September 12, 2010 (Quebec City, QC) – Overcast skies and humid conditions greeted riders for the start of the Montreal ProTour soon underway. It’s 20 degrees and the forecast is for rain later in the day – if it holds – which will spice things up in the latter part of race. There are 166 riders on the start line and Team Canada p/b SpiderTech includes Dominique Rollin, Guillaume Boivin, David Boily, Keven Lacombe, Rob Britton, François Parisien, Will Routley and Ryan Anderson. The riders will complete 16 laps, 12.1km with 229m of altitude per lap, for a total distance of 193.6km.

Look for Canada’s Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Transitions) to animate the race as he did in Quebec City as he prefers the longer Mount Royal climb on the Montreal course. George Hincapie (USA) BMC told us “It’s a tough course and we hope to do better here than in QCity.” Steve Bauer, Team Canada p/b SpiderTech director, predicts another strong ride from Hesjedal, “He was clearly one of the strongest in QCity and should do well here today.”

Lap 1
The race is underway with Canada’s Lacome taking the lead followed by a Garmin-Transitions rider. Up the Mount Royal climb the pack starts to dig in and lead changing as different rides take to the front.

It’s another fast paced start as 30 riders established a small gap on the peloton strung out behind – now four riders have just out front with 5-10s on the chasers.

Martin Tjallingii (Rabobank) and Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Euskaltel-Euskadi) have broken away on their own.

Lap 2
Tjallingii and Izagirre Insausti come thru to start lap two with 3 chasers at 10 seconds and the pack is not far behind at 20s. Now Angel Madrazo Ruiz (Caisse d’Epargne) and Alfredo Balloni (Ita) Lampre shed the other rider with the pack not far behind.

Kevin Seeldraeyers (Bel) Quick Step has bridged to the two chasers – and now they’ve caught the leaders so it’s now a group of 5 at the front.

Past the second climb the Cote de la Politechnique the pack is becoming animated behind he leaders – one rider has jumped ahead looking to bridge up to the front group.

Lap 3
The five leaders come thru with 3 chasers not far behind and the pack soon after.

Up the Camillien-Houde climb the leaders were intact until Balloni lost control and went off the course = he’s ok but hit some rough pavement near the side of the road and crashed into the bushes.

The four leaders are working well together as they finish the Politechnique climb and descend to the start/finish.

Lap 4
The leaders have extended their gap – the lap time was 17.52 – as Radioshack and Team Sky are at the front of the pack. There’s a small group at 44s and the pack is at 1:42.

The four leaders continue to forge ahead over the Mount Royale climb and now they’ve completed the Politechnique climb as they head to the start-finish… the peloton is at 1:52.

Lap 5
Our four leaders have started the fifth lap with 12 to go and continue to extend their lead – there’s a lone HTC-Columbia rider at 1:15 – Adam Hansen we believe – and then the peloton at 2:03.

We felt some brief drops but the rain is holding off – so far. Garmin-Transitions is at the front and up Mount Royal Hansen will soon be caught.

The leaders are approaching the second climb and the peloton is at 1:57.

Lap 6
The four leaders start lap six… Radioshack is at the front of the chasing pack with Liquigas and Team Sky at 2:42

We caught up with Canada’s Michael Barry (Sky) in the media room to get his impressions of the race – Barry is still nursing injuries from crashes at the Tour de France and the Eneco Tour. “I was in the car for the first few laps and the pace is quick. It’s a first for me being in the car and I wish I could be racing. It’s a difficult course and will be a race of attrition.” Predictions…? “Boasson Hagen [his team mate] rode well in QCity as did [Ryder] Hesjedal – and this course suits [Samuel] Sanchez as well. With the longer climb attacks could be tough to reel back in.”

Lap 7
The four leaders have started the 7th lap with 10 to go… the peloton is at 2:22. Q-City winner Thomas Voeckler (BBox) is off the back of the pack but looks like he’ll rejoin soon.

The sun is now out in Montreal…

Lap 8
Starting lap eight the leaders come thru and have extended the gap to just under three minutes – Team Sky is at the front of the pack as peloton is giving the leaders more slack but there’s lots of racing still to come – 108.9km to go.

Over the Mount Royal climb the four leaders continue to work together – now their over the second Politechnique and heading to the finish…

Lap 9
Just over 98km to go as the four leaders come thru with the pack behind at 3:25min. The average speed per lap is 37.5km/hr – we’re at the halfway mark in the race.

Team Sky is still at the front of the peloton with Canada’s Routley, Lacombe and Boivin up there as well as the pack continues to hover at 3 min.

The four leaders continue to charge ahead and are making their way around the course and will soon be in the start finish area to start the next lap.

Lap 10
Seven to go as the leaders start their 10th lap… 84.7km remain as they hit the Camillien-Houde climb.

The peloton come thru at 3:36 with Garmin-Transitions near the front with Hesjedal and Tuft up there – the peloton is likely to become more animated soon as the wind picks up a bit as the clouds roll in again.

We’re in the Team Canada p/b SpiderTech car with director Steve Bauer…”The start was fast and things settled down quickly with the four leaders and no big surprises. I expected a bigger break but that’s how it’s played out and the gap is holding at around 3:30 with various strong teams taking their turn at the front. Our Canadian guys are holding their own and there’s still lots of time – we should see some fireworks with 2-3 laps to go.”

Lap 11
The gap is down to 2:38 as the peloton comes thru with 6 laps to go… up the Politechnique Izagirre Insausti (Euskaltel-Euskadi) has attacked and is off the front on his own.

Hesjedal (we think) and Team Sky are at the front – Izagirre Insausti has been caught…

Astana, Radioshack and Lampre are also at the front leading the chase – Voeckler is there as well biding his time.

Lap 12
The leaders come thru with five to go… the gap is down to 2:06 as the peloton comes thru with Radioshack taking over at the front. It was another Garmin rider not Hesjedal at the front but he’s not far back – Canada’s Boivin and others are there as well.

Chris Horner (USA) Radioshack has a bit of a gap but now he’s been caught an a Lampre rider is at the front.

A group of 5 riders have broken from the pack including Radioshack’s Horner, Irizar Aranburu, Daniel Oss (Liquigas), Anker Sorensen (Saxo), and Gavazzi (Lampre) – they’ll soon catch the 4 leaders.

The nine leaders with two Radioshack riders at the front will soon hit the start finish.

Lap 13
The time is 3:30 as the nine leaders come thru – there are two riders at 35s and the peloton is at 55s. The two riders will soon be caught …

At the front 5 riders have pushed ahead including both Radioshack riders… Sorensen, Oss and Gavazzi.

The leaders are over the Politechnique climb and on Edouard-Montpetit heading to the start-finish.

Lap 14
Three to go as the 5 escapees come thru – the pressure is on the big teams not represented in the break including Rabobank, Garmin, Sky, HTC… the gap is down to 44s.

Hesjedal is now near the front with Rabobank and Euskaltel-Euskadi riders there as well – Horner continues to push the pace at the front.

Hesjedal attacks… he’s at the front of the Mount Royal climb with a Rabo rider – Gesink we think – the others are strung out behind.

The five leaders continue around the course as the gap drops to 36s – the peloton continues to chase them down with Rabobank and Garmin riders at the front.

There’s a large group of riders off the back the main pack as the leaders come to the start finish to start the penultimate lap.

Lap 15
The leaders come thru but will soon be caught as the gap is now down to 12 seconds… up the climb BBox’s Gauthier is off the front and is bridging to leaders who shed Oss and Irizar Aranburu.

Several riders have attacked on the climb as there are four leaders now – Horner, Gauthier, Anker Sorensen and Gavazzi – the peloton is at 14s.

The leaders are on the Politechnique with two riders in between the peloton on the leaders who are on the descent – the two riders are Sulzberger and Steensen trying to bridge – soon it’ll be one to go.

Tuft is at the front trying to bring the peloton up to the leaders…

Sulzberger and Steensen have caught the leaders now 6-strong…

Lap 16 Final
The leaders come thru and peloton is right behind them – up the climb they look behind to see how far back the peloton is.

The pack is gaining…. and the leaders have been caught.

The attacks begin first Leipheimer and now Gesink is out front… Rabobank’s Gesink is powering ahead and has a 5-10s lead.

Hesjedal is at the front of the chasing pack now… Gesink is putting in a massive effort as Hesjedal and others try to chase him down.

Gesink continues to charge ahead as Sanchez and Hesjedal try to mount an attack.

Gesink has 8s with a group of 6 chasing him down… he knows he’s a marked man and pours it on as the chasers try to catch him – can he hold on? Boasson Hagen is there as well…

Gesink is near the finish…

Gesink takes it – Hesjedal is third.

Results

1. Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank 4:58:22
2. Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas-Doimo 0:04
3. Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin-Transitions
4. Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Esp) Team Radioshack
5. Maxime Monfort (Bel) Team HTC-Columbia
6. Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:09
7. Leonardo Duque (Col) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 0:14
8. Alexander Botcharov (Rus) Team Katusha
9. Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini
10. Alessandro Ballan (Ita) BMC Racing Team
11. Chris Anker Sorensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank
12. Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Team Saxo Bank
13. Francesco Reda (Ita) Quick Step
14. Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Française Des Jeux
15. Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) BMC Racing Team
16. Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Quick Step
17. Gorazd Stangelj (Slo) Astana
18. José Joaquim Rojas Gil (Esp) Caisse d’Epargne
19. Eduard Vorganov (Rus) Team Katusha
20. David De La Fuente Rasilla (Esp) Astana
21. Simone Ponzi (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini
22. Levi Leipheimer (USA) Team Radioshack
23. Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Team Milram
24. Tiago Machado (Por) Team Radioshack 0:18
25. Pablo Lastras Garcia (Esp) Caisse d’Epargne
26. Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Team Radioshack
27. Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini
28. Julien Elfares (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
29. Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick Step
30. Simon Spilak (Slo) Lampre-Farnese Vini 0:29
31. Christopher Horner (USA) Team Radioshack 0:37
32. Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Team Milram 0:41
33. Staf Scheirlinckx (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto 0:49
34. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Professional Cycling Team 0:55
35. Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) BBox Bouygues Telecom 2:02
36. Cyril Gautier (Fra) BBox Bouygues Telecom
37. Christian Knees (Ger) Team Milram
38. Amaël Moinard (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
39. Julien Loubet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
40. Jonathan Castroviejo Nicolas (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi
41. Arkaitz Duran Aroca (Esp) Footon-Servetto 2:11
42. Ruben Perez Moreno (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi 2:43
43. Laszlo Bodrogi (Fra) Team Katusha
44. José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Esp) Caisse d’Epargne
45. Anthony Geslin (Fra) Française Des Jeux
46. Francisco Perez Sanchez (Esp) Caisse d’Epargne
47. Jens Voigt (Ger) Team Saxo Bank
48. George Hincapie (USA) BMC Racing Team
49. Evgueny Petrov (Rus) Team Katusha
50. Marcus Eibegger (Aut) Footon-Servetto
51. Jurgen Van De Walle (Bel) Quick Step
52. Tristan Valenttin (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 3:32
53. Laurent Didier (Lux) Team Saxo Bank
54. Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Rabobank
55. André Steensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank
56. Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) Française Des Jeux 4:32
57. Svein Tuft (Can) Garmin-Transitions 4:51
58. Diego Julissi (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini 6:58
59. Peter Stetina (USA) Garmin-Transitions 8:46
60. Dario Cioni (Ita) Sky Professional Cycling Team
61. Bram Tankink (Ned) Rabobank
62. Craig Lewis (USA) Team HTC-Columbia 9:02
63. Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team
64. Maxim Gourov (Kaz) Astana
65. Will Routley (Can) Team Canada p/b SpiderTech
66. Danilo Wyss (Sui) BMC Racing Team
67. Brian Vandborg (Den) Liquigas-Doimo
68. Danny Pate (USA) Garmin-Transitions
69. François Parisien (Can) Canada
70. Nicki Sorensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank
71. David Le Lay (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
72. Michael Rogers (Aus) Team HTC-Columbia
73. Markel Irizar Aranburu (Esp) Team Radioshack
74. Nikita Eskov (Rus) Team Katusha
75. Luca Mazzanti (Ita) Team Katusha
76. Sandy Casar (Fra) Française Des Jeux
77. Daniel Oss (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo
78. Dennis Van Winden (Ned) Rabobank
79. Julien Berard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
80. Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) BBox Bouygues Telecom 9:14
81. Jérémy Roy (Fra) Française Des Jeux
82. Fabio Felline (Ita) Footon-Servetto
83. Karsten Kroon (Ned) BMC Racing Team
84. Anthony Charteau (Fra) BBox Bouygues Telecom
85. Thomas Voeckler (Fra) BBox Bouygues Telecom
86. Jonas Ljungblad (Swe) Omega Pharma-Lotto 0:11:48
87. Dominique Rollin (Can) Team Canada p/b SpiderTech
88. Mathieu Perget (Fra) Caisse d’Epargne 0:14:32
89. Angel Jmadrazo Ruiz (Esp) Caisse d’Epargne
90. Christopher Sutton (Aus) Sky Professional Cycling Team
91. Alberto Losada Alguacil (Esp) Caisse d’Epargne
HD David Boily (Can) Team Canada p/b SpiderTech 0:21:56
DNF Steven Cozza (USA) Garmin-Transitions
DNF Timmy Duggan (USA) Garmin-Transitions
DNF Martijn Maaskant (Ned) Garmin-Transitions
DNF Johan Van Summeren (Bel) Garmin-Transitions
DNF Javier Francisco Aramendia Lorente (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi
DNF Jorge Azanza Soto (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi
DNF Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi
DNF Miguel Jminguez Ayala (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi
DNF Alan Perez Lezaun (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi
DNF Joost Posthuma (Ned) Rabobank
DNF Tom Stamsnijder (Ned) Rabobank
DNF Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Rabobank
DNF Sergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Por) Team Radioshack
DNF Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Team Radioshack
DNF Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo
DNF Davide Jcimolai (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo
DNF Kristijan Koren (Slo) Liquigas-Doimo
DNF Elia Jviviani (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo
DNF Mauro Facci (Ita) Quick Step
DNF Kevin Hulsmans (Bel) Quick Step
DNF Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Quick Step
DNF Kevin Seeldraeyers (Bel) Quick Step
DNF Kurt Arvesen (Nor) Sky Professional Cycling Team
DNF Christopher Froome (Gbr) Sky Professional Cycling Team
DNF Serge Pauwels (Bel) Sky Professional Cycling Team
DNF Morris Possoni (Ita) Sky Professional Cycling Team
DNF Davide Vigano (Ita) Sky Professional Cycling Team
DNF Anthony Roux (Fra) Française Des Jeux
DNF Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) Française Des Jeux
DNF Matti Breschel (Den) Team Saxo Bank
DNF Michael Morkov (Den) Team Saxo Bank
DNF Marco Bandiera (Ita) Team Katusha
DNF Khalilov Mikhaylo (Ukr) Team Katusha
DNF John Gadret (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Cyril Dessel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Alfredo Jballoni (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini
DNF Enrico Jmagazzini (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini
DNF David Loosli (Sui) Lampre-Farnese Vini
DNF Gert Dockx (Bel) Team HTC-Columbia
DNF Patrick Gretsch (Ger) Team HTC-Columbia
DNF Adam Hansen (Aus) Team HTC-Columbia
DNF Frantisek Rabon (Cze) Team HTC-Columbia
DNF Vicente Reynes Mimo (Esp) Team HTC-Columbia
DNF Arnaud Coyot (Fra) Caisse d’Epargne
DNF Linus Gerdemann (Ger) Team Milram
DNF Dominik Nerz (Ger) Team Milram
DNF Luke Roberts (Aus) Team Milram
DNF Peter Wrolich (Aut) Team Milram
DNF Yevgeniy Nepomnyachshiy (Kaz) Astana
DNF Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana
DNF Roman Kireyev (Kaz) Astana
DNF Mirko Selvaggi (Ita) Astana
DNF Matthew Lloyd (Aus) Omega Pharma-Lotto
DNF Christophe Brandt (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto
DNF Francis De Greef (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto
DNF Michiel Elijzen (Ned) Omega Pharma-Lotto
DNF Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Esp) Omega Pharma-Lotto
DNF Charles Wegelius (Gbr) Omega Pharma-Lotto
DNF Ermanno Capelli (Ita) Footon-Servetto
DNF Marco Corti (Ita) Footon-Servetto
DNF Noé Gianetti (Sui) Footon-Servetto
DNF Yohann Gene (Fra) BBox Bouygues Telecom
DNF Laurent Lefevre (Fra) BBox Bouygues Telecom
DNF Sébastien Turgot (Fra) BBox Bouygues Telecom
DNF Chad Beyer (USA) BMC Racing Team
DNF Jeff Louder (USA) BMC Racing Team
DNF Damien Monier (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
DNF Christophe Kern (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
DNF Julien Fouchard (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
DNF Guillaume Boivin (Can) Team Canada p/b SpiderTech
DNF Keven Lacombe (Can) Team Canada p/b SpiderTech
DNF Rob Britton (Can) Team Canada p/b SpiderTech
DNF Ryan Anderson (Can) Team Canada p/b SpiderTech
DNS Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo
DNS Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Astana
DNS Vidal Celis Zabala (Esp) Footon-Servetto