Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) won the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec in Canada on Friday, sprinting out of a reduced bunch to take another WorldTour victory.
The world champion and current WorldTour ranking leader took the victory ahead of Olympic champion Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) in second and Anthony Roux (FDJ) in third. Sagan said after the race that he had not felt good during the event, and was surprised to win - his first victory since returning to the road after contesting the Rio 2016 mountain bike event.
“I am very happy and must thank all my teammates as they worked really hard today," said Sagan.
"It was unbelievable because I didn’t feel very good during the race, and I was getting cramps in the legs but they passed and I’m really happy to take the win. For sure I didn’t expect that I could win today.”
The day's eight-man escape group consisted of Valerio Agnoli (Astana), Lars Bak (Lotto-Soudal), Jan Barta (Bora-Argon 18), Maxim Belkov (Katusha), Matt Brammeier (Dimension Data), Twan Castelijns (LottoNL-Jumbo), Nicolas Masbourain (Canada) and Alexandre Pichot (Direct Energie) as they set out to tackle 16 laps of a hilly 12.6km circuit.
The break made decent headway until the peloton started chasing them down with greater urgency into the final 60km. All but Bak were caught with 40km to go, with Luke Rowe (Sky) and Julian Alaphilippe (Etixx-QuickStep) joining Bak.
Inevitably, after a day in the break, Bak quickly faded leaving Rowe and Alaphilippe. With such a strong duo out front and with only 35km remaining, the peloton's speed increased dramatically.
>>> GP de Québec and GP de Montréal 2016 preview
Alaphilippe was the more active of the two, taking longer turns on the front. Rowe was eventually dropped by Alaphilippe on the Rue de la Montagne climb, and the Frenchman went solo for a brief spell before being caught.
After another unsuccessful escape group led by Fabio Aru (Astana) formed and was caught, Matej Mohoric (Lampre-Merdia) tried his luck with a solo escape with 20km to go. Orica-BikeExchange and Direct Energie led the bunch in pursuit and he was also absorbed as the race hit the penultimate passage of the Rue de la Montagne climb.
Into the final lap, Paul Voss (Bora-Argon18) held a small lead over the reduced bunch, and then followed an attack by Oliver Naesen (IAM). This time it was Sky who hit the front to turn up the heat and reel Naesen in.
The last time up Rue de la Montagne took its toll on tired legs, and many riders were dropped, including Geraint Thomas (Sky) and Adam Yates (Orica-BikeExchange).
Rigoberto Uran (Cannondale-Drapac) attacked into the final kilometre. However, having kept himself almost anonymous in the bunch for all of the race, Sagan accelerated up the right-hand side of the road into the finish to take the victory with clear space between himself and the rest of the peloton.
The double-header of Canadian WorldTour races continues on Sunday, September 11, with the GP de Montréal.
Results
Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec 2016, 201.6km
1. Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff in 5-07-13
2. Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing
3. Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ
4. Alberto Bettiol (Ita) Cannondale-Drapac
5. Michael Matthews (Aus) Orica-BikeExchange
6. Nathan Haas (Aus) Dimension Data
7. Diego Ulissi (Ita) Lampre-Merida
8. Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
9. Youcef Reguigui (Alg) Dimension Data
10. Viacheslav Kuznetsov (Rus) Katusha all same time
Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
-
-
Enve launches G series dropper post with a neat new lever
Enve opts for an inverted design for its first foray into the world of droppers
-
Notio Aerometer review - a portable wind tunnel
For time triallists serious about aero optimisation, the Notio is a good investment - but to get the most out of it you need time as well as money
-
Van der Poel not targeting green jersey at Tour de France
Jasper Philipsen will be the main sprinter at Alpecin-Fenix
-
'It's nice to be back': Peter Sagan downplays his first WorldTour win in over a year
Slovakian takes his maiden win for TotalEnergies, his first in ninth month, but his 18th Tour de Suisse stage
-
Despite giving up sprinting for signs third place earns Longo Borghini Women’s Tour victory
The Italian champion finished third in the bunch sprint in Oxford earning enough bonus seconds to take the overall
-
'It’s not the way we want to end it' says Lorena Wiebes after her third Women’s Tour stage victory
Despite the victory equalling the Women’s Tour records of Marianne Vos and Join D’hoore th team worked for Charlotte Kool on the final stage into Oxford
-
Elisa Longo Borghini wins the Women’s Tour by slender bonus seconds margin
Bonus seconds taken in the final bunch kick took the Italian to a one second overall win
-
£50K of bikes and kit stolen from Trek-Segafredo in second theft in two weeks
American team lose two bikes and other equipment stolen from their team truck parked at a Swansea hotel
-
Grace Brown hangs onto to the Women’s Tour overall by the thinnest margin
With the top two on equal time going into the final stage the race is set for a fascinating tactical battle
-
'I never gave up in my head': Pfeiffer Georgi's fight for DSM glory at the Women's Tour
After two stage wins and one day in the leader’s yellow jersey, Lorena Wiebes finally lost a race on Thursday
