasse and back up through the start-finish to build a large lead.
The quartet built a maximum gap of nine minutes with in the first 34km and worked well together for the following 60km but it wasn't enough to hold off a chasing field led almost entirely by Christian Meier (Orica-GreenEdge) and Peter Stetina (BMC Racing).
Van Winden picked up the majority of the mountain points each lap over the Cote de la Montagne, but was challenged by Arashiro as the peloton closed in on them with 70km to go.
The breakaway lost its organization over the climb at the 120km mark when Van Winden and Arashiro went clear while battling for mountain points, and although Moser and Polanc regained contact on the short descent that followed, their lead had been diminished to two minutes
On the next lap, the peloton had whittled down the gap to mere seconds, and the breakaway was finally doomed to end over the Cote de la Montagne with three laps to go.
Perrig Quemeneur (Team Europcar) then tried to jump clear of the field, but his efforts were short-lived and the field was back together along the Rue Champlain heading toward the circuit’s main ascent. The pace of the field quickened in the closing laps and it wasn't long before riders started falling off the back.
Eleven riders Rafael Valls (Lampre-Merida), Sébastien Minard (Ag2r-La Mondiale), Nicki Sorensen (Tinkoff-Saxo), Jonathan Hivert (Belkin), Brent Bookwalter (BMC), Valerio Agnoli (Astana), Jens Keukeleire (Orica-GreenEdge), Ramanus Navardauskas and Steele von Hoff (Garmin-Sharp), Kevin Reza (Team Europcar) and Michael Woods (Canada) got a gap on the peloton on the penultimate lap, gaining half a minute on the field.
Meanwhile, Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEdge), who won the 2012 edition, was interrupted by an untimely mechanical with just over a lap to go, but a quick bike change from his team car got him back underway.
Jan Bakelants and Matteo Trentin (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) along with Tim Wellens (Lotto Belisol and Enrico Gassparotto (Astana) bridged across to the move, but now with 15 riders, the break was too big to stay away, and they were reabsorbed into the field before the final climb over the Cote de la Montagne with six kilometers to go.
Attacks flew as the line approached, but patience and timing were key to victory, and Gerrans had both - Dumoulin jumped too early and the Australian champion surged past to snatch the victory from the young Dutchman's grasp with just five meters to the line.
Full Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge | 4:42:54 |
2 | Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Giant-Shimano | |
3 | Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Garmin-Sharp | |
4 | Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica-GreenEdge | |
5 | Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing | |
6 | Gianni Meersman (Bel) Omega Pharma-QuickStep | |
7 | Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Belkin Pro Cycling | |
8 | Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Astana Pro Team | |
9 | Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto-Belisol | |
10 | Bauke Mollema (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling | |
11 | Tom Jelte Slagter (Ned) Garmin-Sharp | |
12 | Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Astana Pro Team | |
13 | Jesus Herrada Lopez (Spa) Movistar | |
14 | Davide Formolo (Ita) Cannondale | |
15 | Cyril Gautier (Fra) Team Europcar | |
16 | Georg Preidler (Aut) Giant-Shimano | |
17 | Marco Marcato (Ita) Cannondale | |
18 | Simon Geschke (Ger) Giant-Shimano | |
19 | Jan Bakelants (Bel) Omega Pharma-QuickStep | |
20 | Christopher Sutton (Aus) Team Sky | 0:00:07 |
21 | Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha | |
22 | Simon Yates (GBr) Orica-GreenEdge | |
23 | Borut Bozic (Slo) Astana Pro Team | |
24 | Romain Bardet (Fra) Ag2r-La Mondiale | |
25 | Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Garmin-Sharp | |
26 | Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Giant-Shimano | |
27 | Ryan Anderson (Can) Canada | |
28 | Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Omega Pharma-QuickStep | |
29 | Matti Breschel (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo | |
30 | Davide Villella (Ita) Cannondale | 0:00:12 |
31 | David Tanner (Aus) Belkin Pro Cycling | |
32 | Petr Vakoc (Cze) Omega Pharma-QuickStep | 0:00:18 |
33 | Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Por) Lampre-Merida | |
34 | Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto-Belisol | 0:00:22 |
35 | Alex Howes (USA) Garmin-Sharp | 0:00:27 |
36 | Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing | 0:00:29 |
37 | Frank Schleck (Lux) Trek Factory Racing | |
38 | Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling | |
39 | Cristiano Salerno (Ita) Cannondale | 0:00:34 |
40 | Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing | 0:00:39 |
41 | Francisco José Ventoso Alberdi (Spa) Movistar | 0:00:41 |
42 | Alexey Tsatevitch (Rus) Katusha | |
43 | Matteo Dal-Cin (Can) Canada | |
44 | Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Movistar | |
45 | Hugo Houle (Can) Ag2r-La Mondiale | |
46 | Pawel Poljanski (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo | |
47 | Yoann Offredo (Fra) FDJ.fr | |
48 | Matthew Busche (USA) Trek Factory Racing | |
49 | Daan Olivier (Ned) Giant-Shimano | |
50 | Pieter Weening (Ned) Orica-GreenEdge | |
51 | Bruno Langlois (Can) Canada | |
52 | Juan Jose Lobato Del Valle (Spa) Movistar | |
53 | Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing | |
54 | Dennis Vanendert (Bel) Lotto-Belisol | |
55 | Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Team Sky | |
56 | Ben Hermans (Bel) BMC Racing | |
57 | Yannick Eijssen (Bel) BMC Racing | |
58 | Ryan Roth (Can) Canada | |
59 | Michael Rogers (Aus) Tinkoff-Saxo | |
60 | Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha | |
61 | Jay Mccarthy (Aus) Tinkoff-Saxo | |
62 | Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) Ag2r-La Mondiale | |
63 | Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) FDJ.fr | |
64 | Christophe Riblon (Fra) Ag2r-La Mondiale | |
65 | Riccardo Zoidl (Aut) Trek Factory Racing | |
66 | Edward King (USA) Cannondale | |
67 | Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Astana Pro Team | |
68 | Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Team Sky | |
69 | Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Team Europcar | |
70 | Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Trek Factory Racing | |
71 | Michael Albasini (Swi) Orica-GreenEdge | 0:00:52 |
72 | Phillip Gaimon (USA) Garmin-Sharp | 0:01:10 |
73 | Fredrik Carl Wilhelm Kessiakoff (Swe) Astana Pro Team | |
74 | Christophe Kern (Fra) Team Europcar | |
75 | Michael Woods (Can) Canada | |
76 | Hayden Roulston (NZl) Trek Factory Racing | |
77 | Stijn Devolder (Bel) Trek Factory Racing | |
78 | Matej Mohoric (Slo) Cannondale | |
79 | Laurent Pichon (Fra) FDJ.fr | |
80 | Ruben Plaza Molina (Spa) Movistar | |
81 | Igor Anton Hernandez (Spa) Movistar | |
82 | Amaël Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing | |
83 | Benat Intxausti Elorriaga (Spa) Movistar | |
84 | Manuele Mori (Ita) Lampre-Merida | |
85 | Jan Polanc (Slo) Lampre-Merida | |
86 | Laurent Didier (Lux) Trek Factory Racing | |
87 | Ben Gastauer (Lux) Ag2r-La Mondiale | |
88 | Garrett Mccleod (Can) Canada | |
89 | Thomas Damuseau (Fra) Giant-Shimano | |
90 | Kristijan Durasek (Cro) Lampre-Merida | |
91 | Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Lotto-Belisol | |
92 | Evgeny Petrov (Rus) Tinkoff-Saxo | |
93 | Benjamin Perry (Can) Canada | |
94 | Nelson Oliveira (Por) Lampre-Merida | 0:02:04 |
95 | Ian Boswell (USA) Team Sky | |
96 | Kévin Reza (Fra) Team Europcar | 0:02:13 |
97 | Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Orica-GreenEdge | 0:02:15 |
98 | Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Katusha | 0:02:41 |
99 | Blel Kadri (Fra) Ag2r-La Mondiale | 0:02:59 |
100 | Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Astana Pro Team | 0:03:51 |
101 | Jesper Hansen (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo | |
102 | Nicki Sörensen (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo | |
103 | Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team | |
104 | Egor Silin (Rus) Katusha | |
105 | Lieuwe Westra (Ned) Astana Pro Team | |
106 | Sébastien Minard (Fra) Ag2r-La Mondiale | |
107 | Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Belkin Pro Cycling | |
108 | Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto-Belisol | |
109 | Perrig Quemeneur (Fra) Team Europcar | |
110 | Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Omega Pharma-QuickStep | |
111 | Mathew Hayman (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge | 0:04:10 |
112 | Thierry Hupond (Fra) Giant-Shimano | |
113 | Matteo Bono (Ita) Lampre-Merida | |
114 | Arnold Jeannesson (Fra) FDJ.fr | |
115 | Rafael Valls Ferri (Spa) Lampre-Merida | |
116 | Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky | |
117 | Danny Pate (USA) Team Sky | |
118 | Nicky Van Der Lijke (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling | |
119 | Thomas Leezer (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling | |
120 | Christopher Horner (USA) Lampre-Merida | |
121 | Arnaud Courteille (Fra) FDJ.fr | |
122 | Kevin De Weert (Bel) Omega Pharma-QuickStep | 0:05:28 |
123 | Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) Garmin-Sharp | |
124 | Steele Von Hoff (Aus) Garmin-Sharp | |
125 | Marco Haller (Aut) Katusha | 0:06:06 |
126 | Jean-Marc Marino (Fra) Cannondale | 0:06:10 |
127 | Bryan Coquard (Fra) Team Europcar | |
128 | Matteo Trentin (Ita) Omega Pharma-QuickStep | |
129 | Thomas Danielson (USA) Garmin-Sharp | 0:07:57 |
130 | Pierrick Naud (Can) Canada | |
131 | Serge Pauwels (Bel) Omega Pharma-QuickStep | 0:09:57 |
132 | Bruno Pires (Por) Tinkoff-Saxo | 0:10:00 |
133 | Vladimir Isaichev (Rus) Katusha | 0:10:08 |
134 | Guillaume Bonnafond (Fra) Ag2r-La Mondiale | 0:13:36 |
135 | Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) FDJ.fr | |
DNF | Eros Capecchi (Ita) Movistar | |
DNF | Viacheslav Kuznetsov (Rus) Katusha | |
DNF | Dennis Van Winden (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling | |
DNF | Peter Stetina (USA) BMC Racing | |
DNF | Grégory Rast (Swi) Trek Factory Racing | |
DNF | Thomas Peterson (USA) Giant-Shimano | |
DNF | Nathan Earle (Aus) Team Sky | |
DNF | Joseph Lloyd Dombrowski (USA) Team Sky | |
DNF | Stig Broeckx (Bel) Lotto-Belisol | |
DNF | Ben Gastauer (Lux) Ag2r-La Mondiale | |
DNF | Louis Vervaeke (Bel) Lotto-Belisol | |
DNF | Christian Meier (Can) Orica-GreenEdge | |
DNF | Arthur Vichot (Fra) FDJ.fr | |
DNF | William Bonnet (Fra) FDJ.fr | |
DNF | Moreno Moser (Ita) Cannondale | |
DNF | Antoine Duchesne (Can) Team Europcar | |
DNF | Tony Hurel (Fra) Team Europcar |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Dennis Van Winden (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling | 1 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Dennis Van Winden (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling | 1 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Dennis Van Winden (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling | 1 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Dennis Van Winden (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling | 1 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Dennis Van Winden (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling | 1 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Team Europcar | 1 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Team Europcar | 1 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Team Europcar | 5 | pts |
2 | Jan Polanc (Slo) Lampre-Merida | 2 | |
3 | Dennis Van Winden (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling | 1 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Astana Pro Team | 5 | pts |
2 | Sébastien Minard (Fra) Ag2r-La Mondiale | 2 | |
3 | Cristiano Salerno (Ita) Cannondale | 1 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Michael Woods (Can) Canada | 10 | pts |
2 | Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Orica-GreenEdge | 5 | |
3 | Steele Von Hoff (Aus) Garmin-Sharp | 2 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | David Tanner (Aus) Belkin Pro Cycling | 10 | pts |
2 | Jesus Herrada Lopez (Spa) Movistar | 5 | |
3 | Petr Vakoc (Cze) Omega Pharma-QuickStep | 2 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | David Tanner (Aus) Belkin Pro Cycling | 10 | pts |
2 | Michael Woods (Can) Canada | 10 | |
3 | Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Team Europcar | 7 | |
4 | Jesus Herrada Lopez (Spa) Movistar | 5 | |
5 | Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Orica-GreenEdge | 5 | |
6 | Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Astana Pro Team | 5 | |
7 | Petr Vakoc (Cze) Omega Pharma-QuickStep | 2 | |
8 | Steele Von Hoff (Aus) Garmin-Sharp | 2 | |
9 | Jan Polanc (Slo) Lampre-Merida | 2 | |
10 | Sébastien Minard (Fra) Ag2r-La Mondiale | 2 | |
11 | Cristiano Salerno (Ita) Cannondale | 1 |
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