WorldTour
Remco Evenepoel wins the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec
Remco Evenepoel has made a successful start to his nearly three-week stay in Canada, winning the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec.
In the final two-man sprint, he prevailed over Giulio Ciccone, securing his eleventh victory of the season.
As was the case before the Tour de France, Remco Evenepoel benefited from a longer break from racing. His last race to date had been the Clásica San Sebastián, which he also won.
Remco Evenepoel wins in Québec for Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe
© Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool
The race in Québec consisted of 206 kilometres on a circuit to be completed 20 times; the action really picked up in the final third, as new groups kept forming following several attacks. With 27 kilometres to go, Remco moved up to join the race leader Alberto Bettiol, alongside Ciccone, Anthon Charmig – who would go on to finish third – and Alessandro Pinarello.
Remco wins on every continent
A chasing group was never able to close the gap, which had long stood at around 20 seconds. Remco then tackled the final climb alongside Ciccone and Charmig. Whilst the Dane had to drop back right at the start, Ciccone stayed on his wheel. In the final sprint, however, he came off second best.
Remco Evenepoel at the Grand Prix de Québec
© Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool
For Remco, the victory in Quebec was his first in North America. He thus completed his list of successes across the globe, having previously celebrated victories in Europe, Australia, Asia, Africa and South America.
World Championships dress rehearsal on Sunday
On Sunday, the sister race in Montreal will serve as the dress rehearsal for the World Championships road race, which takes place exactly two weeks later. In between, on Sunday, the World Championships individual time trial is on the programme.
There are many major challenges ahead over the next two weeks.
Remco Evenepoel: “I didn’t really feel that good in the first part of the race. But luckily, I found the right strength in my legs again towards the end, so I was able to win the sprint. So I’m very happy. One lap after we went clear, we had a nice gap. I didn’t have the explosiveness I needed on the final climb to really drop the other two, but I kept going and trusted my sprint – and it was the right decision to go for the sprint.After a longer break, it’s never easy to get back into the rhythm, especially when your first race back is such a hard one. Sunday is the next step. There are a lot of big challenges waiting for us over the next two weeks.”
