Portuguese rider Rui Costa followed up on his victory on stage eight of this year’s Tour de France with another major success, winning the WorldTour Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal. The Movistar rider was part of a large break which was clear in the closing stages of the race, but then had the strength to go again after they were hauled back.
He responded to a move by Pierrick Fedrigo (FDJ) and Stefan Denifl with eight kilometres to go, and the three worked together to open a decent lead. Despite surges by Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Cervélo), Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel Euskadi) and then Robert Gesink (Rabobank), the trio out front had a seventeen second gap with 2.3 kilometres left.
Some of this was lost when they started looking back, but they had enough in hand to reach the 200 metre to go point sufficiently ahead to fight for the win. Fedrigo kicked hard but 24 year old Costa covered his acceleration and then moved clear.
“I go all out at all the races I enter and I made my homework before coming here,” said Costa afterwards. “This morning, my manager Yvon Ledanois told me I was the team’s leader with Jose Joaquin Rojas. He said we had gone a long way to come here and it was impossible to go home empty-handed.
“My stage victory in the Tour de France in Super-Besse remains the highlight of my career but this rates quite close. In the finale, I never doubted, I was confident we had enough time left to go all the way.”
Friday’s GP Cycliste de Quebec winner Philippe Gilbert played today’s race in a very cautious manner, hanging well back on many of the climbs, apart from a big surge with one lap to go. He appeared to be trying to avoid being marked, but the tactic also cost him energy as he had to come from a long way back when he had to cover moves.
The Belgian champion kicked hard inside the final kilometre to try to bridge across, riding for both himself and Omega Pharma Lotto team-mate Jurgen Roelandts, who was glued to his back wheel. They miscalculated, though, with Costa and Fedrigo able to stay clear. The chasing duo only succeeded in getting past Denifl, who picked up fifth.
Still, Gilbert clocked up more WorldTour points and consolidated his lead in that series. He is looking more and more certain to be the winner of that competition at the end of the season.
Quartet goes clear in early action
A very rapid start caused a split in the bunch early on, putting pressure on riders such as the Olympic champion Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel Euskadi). He’d get back in contact but burned energy in doing so.
The race took place on a 12.1 kilometre loop, where the riders would face three uphill sections. The first topped out 2.1 kilometres after the start and was called the Côte Camilien Houde; the second was the Côte de la Polytechnique, while there was also a slightly drag up to the finish line. Liquigas-Cannondale rider Sylvester Szmyd was active early on to nab King of the Mountains points on the first three ascents up the Camilien Houde climb, while on lap four Danny Pate (HTC Highroad) led over the top.
Forty four kilometres after the start, he was joined by Katusha rider Danilo Di Luca, Anthony Geslin (FDJ) and Yukiya Arashiro (Europcar), and together they clocked up a maximum lead of almost seven minutes.
Back in the bunch, there was trouble toward the end of lap five when Friday’s Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec winner Philippe Gilbert hit the deck, together with Canada’s Dominique Rollin. The latter was forced to pull out of the race, but Gilbert managed to get back on.
Out front, the break continued to work hard. Di Luca picked up a lot of the KOM points. However he then cracked with 40 kilometres to go, falling back; the other three pushed on, enabling Pate to amass enough points overall to win the KOM prize.
The trio up front continue to ride well, and were able to resist the chase of Jerome Pineau (Quick Step), Juan Antonio Flecha (Sky Procycling) and Danilo Wyss (BMC Racing Team) on lap 13.
Pate was feeling good and pushed onwards with 35 kilometres left. After several kilometres out front he was joined by a large group of chasers, with Pieter Weening (Rabobank), Tom Danielson (Garmin-Cervélo), Rui Costa (Movistar), Francesco Reda (Quick Step), Jean-ChristophePeraud (AG2R-La Mondiale), Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil-DCM), Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis Le Credit), Maarten Wynants (Rabobank), Gregory Rast (RadioShack), Cristiano Salerno (Liquigas-Cannondale), Gorazd Stangelj (Astana) and the Canadian trio of David Veilleux (Europcar), Svein Tuft (SpiderTech p/b C10) and Michael Barry (Sky Pro Cycling) all present.
The battle heats up
On the penultimate ascent of the Côte Camilien Houde, a previously-quiet Gilbert hit the jets and attacked on the climb. Gesink responded and the move didn’t develop further. However it was clear that after his crash earlier in the race, Gilbert was still feeling strong.
Up front, Barry attacked heading towards the summit of the climb. Danielson was quick to respond and brought several others up, then the rest of the break followed. The move stalled slightly heading down the descent, but glances backwards by those in the break revealed the danger and they ramped up the speed again. This helped increase their advantage once more.
Peraud attacked with just over 18 kilometres remaining, opening a lead of several seconds. Rounding a left hand bend, he bunny-hopped a central reservation curb to keep his speed high. However despite that, he was reeled in soon afterwards, prompting Barry to again have a go. This too was fruitless.
Behind, RadioShack’s Philip Deignan was doing a huge turn on the front, showing strong form in dragging the peloton along. With 14 kilometres to go the gap was 18 seconds, and meant that the break was within reach and fully visible on the longer sections.
With one 12 kilometre lap remaining, the Irishman Deignan had succeeded in bringing the gap down to six seconds, and the junction was made almost immediately afterwards.
Costa continued to push the pace on the climb, getting a gap, but the fresher riders behind had a lot more. Simon Gerrans set off in pursuit with his Sky team-mate Rigoberto Uran and Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Cervélo), rocketing up the Côte de la Polytechnique, and these caught Costa.
With ten kilometres left, Vande Velde took over at the front. Gerrans slipped back, leaving three at the front. Things were strangely muted in the peloton, with Gilbert sitting well back. Leipheimer was more active, leading the bunch along, but missed out on the counter when Gesink, Stefan Denifl (Leopard Trek) and Bjorn Leukemans (Vacansoleil) bridged across. However the move was hauled back eight kilometres from the line.
Pierrick Fedrigo (FDJ) then took over at the front and created a slight gap with Denifl and Costa. They worked well together and with the favourites looking at each other, were able to build their lead. Giampaolo Caruso (Katusha) recognised the danger and clipped away from the bunch, but was overtaken by Gesink when the Dutchman attacked with five kilometres to go. Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Cervélo) and Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel Euskadi) were also prominent, and the chase was reeled in.
Sanchez then attacked 3.8 kilometres from the line, gaining a slight gap. He was hauled back, then Vande Velde put in a big dig to try to haul back the leading trio. Despite those efforts, the gap was 17 seconds with 2.3 kilometres left, and still relatively large going under the kite.
Denifl led the riders around the final corner, while behind Gilbert attacked with Roelandts on his wheel. They were trying to get across before the sprint opened out up front, but left it too late. Fedrigo kicked and made his bid for victory, but Costa covered his surge and then accelerated past.