Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Sharp) leads a strong contingent of Canadians including Francois Parisien (Team Argos-Shimano), David Veilleux (Team Europcar), Hugo Houle (AG2R la Mondiale), Francois Parisien (Team Argos-Shimano), Dominique Rollin (FDJ.FR), Bruno Langlois (Equipe Canada), Ryan Anderson (Equipe Canada), Zach Bell (Equipe Canada), Rob Britton (Equipe Canada), Marsh Cooper (Equipe Canada), Antoine Duchesne (Equipe Canada), Nic Hamilton (Equipe Canada) and former Canadian road champ Ryan Roth (Equipe Canada).
Lap 1
And they’re off. They’re heading down thru thePlains of Abraham.
Down Côte Gilmour and on to Boulevard Champlain.
Heading up Dalhousie and Côte de la Montange.
A Movistar rider is leading a breakaway, with riders from BMC, Belkin, Omega Pharma.
The last rise before the start line – 15 laps to go.
The breakaway has been rolled back in.
Lap 2
The breakaway has a 1 min 35 sec lead. Three riders including Agnoli (Astana), Bilbao(Euskaltel), and Machado (Radioshack).
The peloton has reached the Château.
The breakaway is now 2 min in front. Machado is pulling Cobi and Agnoli up the hill.
The last faux-plat (gentle rise) before the start line.
Now 174.4 km to go.
Lap 3
The breakaway of three riders has increased their lead to 4 min.
Machado, Bilbao, and Agnoli have a 5 min lead. They’re heading up de la Potasse.
The peloton is riding comfortably along the Bd. Champlain and the St. Lawrence River, third longest river in North America.
Cannondale and Movistar are sitting on the front of the peloton, controling the pace.
Lap 4
Machado, Bilabao and Agnoli have descended Cote Gilmour and are back down along side the St. Lawrence River. The lead has reached 6 min plus.
The breakaway is 5 min 50 sec. They’re heading up Côte de la montagne. The crowds stretched out all along the circuit.
Canadian Guillaume Boivin (Cannondale) is the most active rider in the peloton.
Lap 5
Machado leads the GPC on 3 points.
The gap between the breakaway and the pack 5 min 15 sec.
Machado, Bilabao and Agnoli are slowly being reeled back in, ahead by 4 min 55 sec.
Cannondale is still leading the main pack.
Machado is looking very strong, pulling away easily from his two breakaway partners on Côte de la Potasse.
Lap 6
The gap is still holding at 5 min 05 sec. 137.1 km to go.
Movistar and Cannondale are still leading the peloton. They’re on their way back down Côte Gilmour, with a hard right angle turn right at the bottom of the slope.
The main pack is riding along side the steep, shale cliffs of Bd. Champlain. Machado, Bilabao and Agnoli are already on their way down des Remparts Street. Machado now has 5 climbing points.
German Rudiger Selig (Katusha) drops out of race.
Machado is still leading Bilabao and Agnoli on Côte de la Montagne and de la Potasse. The peloton is approaching the first climb of this lap.
Lap 7
The breakaway has just crossed the start line. 4 min 20 sec on the peloton.
Cannondale is controling the pack, keeping Sagan within reach of the breakaway. Movistar is pulling their weight too, keeping Rui Costa within striking distance.
106.5 km to go. The peloton drops down Côte Gilmour once again and onto the flats of Bd. Champlain.
Machado takes the climbing points once again. The lead is now only 3 min.
Lap 8 – 9
The teams are picking up the food bags. The riders are starting to show some fatigue.
Machado and co. are down below the cliffs by the St. Lawrence. Their lead is only 2 min 30 sec.
108 km under their tires, 93 km left.
The breakaway is heading up to Grande Allée, with a 2 min 40 sec lead. They may be hoping for rain to help them protect their lead.
Lap 10
85 km remaining. Machado, Bilabao, and Agnoli have stretched out the gap to 2 min 55 sec. Rain showers have started over Québec City but so far the race course has been spared.
Machado, Bilabao, and Agnoli are working well together, exchanging the lead, but their lead has fallen back to 2 min 10 sec.
Cannondale and Movistar continue to put pressure on the main pack. The climb back up Côte de la Montagne (13% slope) has begun.
Lap 11
The breakaway’s lead has dropped to 1 min 35 sec.
Three BMC riders have broken away from the peloton. The gap is now down to 45 sec.
A second breakaway group of six riders has formed: Three BMC riders (Amael Moinard, Steve Morabito, Tejay Vangarderen), plus Jesus Herrada (Movistar), Eduard Vorganov (Katusha), and Jack Bobridge (Belkin).
The front group is now the 9 riders from the two breakaway groups. Their lead is 25 sec.
Machado, Bilabao, Agnoli, Moinard, Morabito, Vangarderen, Herrada, Vorganov, and Bobridge are now in the lead group with the peloton close behind.
They’ve passed the Château Frontenac and are heading though the St. Louis gate. The three BMC riders are leading.
Lap 12
Two riders have been dropped from the lead group: Bilabao and Agnoli. Machado, Moinard, Morabito, Vangarderen, Herrada, Vorganov, and Bobridge now have a 30 sec lead.
Jean-Christophe Peraud (AG2R) has dropped out of the race.
The breakaway hits the Côte de la Montagne for the 12th time. Fatigue is becoming more obvious. Back down des Remparts and up de la Potasse.
Movistar is pulling the peloton along, hot on the trail of the lead group with a 20 sec lead.
Mochado has still got strong legs in the lead group after leading the race for a 130 km. He now has 21 climbing points.
Lap 13
The lead is now only 10 seconds. The lead group is down to six riders: Vorganov (Katusha) has been dropped. The gap is back up to 25 sec.
Cannondale is pushing the bunch along the Bd. Champlain, with the Astana team close behind.
Teams Lampre and Saxo Bank are also working at the front. The gap is down to 15 sec.
After 151 km, the breakaway has been caught. Three riders immediately attack. La francaise des jeux (Fdj), BMC, VaconSoleil.
Lap 14
Daniel Oss (BMC), Chernetskii (Katusha), Devenyns (Omega), Offredo (FdjFr), and Marcato (VaconSoleil) have a 15 sec lead.
Hugo Houle (AG2R) has just dropped out with a broken chain.
Two more riders have joined the breakaway: Lagutin (Vaconsoleil) and Thurau (Eurocar). The lead is only 10 sec. Cannondale is pushing hard.
The gap is now up to 20 secs.
The breakaway is no more.
Lap 15
Five riders have broken away: Eurocar, Radioshack, Vacansoleil, Team Canada, and …
The Radioshack rider Bennet is pulling away solo through the Plains of Abraham. The breakaway has been reeled in again. Thurau is chasing Bennet.
Bennet has a 6 sec lead.
BMC is leading the pack through the Plains. Bennet’s lead is growing. 10 sec, 15 sec.
Bennet has been caught. Belkin is leading the bunch into the second last set of climbs.
Terpstra (Omega) is attacking at the front. He has a 20 sec lead.
Lap 16
Terpstra is a time-trial specialist (Dutch champion). Can he pull it off for the next 12 km? His lead is now 30 secs.
Nordhaug (Belkin) is trying to bridge the gap.
Nordhaug has been caught but Terpstra is still on his own, leading by 30 sec.
Terpstra is holding on with only 6.1 km left. If he leads till the finish line, this will be the first time a breakaway hasn’t been caught in the 4 years of the Québec City race.
Team Sky is pulling hard at the front now. Terpstra’s lead has dropped to 20 sec. Can he hold on?
Now the main pack is coming hard. 15 sec lead on Côte de la Montagne.
It looks good for Terpstra. The chase pack is dithering about who’s going to do the work. It looks like a fight for second.
Woo, 4 sec lead, 3, 2, 1, caught. Now a 6 man pack at the front.
They’re duking out, 10 riders at the front.
Robert Gesink (Belkin) wins another GPC race!
Arthur Vichot (FDJFR) comes in second and Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC is third.
Results
1. Robert Gesink (Ned) Belkin-Pro Cycling Team 4.58:13
2. Arthur Vichot (Fra) FDJ.fr
3. Greg van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:01
4. Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Garmin-Sharp
5. Rui Costa (Por) Movistar Team
6. Niki Terpstra (Ned) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step
7. Tom Jelte Slagter (Ned) Belkin-Pro Cycling Team o:02
8. Matti Breschel (Den) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 0:03
9. Simon Geschke (Ger) Team Argos-Shimano 0:04
10. Peter Sagan (Svk) Cannondale Pro Cycling 0:06
11. Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:08
12. Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team
13. Laurent Pichon (Fra) FDJ.fr
14. Paul Martens (Ger) Belkin-Pro Cycling Team
15. Jan Bakelants (Bel) Radioshack Leopard
16. Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) FDJ.fr
17. Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
18. Jonathan Castroviejo (Esp) Movistar Team
19. Bryan Coquard (Fra) Team Europcar
20. Bjorn Leukemans (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
21. Maxime Monfort (Bel) Radioshack Leopard
22. Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus) Katusha
23. Yoann Offredo (Fra) FDJ.fr
24. Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Orica-GreenEdge
25. Sergey Lagutin (Uzb) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
26. Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team
27. Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Astana Pro Team
28. Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Lotto Belisol
29. Pieter Weening (Ned) Orica-GreenEdge
30. Peter Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step
31. Romain Sicard (Fra) Euskaltel-Euskadi
32. Ion Izagirre (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:15
33. Miguel Minguez (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi
34. Simone Ponzi (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:19
35. Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Lampre-Merida 0:24
36. Matteo Trentin (Ita) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step
37. Kévin Reza (Fra) Team Europcar
38. Tony Gallopin (Fra) Radioshack Leopard 0:35
39. Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin-Sharp 0:40
40. Ryan Anderson (Can) Canadian National Team
41. Christopher Froome (Gbr) Sky Procycling 0:42
42. Kristijan Durasek (Cro) Lampre-Merida
43. Lars Petter Nordhaug (Nor) Belkin-Pro Cycling Team
44. Adrian Saez (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:57
45. Ricardo Garcia (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi
46. Peter Stetina (USA) Garmin-Sharp
47. Cyrille Gautier (Fra) Team Europcar
48. John Degenkolb (Ger) Team Argos-Shimano
49. Bjorn Thurau (Ger) Team Europcar 1:12
50. Marco Marcato (Ita) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
51. Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Belisol
52. Alberto Contador (Esp) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
53. Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Merida
54. Richie Porte (Aus) Sky Procycling
55. Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step
56. Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha
57. Damiano Caruso (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling
58. Marcus Burghardt (Ger) BMC Racing Team
59. Dirk Bellemakers (Ned) Lotto Belisol
60. Dominique Rollin (Can) FDJ.fr
61. Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step
62. Tiago Machado (Por) Radioshack Leopard
63. Jonathan Tiernan-Locke ((Gbr) Sky Procycling
64. Maurits Lammertink (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
65. Bruno Langlois (Can) Canadian National Team
66. Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) Orica-GreenEdge
67. AlexeÏ Tcatevitch (Rus) Katusha 1:32
68. Blel Kadri (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
69. Bruno Pires (Por) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 1:40
70. Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) FDJ.fr
71. Gorka Izagirre (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi
72. Amael Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing Team
73. Dries Devenyns (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step 1:56
74. Ryan Roth (Can) Canadian National Team 2:08
75. Rory Sutherland (Aus) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
76. Sergio Paulinho (Por) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
77. Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Belkin-Pro Cycling Team 2:22
78. Kristijan Koren (Slo) Cannondale Pro Cycling
79. Patrick Gretsch (Ger) Team Argos-Shimano
80. Antoine Duchesne (Can) Canadian National Team
81. Marc Goos (Ned) Belkin-Pro Cycling Team
82. Bert Jan Lindeman (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
83. Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Astana Pro Team
84. Sergei Chernetskii (Rus) Katusha
85. Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team
86. Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
87. Thomas Damuseau (Fra) Team Argos-Shimano
88. Julian Kern (Ger) AG2R La Mondiale
89. Michael Albasini (Sui) Orica-GreenEdge
90. Francois Parisien (Can) Team Argos-Shimano
91. Daniele Pietropolli (Ita) Lampre-Merida
92. Elia Favilli (Ita) Lampre-Merida
93. Karsten Kroon (Ned) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
94. Viacheslav Kuznetsov (Rus) Katusha 3:02
95. Jesus Herrada (Esp) Movistar Team 3:13
96. Tejay Vangarderen (USA) BMC Racing Team 3:37
97. Geraint Thomas (Gbr) Sky Procycling
98. Cameron Meyer (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge 3:39
99. Luka Mezgec (Slo) Team Argos-Shimano 4:14
100. Davide Cimolai (Ita) Lampre-Merida 4:46
101. Jens Debusschere (Bel) Lotto Belisol 5:01
102. Gert Dockx (Bel) Lotto Belisol
103. Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling 5:05
104. Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 6:31
105. Wesley Kreder (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
106. Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Team Argos-Shimano 10:40
107. George Bennett (Nzl) Radioshack Leopard
108. William Clarke (Aus) Team Argos-Shimano
109. Moreno Hofland (Ned) Belkin-Pro Cycling Team
DNF Ian Boswell (USA) Sky Procycling
DNF Joseph Dombrowski (USA) Sky Procycling
DNF Gabriel Rasch (Nor) Sky Procycling
DNF Danny Pate (USA) Sky Procycling
DNF Edward King (USA) Cannondale Pro Cycling
DNF Michel Koch (Ger) Cannondale Pro Cycling
DNF Guillaume Boivin (Can) Cannondale Pro Cycling
DNF Brian Vandborg (Den) Cannondale Pro Cycling
DNF Thomas Danielson (USA) Garmin-Sharp
DNF Thomas Dekker (Ned) Garmin-Sharp
DNF Andrew Talansky (USA) Garmin-Sharp
DNF Timothy Duggan (USA) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
DNF Jesus Hernandez (Esp) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
DNF Juan Jose Cobo (Esp) Movistar Team
DNF Ruben Plaza (Esp)
DNF Eloy Teruel (Esp) Movistar Team
DNF Francisco José Ventoso (Esp) Movistar Team
DNF Petr Ignatenko (Rus) Katusha
DNF Rudiger Selig (Ger) Katusha
DNF Eduard Vorganov (Rus) Katusha
DNF Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step
DNF Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step
DNF Borut Bozic (Slo) Astana Pro Team
DNF Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Astana Pro Team
DNF Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe) Astana Pro Team
DNF Andy Schleck (Lux) Radioshack Leopard
DNF Danilo Hondo (Ger) Radioshack Leopard
DNF Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Radioshack Leopard
DNF Jack Bobridge (Aus) Belkin-Pro Cycling Team
DNF Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Hugo Houle (Can) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Sébastien Minard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Steve Morabito (Sui) BMC Racing Team
DNF Daniel Oss (Ita) BMC Racing Team
DNF Matthew Goss (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge
DNF Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) Orica-GreenEdge
DNF Adriano Malori (Ita) Lampre-Merida
DNF Jan Polanc (Slo) Lampre-Merida
DNF Pello Bilbao (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi
DNF Ruben Perez (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi
DNF Mickael Delage (Fra) FDJ.fr
DNF Arnold Jeannesson (Fra) FDJ.fr
DNF Olivier Kaisen (Bel) Lotto Belisol
DNF Sander Cordeel (Bel) Lotto Belisol
DNF Maarten Neyens (Bel) Lotto Belisol
DNF Mirko Selvaggi (Ita) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
DNF Danny Van Poppel (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
DNF David Veilleux (Can) Team Europcar
DNF Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Team Europcar
DNF Tony Hurel (Fra) Team Europcar
DNF Angelo Tulik (Fra) Team Europcar
DNF Zach Bell (Can) Canadian National Team
DNF Rob Britton (Can) Canadian National Team
DNF Marsh Cooper (Can) Canadian National Team
DNF Nic Hamilton (Can) Canadian National Team