Gerrans wins Québec City Grand Prix Cycliste for the second time

QUÉBEC CITY GRAND PRIX CYCLISTE RESULTS >>> 

QUÉBEC, September 12, 2014 /CNW Telbec/ - Simon Gerrans surged in the slipstream of Dutchman Tom Dumoulin in the finale to snatch his second victory in the Québec City Grand Prix Cycliste on Friday. Helped by a great collective effort by his Orica Greenedge  team-mates all day, the Liege-Bastogne-Liege winner again triumphed on Grande Allee, like in 2012, with the Australian champion jersey on his back.

Dumoulin had moved just as the race was riding past Porte Saint-Louis and looked ideally placed before Gerrans, led in the finale by Jens Keukeleire, surged in punishing fashion. He also became the first rider to win the Québec City Grand Prix Cycliste twice. "It went perfectly well. I waited for the finale and my team-mates protected me well until the last lap when the favorites got together. "It's a very special victory for me as I had great memories from two years ago," said Simons Gerrans.

After several vain attempts, the break of the day developed after 14 kilometres and involved Slovenia's Jan Polanc (Lampre), Italy's Moreno Moser (Cannondale), Dutchman Dennis van Winden (Belkin) and Japan's Yukiya Arashiro (Europcar). The four received the go-ahead from the peloton to proceed and their lead topped at 10:42 before the bunch decided to react and reduce the gap. While Van Winden collected points for the GPM, followed by Arashiro, the break was reined in after 140 km as the peloton raised the tempo, led by teams Orica Greenedge, Garmin Sharp and BMC.

As attacks multiplied, eleven riders quickly emerged after the junction. They were Rafael Valls, Sebastien Minard, Nikki Sorensen, Valerio Agnoli, Brent Bookwalter, Jonathan Hivert, Jens Keukeleire, Ramunas Navardauskas, Steele Von Hoff, Kevin Reza and Michael Woods. They were later joined by Jan Bakelants, Matteo Trentin, Enrico Gasparotto and Tim  Wellens. But the group never managed to build a gap of over 20 seconds and they were run down at the foot of the last ascent of the Cote de la Potasse as the favorites started to move.

World champion Rui Costa and Belgium's Jelle Vanendert briefly tried their luck, followed by Tejay Van Garderen, but they soon hit their limits like Frenchman Bryan Coquard, second in the previous day's Challenge Sprint Pro. Tom Dumoulin's attack was blistering but Gerrans was keeping a close watch and played it to perfection in the last 150 metres to win in commanding fashion. The ambitious Australian made it clear he was now targeting the Montréal Grand Prix Cycliste on Sunday, in which he will be a logical favorite. "I still have two major goals before the end of the season: Montreal on Sunday and the world championships in two weeks," said Simons Gerrans.

ABOUT THE RACES
The Québec City and Montréal Grands Prix Cyclistes, the only two UCI WorldTour races held in North America, contribute in large measure toward the achievement of one of the International Cycling Union's primary objectives: the globalization of élite-level cycling. These races are now established, UCI-sanctioned events alongside events in Europe, Oceania and Asia. The organizing committee has been responsible for planning and putting on the Québec City and Montréal GPs since 2010, and receives vital support from public- and private-sector partners: the Government of Canada, the Government of Québec, the City of Québec, the City of Montréal, the National Battlefields Commission, the Office du tourisme de Québec, Tourisme Montréal, Québecor, Air Transat, Via Rail and Québec Original. http://gpcqm.ca/en/home/ 

SOURCE Événement GPCQM