Grands Prix Cyclistes de Québec 2019 [LAST 30 KM]

September 13, 2019

Grands Prix Cyclistes de Québec 2019 – Québec : 201,6 km

On the banks of the Saint Lawrence river comes one of the great points of confluence of the season. Now in their 10th year of existence, the Grands Prix Cyclistes de Québec and Montréal have firmly established themselves on the WorldTour calendar, drawing a broad congregation of Classics specialists and Grand Tour riders to Canada each September. The two races’ proximity to the World Championships is an important part of the attraction, of course, as is their format. Each race sees riders tackle multiple laps of a circuit worthy of the Worlds – literally, in the case of Montreal, which was the site of Eddy Merckx’s triumph in 1974 – but it would be remiss to view the events solely as a dress rehearsal for the main event in Yorkshire in a little over a fortnight’s time.

Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb) came out on top in a nail-biting finish to the 2019 Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec. The Australian won via a convincing sprint over Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Greg Van Avermaet (Team CCC), but the race was anything but a formality after Sagan and Van Avermaet were part of a dangerous move that was caught with less than 500m to go.

Matthews, who came into the race as the defending champion, hit out with just under 200m to go, passing the late break before the line and celebrating in style to cement his place as a genuine contender for the UCI Road World Championships later this month.

The race looked to be swinging away from Matthews in the closing stages when Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep) attacked with just over 2km to go on the final climb of the race. The Frenchman drew an immediate reaction from Sagan, Van Avermaet and two other riders, and despite a slim margin it looked as though the group would decide the race.

However, AG2R La Mondiale and several other teams combined to nullify the attack and they were brought back with less than 1km to go, despite a late acceleration from Sagan.

The former World Champion had enough in the tank to sprint with the line in sight, but it was Matthews and his fresher legs who came out on top.

“I’m not exactly sure how I did that,” Matthews said. “I made a big mistake at the bottom of the climb. I wasn’t in a good enough position and when all the big favourites went I wasn’t in the position to go with them. I’m angry with myself about that but they came back and I had the legs for the sprint. It’s a win but I also made a big mistake in the final.

“I was really kicking myself in the final that I wasn’t with the best guys going over the climbs. I’m just lucky that they looked at each other in the final straight. Another reason I dug so deep was because the team rode all day. They rode amazing. I’m just happy that I could finish it off.

Matthews not only added another line to his palmares, he also helped himself to a big boost of confidence before the World Championships in Yorkshire.

“The field is maybe a bit better this year,” he said of the peloton n Quebec. “That’s a massive motivation going into the Worlds. We’ve got Alaphilippe here and Sagan. We’ve the best riders in the world here. The season hasn’t gone great for me, so it’s nice to show the Aussies that I’m ready and that I’m ready to fight for them.”

How it unfolded

Organisers of the Grand Prix Cycliste de Quebec stayed true to their traditional 200km route for the 10th edition of the event. The WorldTour peloton completed 16 laps of a 12.6km circuit that starts and finishes on the Grande Allée inside the stone walls of old Quebec City.

The race wound down through the Parc des Champs de Bataille and shot out onto the Boulevard Champlain stretched out along the edge of the Saint Lawrence river. The peloton raced several short but steep climbs, first on the Côte de la Potasse, skirting around the iconic Chateau Frontenac, and then up the Montée de la Fabrique before looping around toward the uphill drag to the finish line.

What also stayed true to the tradition of the race was an early-breakaway that settled into what would be a day-long effort. The six riders that emerged in the opening lap included Canadian national teammates Evan Burtnik and Adam Roberge, Luis Mas (Movistar), Guy Sagiv (Israel Cycling Academy), Gavin Mannion (Rally UHC) and Julien Bernard (Trek-Segafredo).

At the start of the third lap, the men pushed their lead out to five minutes and then out to seven minutes by the end of the fifth lap. CCC team, at first, did the bulk of the pace-setting to keep the gap at a manageable distance. If the event’s 10-year history repeated itself then this early breakaway would not succeed to the finish line.

Burtnik picked up full points on the first seven KOMs. Everything looked to be running smoothly and according to plan for the Canadian team but ill-luck struck when Roberge crashed out of the breakaway.

The gap began to fall just after the halfway point. Three-time runner-up Greg Van Avermaet (CCC), and former winners Michael Matthews (Sunweb) and Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) sent teammates to the front moved to shut down the breakaway before the closing laps.

Burtnik continued to pick up KOM points until the breakaway began to dissolve, holding less than two minutes with roughly four laps to go, and splitting apart along the undulating circuit.

Mannion and Mas carried on out front as their breakaway companions were reabsorbed into the chasing field with three laps to go. However, both were caught and then dropped as Team Ineos and Sunweb led the charging peloton into the final two laps.

As the peloton snaked its way along the Boulevard Champlain and up the Côte de la Potasse, Lotto Soudal’s Stefan Dewulf launched a solo attack, but it was short-lived and an intact peloton rounded back on to the Grande Allèe for the bell lap.

Results :
1 Michael Matthews (Aus) Team Sunweb 5:13:01
2 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
3 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) CCC Team
4 Diego Ulissi (Ita) Uae Team Emirates
5 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
6 Tom-Jelte Slagter (Ned) Team Dimension Data
7 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep
8 Timo Roosen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
9 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal
10 Benoit Cosnefroy (Fra) Ag2r la Mondiale
11 Daryl Impey (RSA) Mitchelton-Scott
12 Alberto Bettiol (Ita) EF Education First
13 Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) Israel Cycling Academy
14 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
15 Hugo Houle (Can) Astana Pro Team
16 Eduard Prades Reverter (Spa) Movistar Team
17 Michael Woods (Can) EF Education First
18 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Soudal
19 Michael Valgren Andersen (Den) Team Dimension Data
20 Oliver Naesen (Bel) Ag2r la Mondiale
21 Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott
22 James Piccoli (Can) Canada
23 Mathias Frank (Swi) Ag2r la Mondiale
24 Valentin Madouas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
25 Davide Villella (Ita) Astana Pro Team
26 Jasha Sutterlin (Ger) Movistar Team
27 Kasper Asgreen (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep
28 Jack Haig (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
29 Simon Geschke (Ger) CCC Team
30 Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
31 Sven Erik Bystrom (Nor) Uae Team Emirates
32 Andrey Zeits (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
33 Nans Peters (Fra) Ag2r la Mondiale
34 Carlos Betancur (Col) Movistar Team
35 Jay Mc Carthy (Aus) Bora-Hansgrohe
36 Matej Mohoric (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
37 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
38 Marco Haller (Aut) Team Katusha Alpecin 0:00:10
39 Nathan Haas (Aus) Team Katusha Alpecin 0:00:14
40 Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) EF Education First 0:00:21
41 Rui Costa (Por) Uae Team Emirates
42 Anthony Roux (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:30
43 Stan Dewulf (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:32
44 Brent Bookwalter (USA) Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:37
45 Adam De Vos (Can) Rally uhc Cycling
46 Rui Oliveira (Por) Uae Team Emirates
47 Joseph Rosskopf (USA) CCC Team
48 Kevin Geniets (Lux) Groupama-FDJ
49 Nathan Brown (USA) EF Education First
50 Enrico Gasparotto (Swi) Team Dimension Data
51 Alexander Cataford (Can) Israel Cycling Academy
52 Olivier Le Gac (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:49
53 Alex Howes (USA) EF Education First 0:00:56
54 Mikkel Froelich Honore (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep
55 Krists Neilands (Lat) Israel Cycling Academy
56 Jaime Castrillo Zapater (Spa) Movistar Team
57 Paul Martens (Ger) Team Jumbo-Visma
58 Ruben Fernandez (Spa) Movistar Team
59 Jan Bakelants (Bel) Team Sunweb
60 Serge Pauwels (Bel) CCC Team
61 Simon Spilak (Slo) Team Katusha Alpecin
62 Marc Hirschi (Swi) Team Sunweb 0:01:05
63 Jasper Philipsen (Bel) Uae Team Emirates 0:01:11
64 Pello Bilbao Lopez de Armentia (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:01:26
65 Lucas Hamilton (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
66 Christopher Lawless (GBr) Team Ineos
67 August Jensen (Nor) Israel Cycling Academy
68 Nickolas Zukowsky (Can) Canada 0:01:47
69 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:01:54
70 Davide Ballerini (Ita) Astana Pro Team
71 Enric Mas Nicolau (Spa) Deceuninck-QuickStep
72 Nicolas Jonathan Castroviejo (Spa) Team Ineos
73 Ivan Garcia Cortina (Spa) Bahrain-Merida
74 Laurent Gervais (Can) Canada
75 Daniel Oss (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
76 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Movistar Team
77 Damiano Caruso (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
78 Jonas Gregaard Wilsly (Den) Astana Pro Team
79 Robert Britton (Can) Rally uhc Cycling
80 James Whelan (Aus) EF Education First
81 Antoine Duchesne (Can) Groupama-FDJ
82 Lukasz Wisniowski (Pol) CCC Team
83 Michael Schar (Swi) CCC Team
84 Richie Porte (Aus) Trek-Segafredo
85 Ryan Gibbons (RSA) Team Dimension Data
86 Ryan Anderson (Can) Rally uhc Cycling
87 Aurelien Paret Peintre (Fra) Ag2r la Mondiale
88 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Soudal
89 Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
90 Nikolas Maes (Bel) Lotto Soudal
91 Antwan Tolhoek (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
92 Jai Hindley (Aus) Team Sunweb
93 Nathan Earle (Aus) Israel Cycling Academy
94 Lawrence Naesen (Bel) Lotto Soudal
95 Daniel Martin (Irl) Uae Team Emirates
96 Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Team Jumbo-Visma
97 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Ineos
98 Laurens De Plus (Bel) Team Jumbo-Visma
99 Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
100 Christopher Juul Jensen (Den) Mitchelton-Scott
101 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:02:18
102 Robert Stannard (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:02:30
103 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Ineos 0:02:33
104 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
105 Michael Gogl (Aut) Trek-Segafredo
106 Nigel Ellsay (Can) Rally uhc Cycling
107 Toms Skujins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo 0:02:53
108 Jan Polanc (Slo) Uae Team Emirates 0:03:08
109 Pieter Serry (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
110 Reinardt Janse van Rensburg (RSA) Team Dimension Data 0:03:34
111 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Team Katusha Alpecin 0:03:39
112 Magnus Cort Nielsen (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:04:07
113 Thomas Leezer (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:04:42
114 Julius Van den Berg (Ned) EF Education First 0:04:54
115 Jordan Cheyne (Can) Canada 0:05:21
116 Charles-Etienne Chretien (Can) Canada
117 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:05:23
118 Leonardo Basso (Ita) Team Ineos 0:07:22
119 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Ineos 0:10:44
120 Kristoffer Halvorsen (Nor) Team Ineos
121 Louis Vervaeke (Bel) Team Sunweb
122 Julien Duval (Fra) Ag2r la Mondiale
123 Nicola Conci (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
124 Gavin Mannion (USA) Rally uhc Cycling
125 Evan Burtnik (Can) Canada 0:11:02
126 Guy Sagiv (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy
127 Matteo Dal-cin (Can) Rally uhc Cycling
128 Jose Goncalves (Por) Team Katusha Alpecin
DNF Lennard Kamna (Ger) Team Sunweb
DNF Johannes Froehlinger (Ger) Team Sunweb
DNF Christoph Pfingsten (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Josef Cerny (Cze) CCC Team
DNF Alexis Gougeard (Fra) Ag2r la Mondiale
DNF Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
DNF Grega Bole (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
DNF William Bonnet (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
DNF Danny Van Poppel (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
DNF Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Luis Guillermo Mas Bonet (Spa) Movistar Team
DNF Jenthe Biermans (Bel) Team Katusha Alpecin
DNF Rick Zabel (Ger) Team Katusha Alpecin
DNF Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Team Dimension Data
DNF Gino Mader (Swi) Team Dimension Data
DNF Guillaume Boivin (Can) Israel Cycling Academy
DNF Svein Tuft (Can) Rally uhc Cycling
DNF Adam Roberge (Can) Canada