Helped all day by the great collective effort of his Orica-GreenEdge teammates, the Liege-Bastogne-Liege winner triumphed again on the Grande Allee as he did in 2012, with the Australian national champion’s jersey on his back as well.
Dumoulin had moved into position just as the race was heading past Porte St. Louis and looked ideally placed for the finish, but made his move too soon. Gerrans, who was led out in the finale by teammate Jens Keukeleire, surged past Dumoulin for the victory in punishing fashion becoming the first rider to win the Quebec City WorldTour race twice.
“It went perfectly well. I waited for the finale and my teammates protected me well until the last lap when the favourites got together. It’s a very special victory for me as I had great memories from two years ago,” said Gerrans post-race.
After several unfruitful attempts, an early break developed at the 14-kilometre mark involving Slovenia’s Jan Polanc (Lampre), Italy’s Moreno Moser (Cannondale), Dutchman Dennis van Winden (Belkin) and Japan’s Yukiya Arashiro (Europcar). The four received the go-ahead from the peloton to proceed and their lead topped out at 10:42 before the bunch decided to react.
While van Winden battled with Arashiro to collect KOM points for the Mountain Jersey, the break was reeled in after 140km as the peloton raised the tempo led by Orica-GreenEdge’s Christian Meier (Can) along with BMC Racing and Garmin Sharp riders.
As the attacks multiplied, eleven riders were able to escape including Canada’s Michael Woods (Team Canada), Nicki Sörensen (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo, Rafael Valls Ferri (Sui) Lampre-Merida, Sébastien Minard (Fra) Ag2r-La Mondiale, Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Astana Pro Team, Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing, Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Belkin Pro Cycling, Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Orica-GreenEdge, Navardauskas, Steele Von Hoff (Aus) Garmin-Sharp, and Kévin Reza (Fra) Team Euro.
They were later joined by Jan Bakelants (Bel) Omega Pharma-QuickStep, Matteo Trentin (Ita) Omega Pharma-QuickStep, Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Astana Pro Team and Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto-Belisol, but the lead group never managed to build a gap more than 20 seconds. The peloton ran them down at the foot of the last ascent of the Cote de la Potasse as the favourites started to anticipate the finish.
World champion Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Por) Lampre-Merida and Belgium’s Jelle Vanendert (Lotto-Belisol) briefly tried their luck, followed by Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing, but they soon hit their limits, as did Frenchman Bryan Coquard (Team Europcar), second in the previous day’s Challenge Sprint Pro.
Dumoulin’s attack at the end was blistering but Gerrans was keeping a close watch and played it to perfection in the last 150 metres to win in commanding fashion. The ambitious Australian made it clear that he is now targeting the Grand Prix de Montreal on Sunday, where he’s a logical favourite.
“I still have two major goals before the end of the season: Montreal on Sunday and the World Championships in two weeks,” said Gerrans. When asked about his chances at the World Championships he replied, “I’ve done well four times this year, January, in the spring, at the Tour de France, and now here. But it’s quite different peaking for the fourth time. By this stage of the year, I feel like I’m running on fumes.”
Dumoulin of the Netherlands finished one second back, followed closely by Lithuainian Ramunas Navardauskas (Garmin Sharp). Asked whether he was disappointed about finishing second after doing so five days earlier at the Tour of Alberta, Dumoulin answered, “It’s always a little disappointing to lose in the last 5 metres. But it’s also my first time to be up there in a classic with the best riders.”
Team Canada’s Ryan Anderson finished five seconds back in 27th place as the top Canuck. Although he was shooting for a top-10 finish Anderson commented, “I was happy to finish in the lead group. It’s an improvement over last year.”
Fellow Team Canada rider Woods was part of the last serious break-away threatening the pack. “I really hoped our lead would stick because I was never going to win the sprint here.” His break was reeled in with just 4-km left at the bottom of Côte de la Montagne in the final series of ascents (13%, 9%, 7%, and 4%). Teammate Matteo Dal-Cin, at his very first World Tour race, finished a respectable 43rd.
Of the 152 riders on the start line the race 137 finished.
With files from Grand Prix Cycliste Québec WorldTour.
Results
1. Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge 4:42:54
2. Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Giant-Shimano
3. Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Garmin-Sharp
4. Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica-GreenEdge
5. Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing
6. Gianni Meersman (Bel) Omega Pharma-QuickStep
7. Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Belkin Pro Cycling
8. Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Astana Pro Team
9. Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto-Belisol
10. Bauke Mollema (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling
11. Tom Jelte Slagter (Ned) Garmin-Sharp
12. Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Astana Pro Team
13. Jesus Herrada Lopez (Sui) Movistar
14. Davide Formolo (Ita) Cannondale
15. Cyril Gautier (Fra) Team Europcar
16. Georg Preidler (Aut) Giant-Shimano
17. Marco Marcato (Ita) Cannondale
18. Simon Geschke (Ger) Giant-Shimano
19. Jan Bakelants (Bel) Omega Pharma-QuickStep
20. Christopher Sutton (Aus) Team Sky 0:07
21. Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha
22. Simon Yates (Gbr) Orica-GreenEdge
23. Borut Bozic (Slo) Astana Pro Team
24. Romain Bardet (Fra) Ag2r-La Mondiale
25. Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Garmin-Sharp
26. Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Giant-Shimano
27. Ryan Anderson (Can) Team Canada
28. Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Omega Pharma-QuickStep
29. Matti Breschel (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo
30. Davide Villella (Ita) Cannondale 0:12
31. David Tanner (Aus) Belkin Pro Cycling
32. Petr Vakoc (Cze) Omega Pharma-QuickStep 0:18
33. Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Por) Lampre-Merida
34. Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto-Belisol 0:22
35. Alex Howes (USA) Garmin-Sharp 0:27
36. Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing 0:29
37. Frank Schleck (Lux) Trek Factory Racing
38. Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling
39. Cristiano Salerno (Ita) Cannondale 0:34
40. Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing 0:39
41. Francisco José Ventoso Alberdi (Sui) Movistar 0:41
42. Alexey Tsatevitch (Rus) Katusha
43. Matteo Dal-Cin (Can) Team Canada
44. Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Sui) Movistar
45. Hugo Houle (Can) Ag2r-La Mondiale
46. Pawel Poljanski (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo
47. Yoann Offredo (Fra) FDJ.fr
48. Matthew Busche (USA) Trek Factory Racing
49. Daan Olivier (Ned) Giant-Shimano
50. Pieter Weening (Ned) Orica-GreenEdge
51. Bruno Langlois (Can) Team Canada
52. Juan Jose Lobato Del Valle (Sui) Movistar
53. Michael Schär (Sui) BMC Racing
54. Dennis Vanendert (Bel) Lotto-Belisol
55. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Team Sky
56. Ben Hermans (Bel) BMC Racing
57. Yannick Eijssen (Bel) BMC Racing
58. Ryan Roth (Can) Team Canada
59. Michael Rogers (Aus) Tinkoff-Saxo
60. Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha
61. Jay Mccarthy (Aus) Tinkoff-Saxo
62. Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) Ag2r-La Mondiale
63. Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) FDJ.fr
64. Christophe Riblon (Fra) Ag2r-La Mondiale
65. Riccardo Zoidl (Aut) Trek Factory Racing
66. Edward King (USA) Cannondale
67. Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Astana Pro Team
68. Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Team Sky
69. Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Team Europcar
70. Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Trek Factory Racing
71. Michael Albasini (Sui) Orica-GreenEdge 0:52
72. Phillip Gaimon (USA) Garmin-Sharp 1:10
73. Fredrik Carl Wilhelm Kessiakoff (Swe) Astana Pro Team
74. Christophe Kern (Fra) Team Europcar
75. Michael Woods (Can) Team Canada
76. Hayden Roulston (Nl) Trek Factory Racing
77. Stijn Devolder (Bel) Trek Factory Racing
78. Matej Mohoric (Slo) Cannondale
79. Laurent Pichon (Fra) FDJ.fr
80. Ruben Plaza Molina (Sui) Movistar
81. Igor Anton Hernandez (Sui) Movistar
82. Amaël Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing
83. Benat Intxausti Elorriaga (Sui) Movistar
84. Manuele Mori (Ita) Lampre-Merida
85. Jan Polanc (Slo) Lampre-Merida
86. Laurent Didier (Lux) Trek Factory Racing
87. Ben Gastauer (Lux) Ag2r-La Mondiale
88. Garrett Mccleod (Can) Team Canada
89. Thomas Damuseau (Fra) Giant-Shimano
90. Kristijan Durasek (Cro) Lampre-Merida
91. Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Lotto-Belisol
92. Evgeny Petrov (Rus) Tinkoff-Saxo
93. Benjamin Perry (Can) Team Canada
94. Nelson Oliveira (Por) Lampre-Merida 2:04
95. Ian Boswell (USA) Team Sky
96. Kévin Reza (Fra) Team Europcar 2:13
97. Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Orica-GreenEdge 2:15
98. Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Katusha 2:41
99. Blel Kadri (Fra) Ag2r-La Mondiale 2:59
100. Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Astana Pro Team 3:51
101. Jesper Hansen (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo
102. Nicki Sörensen (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo
103. Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team
104. Egor Silin (Rus) Katusha
105. Lieuwe Westra (Ned) Astana Pro Team
106. Sébastien Minard (Fra) Ag2r-La Mondiale
107. Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Belkin Pro Cycling
108. Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto-Belisol
109. Perrig Quemeneur (Fra) Team Europcar
110. Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Omega Pharma-QuickStep
111. Mathew Hayman (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge 4:10
112. Thierry Hupond (Fra) Giant-Shimano
113. Matteo Bono (Ita) Lampre-Merida
114. Arnold Jeannesson (Fra) FDJ.fr
115. Rafael Valls Ferri (Sui) Lampre-Merida
116. Geraint Thomas (Gbr) Team Sky
117. Danny Pate (USA) Team Sky
118. Nicky Van Der Lijke (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling
119. Thomas Leezer (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling
120. Christopher Horner (USA) Lampre-Merida
121. Arnaud Courteille (Fra) FDJ.fr
122. Kevin De Weert (Bel) Omega Pharma-QuickStep 5:28
123. Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) Garmin-Sharp
124. Steele Von Hoff (Aus) Garmin-Sharp
125. Marco Haller (Aut) Katusha 6:06
126. Jean-Marc Marino (Fra) Cannondale 6:10
127. Bryan Coquard (Fra) Team Europcar
128. Matteo Trentin (Ita) Omega Pharma-QuickStep
129. Thomas Danielson (USA) Garmin-Sharp 7:57
130. Pierrick Naud (Can) Team Canada
131. Serge Pauwels (Bel) Omega Pharma-QuickStep 9:57
132. Bruno Pires (Por) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:10
133. Vladimir Isaichev (Rus) Katusha 0:18
134. Guillaume Bonnafond (Fra) Ag2r-La Mondiale 0:13:36
135. Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) FDJ.fr
DNF Eros Capecchi (Ita) Movistar
DNF Viacheslav Kuznetsov (Rus) Katusha
DNF Dennis Van Winden (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling
DNF Peter Stetina (USA) BMC Racing
DNF Grégory Rast (Sui) Trek Factory Racing
DNF Thomas Peterson (USA) Giant-Shimano
DNF Nathan Earle (Aus) Team Sky
DNF Joseph Lloyd Dombrowski (USA) Team Sky
DNF Stig Broeckx (Bel) Lotto-Belisol
DNF Ben Gastauer (Lux) Ag2r-La Mondiale
DNF Louis Vervaeke (Bel) Lotto-Belisol
DNF Christian Meier (Can) Orica-GreenEdge
DNF Arthur Vichot (Fra) FDJ.fr
DNF William Bonnet (Fra) FDJ.fr
DNF Moreno Moser (Ita) Cannondale
DNF Antoine Duchesne (Can) Team Europcar
DNF Tony Hurel (Fra) Team Europcar