Michael Matthews has won the 13th edition of the GP Québec. In a long race of over 200 kilometers, spread over 16 laps of 12.6 kilometers, he was eventually the strongest in a sprint. It was Matthews's third victory in the Canadian one-day race after winning in Quebéc in 2018 and 2019. Top favorite Tadej Pogacar tried but was ultimately happy for his buddy Matthews.
The Quebec GP was traditionally the opener of a two-part Canadian race, with the Montreal GP remaining on Sunday. A leading group was quickly formed on a challenging street circuit, which included 186 elevation gains per lap. Artem Shmidt (INEOS), Frank van den Broek (dsm-firmenich PostNL), Antonio Polga, Filippo Ridolfo (Team Novo Nordisk), and Felix Hamel and Jonas Walton of the Canadian selection found each other. They got a motivated peloton behind them with Intermarché-Wanty and Lotto Dstny.
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Van den Broek and Shmidt remain, Healy deals first punch
The two Belgian formations rode ahead of Biniam Girmay and Arnaud De Lie, although the six leaders still got a solid lead. Five minutes maximum, with Van den Broek handling most of the work in the leading group. With the Côte de la Montagne and Côte des Glacis in the local lap, Polga and Ridolfo were already caught in the first fifty kilometers. Only Hamel remained on behalf of the Canada duo, heading toward the race's halfway point.
Entering the final eighty kilometers, things went too fast for Hamel as well, leaving us with Van den Broek and Shmidt. Two youngsters saw their lead reduced from first a good five minutes to just under five minutes. That was because procontinental formations like Tudor and Uno-X also showed up at the front. Therefore, it was waiting for an attack to launch the finale. That one came 62 kilometers from the end - and five laps to go - from Ben Healy on the Côte des Glacis. UAE-Team Emirates rushed this first teaser.
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UAE-Team Emirates picks up pace, Laurance gives up
As expected, the day's first attack was the go-ahead to kick it off. The status quo went overboard; there could be racing! Fredrik Dversnes of Uno-X tried to ride away but saw it was pointless when he only got away alone. Bahrain-Victorious pushed forward, but UAE-Team Emirates pulled through on the Côte de la Montagne. Pogacar was already keen on the front, but at this stage, it was purely a question of who could not join them. Axel Laurance of Alpecin-Deceuncink and Corbin Strong of Israel-Premier Tech were the crucial victims of the pace, and Girmay had all the trouble to stay with it.
Meanwhile, Van den Broek and Shmidt kept up the pace. The peloton stalled a bit in places, so the leading duo began the final forty kilometers with just under four minutes remaining. With thirty kilometers to go, it was still just under three minutes. The peloton thus seemed to have everything under control, but Van den Broek and Shmidt still looked pretty fresh. That's all well and good, but the gap suddenly shrank with Uno-X, Lotto-Dstny, and UAE joining forces on every hill that followed. Gil Gelders (Soudal-Quick Step) and Alex Baudin (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) were thus also riding a bit aimlessly in between.
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Can Pogacar tear the fast men apart?
On the second-to-last lap, it all slid together so carefully. Two more times, the combination Côte de la Montagne and Côte des Glacis, with an attack by Jan Tratnik (Visma | Lease a Bike), who first brought the peloton back to Gelders and Baudin. Van den Broek and Shmidt were thanked at fourteen kilometers from the end after a 190 (!) kilometer solo. Immediately, UAE seized the race head-on again with Tim Wellens, with Pogacar not far behind. Many riders had no interest in a sprint, but could they unload the fast men? They then had one more lap of 12.6 kilometers to do so...
Juan Ayuso kept the pace high for UAE but couldn't prevent Matteo Jorgenson from blasting off on a stretch of descent on behalf of Visma. The American created a nice gap in the kilometers that followed, but he still had those frantic climbs to cross. With only ten seconds, Jorgenson started it, and Julian Alaphilippe dashed over. The Frenchman looked back and had Pogacar and Jorgenson with him and three (!) from Lotto-Dstny. Jenno Berckmoes, Maxim Van Gils, and De Lie were able to answer the attacks, even when Pogacar went himself and so suddenly found himself up against three of the Belgians in the final kilometer.
Everything for De Lie in the sprint, but Berckmoes and Van Gils could not hold on. The peloton closed in, so we again had a lot of candidates who could win. We almost forgot that Matthews was one of them. He had not been in front all day but won with a mighty punch.
Results GP Quebec 2024
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