Having taken a huge win at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec on Friday, Peter Sagan and Tinkoff were always going to be closely watched at today’s Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal. However, the UCI world champion still managed to nearly pull off the double as he raced to second in the Canadian city.
Peter won the race back in 2013, so he knows what it takes to be victorious on the arduous city course with its testing climbs on each lap of the circuit. An early breakaway went clear, containing six riders, that built a lead of over five minutes before the peloton started to take back control and close the gap, with Tinkoff adding power to the chase. In the peloton, it was also a game of attrition with more and more riders dropping off the pace as the race, and the climbs, ticked by.
The circuit contained two main hills, as well as an uphill drag to the line, and it was this repetition of difficulties over the 17 laps that really took its toll. With around 50km to race, a dangerous counter attack of 25 riders formed which Tinkoff missed, leaving them to chase behind together with a few other teams. This counter attack, and the resulting chase from the peloton, saw the beginning of the end for the break as their advantage tumbled, with the catch finally coming within the final 25km.
From here the attacks again came, with small groups trying to break clear and, much like Friday in Québec, a strong late solo move nearly held enough of an advantage to take victory, but a strong push from a select front group saw the catch made in the final kilometre. Peter Sagan went head-to-head with Greg van Avermaet, second in Québec, and today it was the rider from BMC who came out fastest.
After the race, Sport Director, Patxi Vila told us: “Peter did Greg on Friday, but today Greg did Peter so it’s 1-1. It was close, finishing second, but when you look at the whole race it was already a tough day. Peter already did well to still be there after a hard, attacking race with nearly 4000m of climbing, so that’s good to see. We’re in mid September so you can never be sure of what’s in the the legs.
“The guys were committed and when we missed out on the split they were there to help close the gap and bring it back. All together, it has been a really, really good weekend and with a win and a second place we can be happy.”
Race Result
1. Greg van Avermaet (BEL) BMC Racing Team 5:27:04
2. Peter Sagan (SVK) Tinkoff +00:00:00
3. Diego Ulissi (ITA) Lampre – Merida +00:00:00
4. Michael Matthews (AUS) ORICA – BikeExchange +00:00:00
5. Nathan Haas (AUS) Dimension Data +00:00:00
23. Michael Valgren (DEN) Tinkoff +00:00:00
69. Rafal Majka (POL) Tinkoff +00:05:49
