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Gerrans Takes Historic Win at GP Cycliste Montreal UCI WorldTour for the Canadian Double – Report, FULL Results, Photos

by GPC and pedalmag.com

September 14, 2014 (Montreal, Canada) – Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica GreenEdge made history winning the Grand Prix Cycliste Montréal on Sunday, two days after clinching the victory in Quebec City, to become the first rider to snatch the two legs of the Canadian WorldTour programme in the same year.

Final podium (l-r) Da Costa 2nd, Gerrans 1st, Gallopin 3rd.  ©  Pasquale Stalteri

The Australian champion had already left his mark in Québec City as the first man to win twice in the old capital but his show of strength on Mont Royal was even more impressive. While his Orica-GreenEdge teammates controlled the race all day and worked hard to quash the intial break, they retrained enough strength in the finale to form a train and lead their leader out to an undisputed victory.

Reigning road world champion Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Por) Lampre-Merida was strong as well but the 2011 winner had to be content with second place while pre-race favorite Tony Gallopin (Lotto Belisol) of France settled for third. Lithuania’s Ramunas Navardauskas, who was third in Québec City, placed fourth ahead of Frenchman Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale).

Gerrans day...  ©  Peter Kraiker

A perfect day
“It was a perfect day because my whole team worked fine from the beginning to control the race, catch the escapees and in the end I also had teammates left to lead me out for the final sprint. It was perfect,” said Gerrans.

“Every victory is special but to win both Québec and Montréal is just unbelievable. It’s great to have two wins so close to the road world championships. It shows my progression is just right,” he added – full press conference interview coming soon.

Slovenia’s Jan Polanc (Lampre), also in the main break at the GP Cycliste Québec, attacked from the gun with France’s Arnold Jeannesson (FDJ) and Belgian neo-professional Louis Vervaeke (Lotto). The three were quickly joined by 2012 Canadian road champion Ryan Roth. With a biting cold on the roads of Mont Royal, the peloton let them go and the four took their lead to a maximum of 12:05 minutes after 50km.

The early break  ©  Peter Kraiker

Orica-GreenEdge train
Echelons took place after 69 kilometers when Movistar and Belkin upped the tempo to catch some of the favorites off their guard. Frank Schleck (Bel) Trek was the only prominent rider in the first part of the bunch until order was restored by Rui Costa and Simon Gerrans’ teammates.

Astana riders took the reins from then on as the cool weather conditions led a few riders to call it quits like 2013 Vuelta champion Chris Horner, Tour de France stage winner Blel Kadri (AG2R) and Canada’s Antoine Duchesne (Europcar). “I’ve learned so much in the pro peloton and I’m excited about the future,” Duchesne told Pedal post-race.

Ryan Roth  ©  Peter Kraiker

On the 15th ascent of Camillien Houde, Polanc and Vervaeke dropped Jeannesson and Roth who were unable to keep pace. The two remained alone in the lead until the final two laps, when Polanc attacked and went ahead alone as Canada’s Christian Meier (Orica-GreenEdge) took to the front to reel in the leaders and set up the finale for Gerrans.

The action started in earnest on the last lap when Rui Costa attacked repeatedly, as did Belgium’s Sep Vanmarcke and the leaders were all caught on the final time up Camillien Houde. Canada’s Mike Woods (Team Canada) made the final selection of the lead group.

In the end the countless attempts to escape were all reeled in by Gerrans’ teammates and the last kilometer saw the Orica-GreenEdge train take shape and quash all hopes for their leader’s opponents. Gerrans sailed in across the line alone to be the first to claim the Canadian double.

Gerrans wins  ©  Pasquale Stalteri

Woods was pleased with his race. “I was really happy to be here this year because last year I broke my collar bone at the Tour of Alberta and wasn’t able to race at these WorldTour races. The level of racing is higher along with the bike handling but it’s still pretty calm in the group – it’s pretty cool.

“I really liked the courses – I’m a climber so they both suited me well. I think we [Canadian Team] really exceeded our expectations this weekend. It was great having Ryan [Roth] out there for so long and I was happy to be able to make into that front decisive move near the end and finish strong,” said Woods – full interview coming soon.

Michael Woods...  ©  Peter Kraiker

Montreal to host GPC for 5 more years
Prior to the start of the race Montréal mayor Denis Coderre announced that the town would support the organization for the next five years, until the 2019 season.

“It is great news that the mayor gave us this morning. Everything led us to believe that the City would support us in the next editions, but the announcement made a few moments before the peloton started for the fifth edition demonstrates how attached this precious partner is to our event,” said GPCQM President Serge Arsenault. “The announcement is a token of stability for the Grands Prix Cyclistes, the only UCI WorldTour events in the Americas.

 Serge Arsenault  ©  Pasquale Stalteri file photo

“We now have the financial stability to plan with security for the next 5 years and this means a lot for our planning. When you look at the final podiums we’re confident that the UCI is happy as well and we’ll have their support as well.

“For the riders it’s really their race and they really put on a show… along with the fans they are both a huge part of our success and we can’t thank them enough,” he added.

Québec City has indicated that they might also extend the presentation of the event for the following years. An announcement should be made over the next two weeks.

Results

1. Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge 5:24:27
2. Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Por) Lampre-Merida
3. Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto-Belisol
4. Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Garmin-Sharp
5. Romain Bardet (Fra) Ag2r-La Mondiale
6. Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Giant-Shimano
7. Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing
8. Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Belkin Pro Cycling
9. Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Astana Pro Team
10. Bauke Mollema (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling
11. Cyril Gautier (Fra) Team Europcar
12. Tom Jelte Slagter (Ned) Garmin-Sharp
13. Petr Vakoc (Cze) Omega Pharma-QuickStep
14. Jesus Herrada Lopez (Esp) Movistar
15. Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto-Belisol
16. Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Belkin Pro Cycling
17. Simon Geschke (Ger) Giant-Shimano
18. Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Astana Pro Team
19. Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) FDJ.fr
20. Davide Formolo (Ita) Cannondale
21. Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica-GreenEdge
22. Michael Rogers (Aus) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:00:07
23. Jan Bakelants (Bel) Omega Pharma-QuickStep
24. Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto-Belisol
25. Laurent Pichon (Fra) FDJ.fr
26. Michael Woods (Can) Canada    
27. Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha
28. Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing
29. Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling
30. Kévin Reza (Fra) Team Europcar
31. Alex Howes (USA) Garmin-Sharp 0:00:17
32. Egor Silin (Rus) Katusha
33. Michael Albasini (Sui) Orica-GreenEdge 0:00:20
34. Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) Ag2r-La Mondiale 0:00:27
35. Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing 0:00:38
36. Simon Yates (Gbr) Orica-GreenEdge 0:00:50
37. Frank Schleck (Lux) Trek Factory Racing
38. Pieter Weening (Ned) Orica-GreenEdge 0:01:01
39. Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Orica-GreenEdge
40. Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Garmin-Sharp 0:01:06
41. Georg Preidler (Aut) Giant-Shimano
42. Peter Stetina (USA) BMC Racing
43. Pawel Poljanski (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo
44. Kristijan Durasek (Cro) Lampre-Merida
45. Cristiano Salerno (Ita) Cannondale
46. Manuele Mori (Ita) Lampre-Merida
47. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Team Sky
48. Gianni Meersman (Bel) Omega Pharma-QuickStep
49. Marco Marcato (Ita) Cannondale
50. Alexey Tsatevitch (Rus) Katusha 0:01:18
51. Daan Olivier (Ned) Giant-Shimano 0:01:26
52. Jesper Hansen (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo
53. Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Esp) Movistar
54. Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Giant-Shimano
55. Jan Polanc (Slo) Lampre-Merida 0:01:32
56. Riccardo Zoidl (Aut) Trek Factory Racing 0:01:39
57. Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Omega Pharma-QuickStep
58. Davide Villella (Ita) Cannondale 0:01:58
59. Christophe Kern (Fra) Team Europcar 0:02:14
60. Yoann Offredo (Fra) FDJ.fr
61. Christopher Sutton (Aus) Team Sky
62. Matej Mohoric (Slo) Cannondale
63. Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Astana Pro Team
64. Matti Breschel (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:02:37
65. Thomas Damuseau (Fra) Giant-Shimano 0:04:00
66. Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Katusha
67. Hugo Houle (Can) Ag2r-La Mondiale 0:04:33  
68. Guillaume Bonnafond (Fra) Ag2r-La Mondiale
69. Christian Meier (Can) Orica-GreenEdge    
70. Ryan Anderson (Can) Canada  
71. Rafael Valls Ferri (Esp) Lampre-Merida 0:04:39
72. Ruben Plaza Molina (Esp) Movistar
73. Bruno Pires (Por) Tinkoff-Saxo
74. Grégory Rast (Sui) Trek Factory Racing
75. Nelson Oliveira (Por) Lampre-Merida
76. Thomas Danielson (USA) Garmin-Sharp
77. Michael Schär (Sui) BMC Racing
78. Amaël Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing
79. Sébastien Minard (Fra) Ag2r-La Mondiale
80. Louis Vervaeke (Bel) Lotto-Belisol
81. Laurent Didier (Lux) Trek Factory Racing
82. Nicki Sörensen (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo
83. Stig Broeckx (Bel) Lotto-Belisol
84. Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Team Europcar
85. Matthew Busche (USA) Trek Factory Racing
86. Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Trek Factory Racing
87. Gert Dockx (Bel) Lotto-Belisol
88. Dennis Vanendert (Bel) Lotto-Belisol
89. Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Team Sky
90. Geraint Thomas (Gbr) Team Sky
91. Borut Bozic (Slo) Astana Pro Team
92. Perrig Quemeneur (Fra) Team Europcar
93. David Tanner (Aus) Belkin Pro Cycling
94. Arnaud Courteille (Fra) FDJ.fr
95. Benat Intxausti Elorriaga (Esp) Movistar 0:05:59
96. Jean-Marc Marino (Fra) Cannondale 0:06:01
97. Bruno Langlois (Can) Canada 0:08:21   
98. Kevin De Weert (Bel) Omega Pharma-QuickStep
99. Phillip Gaimon (USA) Garmin-Sharp
100. Ben Gastauer (Lux) Ag2r-La Mondiale
101. Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) FDJ.fr
102. Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha
103. Evgeny Petrov (Rus) Tinkoff-Saxo
104. Edward King (USA) Cannondale 0:09:59
105. Ian Boswell (USA) Team Sky
106. Steele Von Hoff (Aus) Garmin-Sharp
107. Garrett Mccleod (Can) Canada 0:10:09
108. Ryan Roth (Can) Canada    
109. Thierry Hupond (Fra) Giant-Shimano 0:12:00
DNF Matteo Bono (Ita) Lampre-Merida
DNF Christopher Horner (USA) Lampre-Merida
DNF Igor Anton Hernandez (Esp) Movistar
DNF Eros Capecchi (Ita) Movistar
DNF Juan Jose Lobato Del Valle (Esp) Movistar
DNF Francisco José Ventoso Alberdi (Esp) Movistar
DNF Blel Kadri (Fra) Ag2r-La Mondiale
DNF Christophe Riblon (Fra) Ag2r-La Mondiale
DNF Jay Mccarthy (Aus) Tinkoff-Saxo
DNF Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Omega Pharma-QuickStep
DNF Serge Pauwels (Bel) Omega Pharma-QuickStep
DNF Matteo Trentin (Ita) Omega Pharma-QuickStep
DNF Vladimir Isaichev (Rus) Katusha
DNF Viacheslav Kuznetsov (Rus) Katusha
DNF Marco Haller (Aut) Katusha
DNF Dennis Van Winden (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling
DNF Thomas Leezer (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling
DNF Nicky Van Der Lijke (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling
DNF Yannick Eijssen (Bel) BMC Racing
DNF Ben Hermans (Bel) BMC Racing
DNF Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team
DNF Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Astana Pro Team
DNF Lieuwe Westra (Ned) Astana Pro Team
DNF Fredrik Carl Wilhelm Kessiakoff (Swe) Astana Pro Team
DNF Stijn Devolder (Bel) Trek Factory Racing
DNF Hayden Roulston (Nzl) Trek Factory Racing
DNF Thomas Peterson (USA) Giant-Shimano
DNF Nathan Earle (Aus) Team Sky
DNF Joseph Lloyd Dombrowski (USA) Team Sky
DNF Danny Pate (USA) Team Sky
DNF Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Lotto-Belisol
DNF Mathew Hayman (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge
DNF William Bonnet (Fra) FDJ.fr
DNF Arnold Jeannesson (Fra) FDJ.fr
DNF Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) Garmin-Sharp
DNF Moreno Moser (Ita) Cannondale
DNF Bryan Coquard (Fra) Team Europcar
DNF Antoine Duchesne (Can) Team Europcar   
DNF Tony Hurel (Fra) Team Europcar
DNF Matteo Dal-Cin (Can) Canada    
DNF Pierrick Naud (Can) Canada    
DNF Benjamin Perry (Can) Canada  





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