With Québec done and dusted the WorldTour’s Canadian campaign heads to Montréal for a slightly more challenging race. A bit friendlier to long-range attacks than it’s Québec counterpart, the event has delivered plenty of excitement in recent years and there’s little reason to expect this year’s edition to be any less of an intriguing show.
The Route
The GP Montréal is a circuit race of 17 12.1km laps. The total distance works out to 205.7km. Starting along the Avenue du Parc, the race works its way up and around the Mount Royal and then finishes back where it started. Each lap involves three official climbs: the Côte Camillien-Houde, 1.8km at 8%, the Côte de la Polytechnique, 780m at 6%, and then the 560m run to the finish at 4%.
The Montréal parcours provides an interesting contrast to the Québec parcours. On the one hand, the hillier profile makes long-range attacks more likely to stick, with more bona fide opportunities to escape and a peloton thinned out by the day’s challenges. On the other hand, the finish itself isn’t actually as challenging, meaning traditional finishing speed (as opposed to uphill explosiveness) is more important for a group finish. Tim Wellens made sure to avoid that problem last year by getting into a late escape with just one other rider.
The Contenders
Peter Sagan seems an obvious place to start the contenders conversation, as he’s won the Montréal race before and is coming off a victory in Québec. His versatility makes him a threat here as well. His biggest challenge will come in deciding if/when to follow the inevitable attacks off the front in the finale. He has the form to win, but he’ll need to play it perfectly because no one will want to work with him late in the race.
Greg Van Avermaet will likely have similar problems, but he may have a slightly better chance of sneaking away. Plus, he’s been racing in Montréal for several years in a row and should have a really strong sense of how things are playing out in the race. That’s clutch, it’s a big reason why he’s my top favorite (if only by a hair).
Rui Costa also has plenty of experience here. Though he doesn’t have quite the finishing kick of Sagan or Van Avermaet, he’s still pretty quick, he’s a better climber than either of them, and he’s just as tactically savvy. He’s a threat to win, as is his teammate Diego Ulissi. Bauke Mollema strikes me as a rider who will hope for a similar finishing scenario (a very small group) giving his nice climbing ability and underrated speed.
Tim Wellens won’t have the luxury of relying on a sprint, and won’t be able to utilize the element of surprise this year either, but I still like his chances, especially as a podium contender. He looked good in Québec. Lotto-Soudal also has Jürgen Roelandts and Tiesj Benoot.
Julian Alaphilippe will get another nice opportunity after making multiple attempts to escape the bunch in Québec. If he’s feeling similarly aggressive, the parcours here will smile on his attacks. Plus, he’s great in a straight-up sprint should it come to that. Petr Vakoc and Matteo Trentin are good alternatives for Etixx.
Michael Matthews is the only sprinter that I see with a decent shot at this race. It’ll be a tall order for him to hold out all the way to the line in the lead group of a controlled race, but it’s not outside the realm of possibility and he’s got a great chance of winning if this does come down to a decent-sized sprint. Michael Albasini and Adam Yates are other options for Orica-BikeExchange.
Romain Bardet, Fabio Aru, Geraint Thomas, Gianni Moscon, Rafal Majka, Tom-Jelte Slagter, Rigoberto Urán, the surprising Alberto Bettiol, Anthony Roux, and Oliver Naesen are others to watch Sunday.
VeloHuman Top 10 Race Favorites
Winner: Greg Van Avermaet Podium: Rui Costa, Peter Sagan Other Top Contenders: Tim Wellens, Julian Alaphilippe, Romain Bardet, Michael Matthews, Bauke Mollema, Rigoberto Urán, Diego Ulissi
The Vuelta is in its final week, which means it’s time for a weekend of excellent one-day racing thousands of miles away. The Canadian GPs get underway Friday with the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec.
The Route
The “easier” of the two Québecois classics, the Quebec City race is a challenge nonetheless. 16 laps of 12.6km on an urban circuit, the event favor punchy riders with its collection of small climbs. The circuit starts out flat, then heads downhill, and then gets hard. There are four official climbs in the last 3.5km: first comes the one-two punch of very steep ascents in the Côte de la Montaigne (375m at 10%) and the Côte de la Potasse (420m at 9%), then it’s the Montée de la Fabrique (190m at 7%), and then comes uphill drag to the line, starting on the Montée du Fort and finishing on the Grand Allée (1km at 4%).
The GP Québec tends to be decided in those final few kilometers, as late attackers try to hold of the fast finishers in the bunch. Interestingly, every single Québec winner since the race’s founding in 2010 has been either an Ardennes contender or a Grand Tour talent. The race may have less climbing than Montréal overall, but the uphill finale puts a premium on explosive climbing ability.
The Favorites
The Québec startlist this year involves a nice array of stars with great climbing legs, great finishing ability, and great combinations of the two.
Peter Sagan, who has won the Montréal race, certainly counts as a rider capable of getting clear on the late climbs or winning a finishing sprint. At peak form I’d see him as the rider to beat, but he doesn’t seem to be in top shape right now. He downplayed his chances in the race press conference, and while it’s never smart to trust that sort of thing 100%, he hasn’t really shown much evidence of form in a few months either—he’s a strong contender in any case, just not a heavy favorite.
Greg Van Avermaet has a very similar toolkit, and he also happens to make these races a big priority every year. What’s more, he looks to be in shape, putting in a nice (if unsuccessful) attack late on at the Bretagne Classic. He should be in the mix in the finale.
Etixx may have lost last year’s race winner in the offseason, but they still have serious firepower. In fact, my top race favorite will be sporting an EQS jersey Friday. Julian Alaphilippe has developed into a force in the Ardennes Classics and I think the same skills could win him a Canadian GP. If he makes a late attack, he’s got the climbing chops to hold on through the uphill finishing straight. If it comes down to a reduced sprint, he’s fast enough to beat most of the startlist. Tom Boonen and Petr Vakoc make strong alternatives to defend the title for EQS.
Michael Matthews and Bryan Coquard stand to benefit most from a bunch finale. Matthews is probably a bit stronger as a candidate given his history in hillier races, but Coquard has decent climbing legs too. Sam Bennett is another option for a potential sprint.
Lampre’s duo of Rui Costa and Diego Ulissi is impressive, as both riders have done well here in the past. If Ulissi were a more consistent, dependable rider, I could see him dominating this race given his skillset (very similar to Alaphilippe’s), but as he runs hot and cold, it’s hard to see him as a top favorite.
Trek’s Bauke Mollema is another rider who can climb, solo, and event sprint in a pinch. On the heels of his San Sebastián win, he can’t be overlooked.
Rigoberto Urán is back for more this year with a new team (Cannondale) though it’s hard to see him as a strong contender. I think his win last year was more about the surprise factor than anything else. I will say that he is a lot more explosive than people realize and probably could have a had a great career as a one-day racer if he’d actually focused on it. But his form is a question mark and he won’t be able to sneak past anyone this year, so Tom-Jelte Slagter and Ramunas Navardauskas look like just as strong options for the team as last year’s winner.
Lotto-Soudal, much like Cannondale, has a few nice options to attack the finale. Tim Wellens, who won in Montréal, can’t be allowed too much room. Neither can Tiesj Benoot or Jürgen Roelandts.
Adam Yates, Romain Bardet, Alexis Vuillermoz, Fabio Aru, Geraint Thomas, Gianni Moscon, Ilnur Zakarin, Jarlinson Pantano, and Simon Geschke are others to watch.
VeloHuman Top 10 Race Favorites
Winner: Julian Alaphilippe Podium: Greg Van Avermaet, Peter Sagan Other Top Contenders: Michael Matthews, Rui Costa, Diego Ulissi, Bauke Mollema, Bryan Coquard, Romain Bardet, Jarlinson Pantano
Episode 56: GP Québec + GP Montréal 2016 Pre-race Show
The Recon Ride previews the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec and the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal, with a little help from top contenders Greg Van Avermaet and Tim Wellens.
[powerpress]
Dane Cash of VeloHuman and Cosmo Catalano of Cyclocosm talk Canadian GPs in a preview show that features both an Olympic gold medalist and a defending Montréal champion.
With the conclusion of the GP Montreal, the WorldTour’s yearly visit to Canada is now complete. With the World Championships around the corner, today’s race offered plenty of takeaways. Starting with the obvious, Simon Gerrans dominated the Canadian WorldTour double. Before 2014, no rider had ever won both races in the same season. Gerrans did it this week, and he made it look easy. It helped that his team rode a perfect race. They did some pace-setting early, but they let other teams do the lion’s share of the work to bring back the breakaway. Then, in the final few kilometers, Orica-GreenEdge hit the front and took control. They had plenty of riders left in the finale to put Gerrans into perfect position for the sprint, and he was so far ahead of anyone else on the finishing straight that he had both hands in the air well before the line.
Mathew Hayman spent a lot of time early in the day at the front of the peloton, driving the pace the keep the break in check.
At age 34, Gerrans seems to have just hit his prime, taking his third one-day WorldTour win this year (he also won a stage and the overall at the Tour Down Under in January). He’ll be among the top favorites for the upcoming World Champs, where a hilly circuit with a flat finish could very likely come down to a reduced sprint; current World Champion Rui Costa voiced this very sentiment in the post-race press conference.
Speaking of Costa, he said after the race that he was happy with the result. He was unable to get clear of the pack in the last few kilometers, but still had enough energy to take 2nd place in the sprint. On the one hand, the number of 2nd place finishes Costa has racked up in the rainbow jersey has to be frustrating. On the other hand, his ability to pick up so many top results is still very impressive, and after having a quiet few weeks after his Tour de France exit, he showed in Montreal that he’s returning to his best ahead of what will be a very difficult Worlds defense.
Tony Gallopin was a decent 9th place in Quebec, and a much stronger 3rd (he was inches away from 2nd, with Costa just barely ahead of him at the line) in Montreal. With Gallopin and Tim Wellens performing so well recently, Lotto Belisol has to be pleased that they’ve gone from a team essentially built to drag Andre Greipel to the line in the pure sprints to a team that can mix it up with the very best on the hilly profiles.
I wasn’t sure how to gauge the chances of Ramunas Navardauskas coming into Montreal, where the circuit is harder than that in Quebec. He proved to be quite capable on the climbs, and sprinted to 4th place. It’s been a career year for Navardauskas. He’s proved amazingly versatile, landing big results on all sorts of profiles. I said after Quebec that he’ll be a rider to watch at Worlds in two weeks, and today in Montreal he made another loud statement.
Romain Bardet, in 5th, notched his second Top 10 in a WorldTour one-day race this year, the other coming in Liege-Bastogne-Liege. He’s still just 23, and he outgunned Greg Van Avermaet, Enrico Gasparotto, and Bauke Mollema, among others, in the finishing sprint here. He may be known for his stage-racing skills, but it will be hard to overlook him in the Ardennes Classics in 2015 with results like this.
Tom Dumoulin only managed to follow up his runner-up performance in Quebec with a 6th place in Montreal, but that’s still a big ride for the Dutchman, who will continue to develop. Greg Van Avermaet probably won’t feel particularly satisfied with 7th, but he did outperform every other Belgian in Montreal, just as he did in Quebec. With Worlds team selection around the corner, that’s huge. Tom-Jelte Slagter put in another decent ride ahead of the World Championships, landing 12th, not bad with Narvardauskas getting the backing in the sprint. In 13th place and among some very impressive company, 22-year-old Petr Vakoc was the best-placed rider for OPQS. They had a strong team here in Montreal, so they probably won’t be satisfied with that, but Vakoc should take confidence from the result. He won a stage in and, very impressively, rode well enough for the remainder of the Tour de Pologne to take 10th overall, and this is another showing of ability from the up-and-coming Czech rider.
Among those who underwhelmed today was Alexander Kristoff, though I don’t find his inability to land a result here particularly surprising. Once the pace picked up in the final few laps, he struggled mightily to hold on. He was dropped with plenty of time left to go in the race, and rolled in over 8 minutes down. I don’t think it means all that much (Montreal’s climbs are tough), but it is at the very least a missed opportunity for Kristoff to prove that he can handle the tougher vertical challenges with Worlds around the corner.
Said World Championship Road Race is now just two weeks away. The ITT is only ten days away! VH will be previewing the team time trial, the individual time trial, and the road race, so stay tuned.
The first of the Canadian WorldTour events is in the books, and now it’s on to Montreal. Another urban circuit race, the GP Montreal shares a hilly profile with its sister race in Quebec and, often, many of the same riders who shine in one do well in the other, but there are differences in the parcours, and no one has ever won both races in the same season. Plenty of names stand out as favorites, but the startlist is loaded with talent and the route will make a few different race scenarios possible. In short, the 2014 Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal should be an exciting race, and it won’t be easy to predict the outcome.
The Route
The 12.1 kilometer circuit (17 laps of which will make for a total race distance of 205.7 kilometers) starts along the Avenue du Parc, makes a loop along the slopes of Montreal’s namesake Mount Royal, and then finishes back where it started. There are three uphill sections in each lap. After a short downhill from the starting line, the first and most challenging climb comes almost immediately, the 1.8 kilometer, 8% average gradient Côte Camillien-Houde. Then comes a fast descent, a brief flat section, and the next uphill test, the short but difficult Côte de la Polytechnique, 780 meters at a 6% average but with a steep 11% stretch of 200 meters along the way. After another descent, things even out for a a bit until the final 1100 meters: the riders will make a right turn heading south and shoot downhill on the Avenue du Parc, and then they will make a 180 degree turn to head back up the Avenue in the other direction towards the line. That final run-in is a 560 meter, 4% climb.
The Montreal circuit is, on the whole, harder than that of the GP Quebec. The Côte Camillien-Houde, crested 17 times, will put the heavier riders into serious difficulty and will likely launch attacks that will be a lot harder to marshal than those that were swallowed up without ever being much of a real threat in Quebec. The finish in Montreal, however, is a lot easier, meaning that sprinting legs will be important if a small group of riders come to the finish together; alternatively, a strong enough solo artist could stay clear after an attack on the circuit’s difficult early slopes.
The Contenders
A one-day race parcours favoring strong climbers with explosive finishes would bring Simon Gerrans to mind even if he hadn’t just taken the win in Quebec. With the form he just showed, he’ll be a top favorite for more success here. His rivals will be watching him closely, but Gerrans told VeloHuman today that he doesn’t feel any pressure coming in as a favorite after his win, and that instead the pressure is on the other teams to get something of the race. He also said that he feels the Montreal parcours might suit OGE even better than Quebec did.
Simon Gerrans on the Montreal parcours and the riders his team will be keeping an eye on
Gerrans has the uphill ability to get over the climbs and the sprint to beat almost anyone in the race. The biggest challenge for OGE will be the hard-to-control profile; Gerrans is capable of getting into moves or even making them on his own, but lately he has preferrred holding out for the sprint in these sorts of races, and Orica-GreenEdge will have their hands full trying to keep this together if that’s how they decide to play this. They have a very strong team here, though, and hilly profile specialists like Michael Albasini, Jens Keukeleire, Pieter Weening, and Daryl Impey (on top-notch form right now) will be great allies or, potentially, dangerous alternatives.
Rui Costa was unable to get clear of the pack in Quebec and then had to cut his sprint short after Arthur Vichot went down right in front of him. Nevertheless, he was at the front as the race neared its climax. Montreal will give him a better opportunity to get aggressive. Few can launch an escape on a hilly profile as well as Rui Costa, and he has the burst of speed to win a sprint battle if need be. He’s never been outside the Top 10 in his Montreal-racing career, and he should continue to perform at a high level here. This will be an excellent opportunity for Costa to prove his form before his Worlds defense.
Quebec runner-up Tom Dumoulin should also love this attacker-friendly profile. He’s the best soloist in the startlist, and if he can get clear of the bunch, his rivals will have a hard time tracking him down. Teammate Simon Geschke, always handy in the sprints that come after hilly days, is a great alternative for Giant-Shimano.
BMC’s Greg Van Avermaet was hoping for a better result in Quebec, but Montreal will provide him with another chance at success. Van Avermaet told VH before the GP Quebec that he felt that, of the two, it suited him better. However, with the quality of punchy, fast finishers here in Canada, Montreal’s profile, more likely to spring the sort of successful long-range attacks for which Van Avermaet is known, should be good for him as well. He was 4th here last year. Don’t rule out a big ride from teammate Tejay van Garderen either; the American GC rider put in a strong dig on the final climb in Quebec, showing that he’s interested in getting involved in these races.
Bauke Mollema was the best-placed of the GC-style riders in Quebec (landing 10th), and Montreal should suit him better if he and some of the other top climbers can make for a selective race. He also packs a great sprint, and if the ascending specialists can drop the less uphill-inclined, he’ll be a dangerous contender. Sep Vanmarcke, 7th in Quebec, may find Montreal a bit hilly, but he is climbing very well this year and with his Worlds role still undetermined, he will likely be going full gas here.
Garmin-Sharp has a lot of firepower in Canada. Ramunas Navardauskas showed off his ever-widening array of skills with a strong uphill sprint to 3rd. The Montreal profile will really put him to the test, but Garmin-Sharp won’t panic if he struggles on the final few climbs: Tom-Jelte Slagter looked good in Quebec, finishing 11th, and this is an excellent race for him. Fabian Wegmann has put in strong performances here in the past as well.
Alexander Kristoff will be in for a real battle to stick with the pack if the pace is high in the final few trips up the Côte Camillien-Houde. If this does come down to a sprint, and if he has made it to the line with the lead group, he’ll have an excellent opportunity to pick up the win, as the finish is less challenging than the one in Quebec, where he only managed 21st place. Simon Spilak will again be a good second.
OPQS’s Gianni Meersman has great climbing legs (for a sprinter) and may be a bit more likely than Kristoff to stick with the peloton on the steep stuff. Having just taken 6th in Quebec, he’s showing good form right now, and he’ll be a top favorite if he’s there for a sprint. The team has options, though, with Jan Bakelants (10th in 2013) very well-suited to this sort of parcours, and with Zdenek Stybar, Julian Alaphillipe, and Matteo Trentin here as well, OPQS will undoubtedly be involved in the action.
Astana is another team bringing a versatile fast finisher and several puncheurs and climbers to be ready for any race scenario. Francesco Gavazzi will have a chance to be in the mix in a bunch sprint. Enrico Gasparotto sometimes disappears in races that would look to suit him, but having landed 8th in Quebec he looks good enough to contend on a Montreal parcours that should be very good for him. Jakob Fuglsang and Borut Bozic are other strong riders for the team.
Lotto Belisol’s Tony Gallopin was 10th here in 2012, and he looked good in Quebec. Lotto has several great talents for this profile, with Jelle Vanendert and Tim Wellens here too. Tinkoff-Saxo’s Matti Breschel could get involved if a larger group comes to the line together, while Michael Rogers can never be counted out in a race with plenty of opportunities for long-range attacks. Movistar has speedy JJ Lobato, JJ Rojas, and Fran Ventoso, but all-rounder Jesus Herrada also looks strong at the moment. AG2R’s climber-heavy squad should appreciate the tougher uphill challenges in Montreal; Jean-Christophe Peraud, Romain Bardet, and Christophe Riblon will have their chances to try to get away on the slopes. Trek’s Robert Kiserlovski and Frank Schleck may be thinking the same thing. Team Sky was unable to make anything out of Quebec, with Geraint Thomas struggling on the climbs, but this profile doesn’t look bad for Thomas (if Friday’s performance was just a bad day) and Edvald Boasson Hagen, and Chris Sutton looks to be strong right now as well. Cannondale’s trio of Davide Formolo, Marco Marcato, and Moreno Moser showed form in Quebec, with the first two finishing in the Top 20, and the third spending a lot of time in the morning breakaway. Europcar has Bryan Coquard for a possible sprint, and punchy Cyril Gautier and Yukiya Arashiro to animate the climbs. Team Canada will likely back Ryan Anderson, who has shown good form in his past few races.
VeloHuman Top 10 Favorites
Winner: Simon Gerrans Podium: Tom Dumoulin, Rui Costa Other Top Contenders: Bauke Mollema, Greg Van Avermaet, Tom-Jelte Slagter, Gianni Meersman, Tony Gallopin, Alexander Kristoff, Ramunas Navardauskas
Be sure to follow @VeloHuman on Twitter for live coverage of the GP Montreal, and check back after the finish for post-race analysis!
The first half of the Canadian Grand Prix weekend is in the books, and with another race just two days away in Montreal and Worlds looming, today’s race in Quebec offers some important takeaways.
Pre-race favorite Simon Gerrans made the loudest statement, as if his 3rd place finish in the Vattenfall Cyclassics ahead of sprinting heavyweights like Mark Cavendish wasn’t already statement enough. He’s clearly on blazing form right now. In the post-race press conference, he stated that he’s not as strong as he was back in the Spring when he won Liege-Bastogne-Liege, but he certainly seems to be strong enough. His sprint has only gotten better and better over the past few years, and that will help him Sunday in Montreal, and at the end of the month in Ponferrada. The fact that he had to overcome a late mechanical makes his win even more impressive. On the whole, Orica-GreenEdge rode a brilliant race, doing the work required to keep the early break on a tight leash, letting others take over when possible, and then positioning Gerrans perfectly for the finale. Landing a 4th place result as well (with a surging Daryl Impey) was an added bonus.
Orica-GreenEdge put in the work when necessary, but they didn’t tire themselves out too much. In the end, Simon Gerrans was positioned perfectly for the final climb.
Runner-up Tom Dumoulin and 3rd-place finisher Ramunas Navardauskas also made statements in this race, outgunning several top contenders on their way to podium finishes. Dumoulin was frustrated with yet another 2nd place, but he’s put on quite a show in 2014, with a lot of help from a very much improved finishing kick. Navardauskas has taken his sprint to the next level this year as well. He was in the mix in several bunch finishes in the Tour de France (he won a stage with a late move as well), he won the Points Classification in the Tour of Alberta, and here in Quebec he charged uphill to the line ahead with a lot of power, despite having spent time in a late breakaway attempt just a few minutes prior. His reputation as a feisty underdog is rapidly giving way to a reputation as a real contender (still feisty though) on the hilly profiles. He was actually 8th in the 2012 World Championship Road Race, and though Lithuania won’t have the team strength of Spain or Belgium, Rui Costa showed last year that a nine rider squad isn’t necessarily required to win a rainbow jersey.
Speaking of Rui Costa, we did not really get a chance to see just how strong he is right now with his Worlds defense around the corner: he was immediately behind Arthur Vichot when the FDJ rider crashed in the final moments of the Grand Prix, and he had to brake hard to stay upright. Still, Costa was lurking at the front of the race as the peloton neared the finish line, suggesting that he’s feeling strong. The GP Montreal, which he won in 2011, should be another opportunity for him to land a result.
Greg Van Avermaet will be disappointed with a 5th place finish, but it’s still a strong result and it certainly shouldn’t hurt his hopes of playing a big role in the Belgian Worlds squad. Likely Belgian Worlds squad teammate Sep Vanmarcke should be very happy with his 7th place result in his debut run here in Quebec. At 199.1 kilometers, the race is a bit shorter than the grueling spring classics that suit Vanmarcke so well, but he was in the mix at the finish anyway. His sprint and his climbing legs are getting better and better: he put them on display today with an uphill charge to the line. Gianni Meersman was the other Belgian in the Top 10, landing 6th. He was really the only rider who would generally be considered a “sprinter” to have success on the day. The gradient at the finish suited the punchier riders a bit better; Meersman should be pleased with the result.
The incline leading up at the start/finish line proved too much for Alexander Kristoff, who could only manage a 21st place. That shouldn’t be all that surprising; Kristoff can survive a tough day in the saddle, but sprinting up a long sustained gradient isn’t really his forte. It is a strength for Tom-Jelte Slagter, however, whose form was a question mark coming into the race, but an 11th place performance suggests that he’s getting back into shape for the last few races of the season. Montreal will be another good opportunity for him.
Stay tuned for more coverage of Canada’s big weekend of cycling. The Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal is now less than two days away!
