Peter Sagan wins Grand Prix Cycliste de Quebec
By Cycling News published
Van Avermaet second, Matthews third
Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) scored the 100th victory of his young but storied career, taking out the 2017 GP de Quebec with a powerful burst of speed in the final 50m.
The world champion had a clean pair of wheels on second-placed Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing), with Michael Matthews (Sunweb) sliding in for third. It was a repeat win for Sagan, who triumphed here last year in similar circumstances over Van Avermaet.
"It's like if you stamp the same results from last year," Sagan said. "The style of the race was very similar. The last kilometre, Rigoberto Urán attacked like always, and then went for the same in the last 100 meters."
Urán's teammates tried to counter his move in the final 200m, attacking on the right side of the road. But the Sunweb lead-out man for Matthews swung into their path, forcing Tom-Jelte Slagter to come around the long way. Sagan kept his cool and waited until there was a clear path up the centre, then blasted up the road to victory.
"It was hectic in the final. I decided I had to start at, I don't know, 100 metres, 150," Sagan said. "Thanks to my team. Bora-Hansgrohe did an amazing job. They were pulling all day at the front, and we were able to control the last three laps."
When asked about taking the 100th win of his career, Sagan was pleased but philosophical.
"100 is very nice. It's a nice number. But maybe it's better to live a hundred years," he said. "It's very nice but it's never enough. Once you're happy with something, you don't grow up, and we have to grow up always."
Van Avermaet never looked to be in contention once Sagan went, and explained, "I lost Sagan's wheel a little when he went, and I couldn't have come past him, so I am pretty happy about my race. I would love to win here but second is not too bad."
The Olympic champion has been building his form back after a hugely successful Spring Classics campaign and said he's happy with his form and feeling confident for his defense of the GP de Montreal title.
"For me, the most important thing is that I still have a lot of power in my legs over the last kilometer and from there, whether you win or not, is all in the details. Today I was second, and hopefully, when we go to Montreal, I can repeat the same result as last year."
How it unfolded
The first leg of the week's pair of WorldTour one-days kicked off under cloudy skies in Quebec City, but the rain held off and the skies ultimately cleared to make for a sunny afternoon of racing on 16 trips around a lumpy 12.6-kilometre circuit.
Pier-Andre Côté (Canada), Tyler Williams (Israel Cycling Academy), Tosh Van der Sande (Lotto Soudal) and Baptiste Planckaert (Katusha-Alpecin) formed the day's main breakaway, getting away from the pack on the first lap and rapidly working their way to a sizable advantage.
With two and a half minutes in hand after completing the first lap, the quartet build their lead all the way up to nine and a half minutes by the fourth lap, at which point the peloton finally decided to match their pace.
Brought down to around eight minutes, the gap hovered there or thereabouts for the better part of the next hundred kilometres with little change in the race situation until Côte began struggling and lost touch with the break with 70 kilometres to go.
Back in the pack, several teams began showing more of a concerted interest in bringing things back together. Bahrain-Merida, Sky, Bora-Hansgrohe and BMC all made their presence felt at the head of affairs, and the gap to the three leaders started falling.
At 50 kilometres to go, the advantage of the break was down to 5:30. 15 kilometres later the gap was at two and a half minutes and continuing to fall.
Van der Sande and Planckaert dropped Williams in the 14th of 16 laps, pushing on as two. With Orica-Scott and Trek-Segafredo lending a hand in the chase, however, the gap was down under a minute inside the penultimate lap.
As FDJ's Olivier Le Gac tried his luck off the front, Van der Sande called it a day in the escape. With Le Gac and Van der Sande reeled in, only Planckaert remained clear heading into the final lap of the race. He didn't hold out for long, with everything brought back together for the final lap.
Successive attacks by Sean De Bie (Lotto Soudal), Kenny Elissonde (Sky) and Roman Kreuziger (Orica-Scott) all came up short with Sagan's Bora-Hansgrohe squad playing a big part in reeling in the moves. When Urán's familiar strike on the long uphill drag to the line on the Grande Allée was brought to heel, it came down to the sprinters, with Sagan timing his move to perfection for the repeat win.
Full Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe | 5:00:31 |
2 | Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team | |
3 | Michael Matthews (Aus) Team Sunweb | |
4 | Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
5 | Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal | |
6 | Tom-Jelte Slagter (Ned) Cannondale-Drapac | |
7 | Petr Vakoc (Cze) Quick-Step Floors | |
8 | Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Cannondale-Drapac | |
9 | Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto Soudal | |
10 | Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida | |
11 | Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates | |
12 | Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto Soudal | |
13 | Nathan Haas (Aus) Dimension Data | |
14 | Jan Bakelants (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale | |
15 | Alberto Bettiol (Ita) Cannondale-Drapac | |
16 | Sergio Henao (Col) Team Sky | |
17 | Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale | |
18 | Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo | |
19 | Jasha Sütterlin (Ger) Movistar Team | |
20 | Jesus Herrada (Spa) Movistar Team | |
21 | Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick-Step Floors | |
22 | Michael Albasini (Swi) Orica-Scott | |
23 | Viacheslav Kuznetsov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin | |
24 | Oscar Gatto (Ita) Astana Pro Team | |
25 | Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica-Scott | |
26 | Grega Bole (Slo) Bahrain-Merida | |
27 | Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Soudal | |
28 | Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) FDJ | |
29 | Guillaume Boivin (Can) Israel Cycling Academy | |
30 | Carlos Barbero (Spa) Movistar Team | |
31 | Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Bahrain-Merida | |
32 | Paul Martens (Ger) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | |
33 | Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Orica-Scott | |
34 | Rick Zabel (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin | |
35 | Pieter Serry (Bel) Quick-Step Floors | |
36 | Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo | 0:00:12 |
37 | Mathias Frank (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale | |
38 | Timo Roosen (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | |
39 | Julien Vermote (Bel) Quick-Step Floors | |
40 | Peter Kennaugh (GBr) Team Sky | |
41 | Valerio Conti (Ita) UAE Team Emirates | 0:00:17 |
42 | Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Quick-Step Floors | |
43 | Marco Marcato (Ita) UAE Team Emirates | |
44 | Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Quick-Step Floors | |
45 | Simon Geschke (Ger) Team Sunweb | |
46 | Rúben Guerreiro (Por) Trek-Segafredo | |
47 | Rigoberto Uran (Col) Cannondale-Drapac | |
48 | Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team Sunweb | |
49 | Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Sunweb | |
50 | Nathan Brown (USA) Cannondale-Drapac | |
51 | Lukasz Wisniowski (Pol) Team Sky | |
52 | Bruno Langlois (Can) Canada | |
53 | Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo | |
54 | Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) Dimension Data | |
55 | Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Orica-Scott | |
56 | Antoine Duchesne (Can) Canada | 0:00:25 |
57 | Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) Cannondale-Drapac | |
58 | Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica-Scott | |
59 | Simone Petilli (Ita) UAE Team Emirates | |
60 | Winner Anacona (Col) Movistar Team | |
61 | Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team | |
62 | Marcus Burghardt (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
63 | Dylan Teuns (Bel) BMC Racing Team | |
64 | Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha-Alpecin | |
65 | Sébastien Reichenbach (Swi) FDJ | |
66 | Michal Golas (Pol) Team Sky | |
67 | Cyril Gautier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:00:38 |
68 | Luka Pibernik (Slo) Bahrain-Merida | 0:00:41 |
69 | Mitch Docker (Aus) Orica-Scott | |
70 | Jay McCarthy (Aus) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
71 | Arnaud Demare (Fra) FDJ | 0:00:48 |
72 | Jose Herrada (Spa) Movistar Team | 0:00:51 |
73 | Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | |
74 | Olivier Le Gac (Fra) FDJ | 0:01:01 |
75 | Mathew Hayman (Aus) Orica-Scott | 0:01:06 |
76 | Andrey Zeits (Kaz) Astana Pro Team | |
77 | Jack Burke (Can) Canada | |
78 | Nuno Bico (Por) Movistar Team | |
79 | Maurits Lammertink (Ned) Katusha-Alpecin | |
80 | Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Katusha-Alpecin | |
81 | Stephen Cummings (GBr) Dimension Data | |
82 | Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Bahrain-Merida | |
83 | Aleksejs Saramotins (Lat) Bora-Hansgrohe | 0:01:12 |
84 | Lukas Pöstlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe | 0:01:15 |
85 | Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) FDJ | 0:01:25 |
86 | Benoit Vaugrenard (Fra) FDJ | 0:01:38 |
87 | Maarten Wynants (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | 0:01:43 |
88 | Kenny Elissonde (Fra) Team Sky | |
89 | Sebastian Henao (Col) Team Sky | |
90 | Natnael Berhane (Eri) Dimension Data | |
91 | Sean De Bie (Bel) Lotto Soudal | 0:01:56 |
92 | Krists Neilands (Lat) Israel Cycling Academy | |
93 | Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Lotto Soudal | 0:02:08 |
94 | Jack Bauer (NZl) Quick-Step Floors | |
95 | Bram Tankink (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | |
96 | Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Trek-Segafredo | |
97 | Gregory Daniel (USA) Trek-Segafredo | |
98 | Georg Preidler (Aut) Team Sunweb | |
99 | Ryan Anderson (Can) Canada | |
100 | Alexey Vermeulen (USA) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | |
101 | Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Bahrain-Merida | 0:02:31 |
102 | Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:02:33 |
103 | Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team Sunweb | |
104 | Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) UAE Team Emirates | |
105 | Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek-Segafredo | 0:02:49 |
106 | Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana Pro Team | 0:02:53 |
107 | Matteo Dal-Cin (Can) Canada | 0:03:02 |
108 | Alex Howes (USA) Cannondale-Drapac | |
109 | Guy Sagiv (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy | |
110 | Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
111 | Kristijan Durasek (Cro) UAE Team Emirates | |
112 | Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team | |
113 | Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data | |
114 | Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Bahrain-Merida | 0:03:26 |
115 | Juraj Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe | 0:03:41 |
116 | Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) BMC Racing Team | |
117 | Ben Swift (GBr) UAE Team Emirates | 0:04:27 |
118 | Ian Boswell (USA) Team Sky | |
119 | Amael Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing Team | |
120 | Thomas Leezer (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | |
121 | Jasper De Buyst (Bel) Lotto Soudal | 0:04:53 |
122 | Mihkel Räim (Est) Israel Cycling Academy | 0:05:59 |
123 | Dennis Van Winden (Ned) Israel Cycling Academy | |
124 | Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team | 0:06:04 |
125 | Jhonatan Restrepo (Col) Katusha-Alpecin | 0:10:23 |
126 | Tyler Williams (USA) Israel Cycling Academy | |
127 | Ruben Plaza (Spa) Orica-Scott | |
128 | Victor De La Parte (Spa) Movistar Team | |
129 | Léo Vincent (Fra) FDJ | |
130 | Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team | |
131 | Manuel Senni (Ita) BMC Racing Team | |
132 | Tyler Farrar (USA) Dimension Data | |
133 | Gediminas Bagdonas (Ltu) AG2R La Mondiale | |
134 | Twan Castelijns (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | |
135 | Edward Ravasi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates | |
136 | Jaco Venter (RSA) Dimension Data | |
137 | Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Quick-Step Floors | 0:11:01 |
138 | Manuel Quinziato (Ita) BMC Racing Team | |
139 | Baptiste Planckaert (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin | |
140 | Marco Coledan (Ita) Trek-Segafredo | 0:11:07 |
141 | Benjamin Perry (Can) Israel Cycling Academy | 0:11:22 |
142 | Lawson Craddock (USA) Cannondale-Drapac | 0:17:06 |
DNF | Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
DNF | Philip Deignan (Irl) Team Sky | |
DNF | Albert Timmer (Ned) Team Sunweb | |
DNF | Zico Waeytens (Bel) Team Sunweb | |
DNF | Héctor Carretero (Spa) Movistar Team | |
DNF | Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
DNF | Ángel Vicioso (Spa) Katusha-Alpecin | |
DNF | Tosh Van Der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal | |
DNF | Borut Bozic (Slo) Bahrain-Merida | |
DNF | Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team | |
DNF | Moreno Moser (Ita) Astana Pro Team | |
DNF | Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Astana Pro Team | |
DNF | Kevin Reza (Fra) FDJ | |
DNF | Ben O'Connor (Aus) Dimension Data | |
DNF | Pier-Andre Cote (Can) Canada | |
DNF | Alexander Cowan (Can) Canada | |
DNF | Marc-Antoine Soucy (Can) Canada | |
DNF | Zakkari Dempster (Aus) Israel Cycling Academy |

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