2017 GP Cycliste de Québec (World Tour), Canada

8th edition: Friday, September 8, 2017

Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec podium history | GP Cycliste de Montréal | Start list | 2016 edition | 2018 edition

201.6 km total distance: 16 laps of 12.6 km

2017 GP Quebec map and profile

Peter Sagan wins in Quebec

The race: Here's the report from winner Peter Sagan's Bora-hansgrohe team.

When the UCI World Champion, Peter Sagan, wins, he always does it in style, but today the Slovak BORA-hansgrohe rider made it extra special, claiming his 100th professional victory with a commanding win on a tough uphill sprint. From the start of the GP Cycliste de Québec it was clear the team had their eye on the win, working hard to control the race and deliver Peter to the line. The Austrian, Lukas Pöstlberger, also claimed the best climber’s jersey on a day where the whole BORA-hansgrohe team showed their strength on a demanding course.

Sixteen laps of a 12.6km circuit of Québec’s beautiful streets made up the 201.6km course for today’s race. While the laps themselves were short, the difficulty of the terrain made certain that this wasn’t going to be a straightforward race, with 2,976m of climbing over the day taking place on four steep ascents. The toughest of these would see riders battle against gradients of 13%, and the day’s finale, while on one of the more gentle hills, would take place on a 4% incline. The fine weather conditions would see riders start in high spirits – but after more than 200km on punishing terrain, there would only be a few riders on the start list who would be strong enough to contest the finish.

The day started at the highest point of the course, and so riders were eager to get into a break and put some distance between themselves and the peloton before the climbing started. After a few attempts were brought back in, a group of four managed to get away with just a few kilometres of the race covered. This small but determined group of four succeeded in building an advantage of a minute, before gradually extending this as the day went on – topping out at nearly ten minutes. This advantage put the leaders at more than half a lap in front of the peloton, at which point the bunch was spurred into action, with BORA-hansgrohe working to pull in the escape’s substantial gap to a more manageable 5:30 with 50km remaining.

The relentless pace of the break, combined with the pressure of the chasing peloton, saw the escapees starting to struggle, losing one of their number and making it harder to maintain the high speeds they had done over the distance so far, before losing another with 30km remaining. With the gap now approaching two minutes, it was clear that the peloton was working to make the catch ahead of a fast finale. In the peloton, UCI World Champion, Peter Sagan, looked comfortable and was surrounded by his teammates and with only one rider remaining of the break and the gap down to thirty seconds, the race was really coming to life, the catch being made with 16km remaining. Attacks came and went, but there was no denying the sprinters, who massed at the front as the kilometres ticked down, Marcus Burghardt upping the pace in his distinctive German National Champion’s jersey and Lukas Pöstlberger setting a fast tempo. Swooping around his adversaries and making the most of a wide finishing stretch, the UCI World Champion, Peter Sagan, made it professional win number 100, the 4% climb barely registering as the Slovak rider surged to victory.

Having claimed his milestone 100th professional victory, Peter, as always, thanked his teammates, knowing how important they were in today’s win. “In the end, the result was very similar to last year, and the style of the race was similar too, even down to Uran attacking as always. In the finale there was a headwind, but I decided I had to start my sprint from further out. It was a very long sprint and the last kilometre being uphill made it hard. Thanks very much to the team. BORA-hansgrohe did an amazing job – they were pulling all day on the front and we were able to control the race on the last three laps. There were a lot of attacks and the guys did a very good job closing the gaps. 100 is a special number but it’s never enough. You can’t rest on your laurels – you always have to aspire for more. I’ll try again on Sunday, but races are always unpredictable – you need luck. You can be injured or crash, but I want to do my best with the team, and we’ll see what comes next in Montreal.”

For BORA-hansgrohe Team Coach, Patxi Vila, the whole team knew what they wanted the outcome of the day to be, and were eager to work for it. "Our clear plan this morning was to work for Peter in order to go for the win. He was victorious last year as well but this didn't make things any easier – it was much harder than it seemed. It's a tough race with a line-up of strong opponents and the entire squad today put in a fantastic effort in an exhibition of flawless teamwork. Everybody worked so hard and did everything we asked for. Our strategy was perfectly executed. Given the finale, we knew it wasn't going to be a sprint with leadout teams but rather a battle between the main contenders. Peter was always protected by his teammates until the final kilometre and there he took the race into his hands. We expected this was going to be a fight between Peter, Van Avermaet and Matthews and this is what happened. It was a well-deserved win for Peter and the team. It is also an honour and a privilege for all of us today to have played a part in such a milestone, Peter's 100th professional victory. Obviously, the morale is very high but Sunday's race in Montréal isn't going to be easy. It will be tough but, once again, we will give our best."

Heading to Montréal to close off the weekend, another arduous day of racing awaits on Sunday. While the distance is similar to today’s race, at 205.7km, the parcours is an altogether different affair, with even more climbing than in Québec. Riders will climb 3,893m over 17 laps, with one long ascent – the 8% Côte Camillien-Houde dominating the profile. The finale will take place on another 4% climb, but while the all-rounders may have their eye on the win, there’s no telling who will come away with the victory on such a tough course.

Complete results:

201.6 kilometers raced at an average speed of 40.251 km/hr

1	SAGAN, Peter	BORA-HANSGROHE	5hr 0min 31sec
2	VAN AVERMAET, Greg	BMC	s.t.
3	MATTHEWS, Michael	TEAM SUNWEB	s.t.
4	VUILLERMOZ, Alexis	AG2R-LA MONDIALE	s.t.
5	WELLENS, Tim	LOTTO-SOUDAL	s.t.
6	SLAGTER, Tom-Jelte	CANNONDALE-DRAPAC	s.t.
7	VAKOC, Petr	QUICK-STEP FLOORS	s.t.
8	VANMARCKE, Sep	CANNONDALE-DRAPAC	s.t.
9	GALLOPIN, Tony	LOTTO-SOUDAL	s.t.
10	COLBRELLI, Sonny	BAHRAIN-MERIDA	s.t.
11	ULISSI, Diego	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	s.t.
12	BENOOT, Tiesj	LOTTO-SOUDAL	s.t.
13	HAAS, Nathan	DIMENSION DATA	s.t.
14	BAKELANTS, Jan	AG2R-LA MONDIALE	s.t.
15	BETTIOL, Alberto	CANNONDALE-DRAPAC	s.t.
16	HENAO , Sergio Luis	SKY	s.t.
17	NAESEN, Oliver	AG2R-LA MONDIALE	s.t.
18	STUYVEN, Jasper	TREK-SEGAFREDO	s.t.
19	SUTTERLIN, Jasha	MOVISTAR	s.t.
20	HERRADA, Jesus	MOVISTAR	s.t.
21	DEVENYNS, Dries	QUICK-STEP FLOORS	s.t.
22	ALBASINI, Michael	ORICA-SCOTT	s.t.
23	KUZNETSOV, Viacheslav	KATUSHA-ALPECIN	s.t.
24	GATTO, Oscar	ASTANA	s.t.
25	IMPEY, Daryl	ORICA-SCOTT	s.t.
26	BOLE, Grega	BAHRAIN-MERIDA	s.t.
27	VANENDERT, Jelle	LOTTO-SOUDAL	s.t.
28	LADAGNOUS, Matthieu	FDJ	s.t.
29	BOIVIN, Guillaume	ISRAEL CYCLING ACADEMY	s.t.
30	BARBERO, Carlos	MOVISTAR	s.t.
31	GASPAROTTO, Enrico	BAHRAIN-MERIDA	s.t.
32	MARTENS, Paul	LOTTO NL-JUMBO	s.t.
33	KEUKELEIRE, Jens	ORICA-SCOTT	s.t.
34	ZABEL, Rick	KATUSHA-ALPECIN	s.t.
35	SERRY, Pieter	QUICK-STEP FLOORS	s.t.
36	MOLLEMA, Bauke	TREK-SEGAFREDO	@ 12sec
37	FRANK, Mathias	AG2R-LA MONDIALE	s.t.
38	ROOSEN, Timo	LOTTO NL-JUMBO	s.t.
39	VERMOTE, Julien	QUICK-STEP FLOORS	s.t.
40	KENNAUGH, Peter	SKY	s.t.
41	CONTI, Valerio	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	@ 17sec
42	BRAMBILLA, Gianluca	QUICK-STEP FLOORS	s.t.
43	MARCATO, Marco	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	s.t.
44	CAVAGNA, Rémi	QUICK-STEP FLOORS	s.t.
45	GESCHKE, Simon	TEAM SUNWEB	s.t.
46	GUERREIRO, Ruben	TREK-SEGAFREDO	s.t.
47	URAN, Rigoberto	CANNONDALE-DRAPAC	s.t.
48	TEUNISSEN, Mike	TEAM SUNWEB	s.t.
49	DUMOULIN, Tom	TEAM SUNWEB	s.t.
50	BROWN, Nathan	CANNONDALE-DRAPAC	s.t.
51	WISNIOWSKI, Lukasz	SKY	s.t.
52	LANGLOIS, Bruno	ÉQUIPE CANADIENNE	s.t.
53	REIJNEN, Kiel	TREK-SEGAFREDO	s.t.
54	SBARAGLI, Kristian	DIMENSION DATA	s.t.
55	KREUZIGER, Roman	ORICA-SCOTT	s.t.
56	DUCHESNE, Antoine	ÉQUIPE CANADIENNE	25"
57	LANGEVELD, Sebastian	CANNONDALE-DRAPAC	s.t.
58	GERRANS, Simon	ORICA-SCOTT	s.t.
59	PETILLI, Simone	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	s.t.
60	ANACONA, Winner Andrew	MOVISTAR	s.t.
61	SCHAR, Michael	BMC	s.t.
62	BURGHARDT, Marcus	BORA-HANSGROHE	s.t.
63	TEUNS, Dylan	BMC	s.t.
64	SPILAK, Simon	KATUSHA-ALPECIN	s.t.
65	REICHENBACH, Sébastien	FDJ	s.t.
66	GOLAS, Michal	SKY	s.t.
67	GAUTIER, Cyril	AG2R-LA MONDIALE	38"
68	PIBERNIK, Luka	BAHRAIN-MERIDA	41"
69	DOCKER, Mitchell	ORICA-SCOTT	s.t.
70	MC CARTHY, Jay	BORA-HANSGROHE	s.t.
71	DEMARE, Arnaud	FDJ	48"
72	HERRADA, Jose	MOVISTAR	51"
73	BATTAGLIN, Enrico	LOTTO NL-JUMBO	s.t.
74	LE GAC, Olivier	FDJ	1'01"
75	HAYMAN, Mathew	ORICA-SCOTT	1'06"
76	ZEITS, Andrey	ASTANA	s.t.
77	BURKE, Jack	ÉQUIPE CANADIENNE	s.t.
78	BICO, Nuno	MOVISTAR	s.t.
79	LAMMERTINK, Maurits	KATUSHA-ALPECIN	s.t.
80	KISERLOVSKI, Robert	KATUSHA-ALPECIN	s.t.
81	CUMMINGS, Stephen	DIMENSION DATA	s.t.
82	HAUSSLER, Heinrich	BAHRAIN-MERIDA	s.t.
83	SARAMOTINS, Aleksejs	BORA-HANSGROHE	1'12"
84	PÖSTLBERGER, Lukas	BORA-HANSGROHE	1'15"
85	KONOVALOVAS, Ignatas	FDJ	1'25"
86	VAUGRENARD, Benoit	FDJ	1'38"
87	WYNANTS, Maarten	LOTTO NL-JUMBO	1'43"
88	ELISSONDE, Kenny	SKY	s.t.
89	HENAO , Sebastian	SKY	s.t.
90	BERHANE, Natnael	DIMENSION DATA	s.t.
91	DE BIE, Sean	LOTTO-SOUDAL	1'56"
92	NEILANDS, Krists	ISRAEL CYCLING ACADEMY	s.t.
93	BAK, Lars	LOTTO-SOUDAL	2'08"
94	BAUER, Jack	QUICK-STEP FLOORS	s.t.
95	TANKINK, Bram	LOTTO NL-JUMBO	s.t.
96	BEPPU, Fumiyuki	TREK-SEGAFREDO	s.t.
97	DANIEL, Gregory	TREK-SEGAFREDO	s.t.
98	PREIDLER, Georg	TEAM SUNWEB	s.t.
99	ANDERSON, Ryan	ÉQUIPE CANADIENNE	s.t.
100	VERMEULEN, Alexey	LOTTO NL-JUMBO	s.t.
101	BRAJKOVIC, Janez	BAHRAIN-MERIDA	2'31"
102	GASTAUER, Ben	AG2R-LA MONDIALE	2'33"
103	ARNDT, Nikias	TEAM SUNWEB	s.t.
104	LAENGEN, Vegard Stake	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	s.t.
105	FELLINE, Fabio	TREK-SEGAFREDO	2'49"
106	CATALDO, Dario	ASTANA	2'53"
107	DAL-CIN, Matteo	ÉQUIPE CANADIENNE	3'02"
108	HOWES, Alex	CANNONDALE-DRAPAC	s.t.
109	SAGIV, Guy	ISRAEL CYCLING ACADEMY	s.t.
110	BODNAR, Maciej	BORA-HANSGROHE	s.t.
111	ÐURASEK, Kristijan	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	s.t.
112	WYSS, Danilo	BMC	s.t.
113	JANSE VAN RENSBURG, Reinardt	DIMENSION DATA	s.t.
114	ARASHIRO, Yukiya	BAHRAIN-MERIDA	3'26"
115	SAGAN, Juraj	BORA-HANSGROHE	3'41"
116	DRUCKER, Jean-Pierre	BMC	s.t.
117	SWIFT, Ben	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	4'27"
118	BOSWELL, Ian	SKY	s.t.
119	MOINARD, Amael	BMC	s.t.
120	LEEZER, Thomas	LOTTO NL-JUMBO	s.t.
121	DE BUYST, Jasper	LOTTO-SOUDAL	4'53"
122	RAIM, Mihkel	ISRAEL CYCLING ACADEMY	5'59"
123	VAN WINDEN, Dennis	ISRAEL CYCLING ACADEMY	s.t.
124	GRIVKO, Andrey	ASTANA	6'04"
125	RESTREPO, Jhonatan	KATUSHA-ALPECIN	10'23"
126	WILLIAMS, Tyler	ISRAEL CYCLING ACADEMY	s.t.
127	PLAZA, Ruben	ORICA-SCOTT	s.t.
128	DE LA PARTE, Victor	MOVISTAR	s.t.
129	VINCENT, Léo	FDJ	s.t.
130	KOZHATAYEV, Bakhtiyar	ASTANA	s.t.
131	SENNI, Manuel	BMC	s.t.
132	FARRAR, Tyler	DIMENSION DATA	s.t.
133	BAGDONAS, Gediminas	AG2R-LA MONDIALE	s.t.
134	CASTELIJNS, Twan	LOTTO NL-JUMBO	s.t.
135	RAVASI, Edward	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	s.t.
136	VENTER, Jaco	DIMENSION DATA	s.t.
137	SABATINI, Fabio	QUICK-STEP FLOORS	11'01"
138	QUINZIATO, Manuel	BMC	s.t.
139	PLANCKAERT, Baptiste	KATUSHA-ALPECIN	s.t.
140	COLEDAN, Marco	TREK-SEGAFREDO	11'07"
141	PERRY, Benjamin	ISRAEL CYCLING ACADEMY	11'22"
142	CRADDOCK, Lawson	CANNONDALE-DRAPAC	17'06"

Startlist with back numbers, September 8, 2017:

	BORA-HANSGROHE
1	SAGAN Peter
2	SAGAN Juraj
3	BODNAR Maciej
4	BURGHARDT Marcus
5	MCCARTHY Jay
6	ACKERMANN Pascal
7	POSTLBERGER Lukas
8	SARAMOTINS Aleksejs
	BMC
11	VAN AVERMAET Greg
12	DRUCKER Jean Pierre
13	MOINARD Amaël
14	QUINZIATO Manuel
15	SCHÄR Michael
16	SENNI Manuel
17	TEUNS Dylan
18	WYSS Danilo
	QUICK-STEP FLOORS
21	BAUER Jack
22	BRAMBILLA Gianluca
23	CAVAGNA Rémi
24	DEVENYNS Dries
25	SABATINI Fabio
26	SERRY Pieter
27	VAKOC Petr
28	VERMOTE Julien
	SKY
31	HENAO Sergio
32	BOSWELL Ian
33	DEIGNAN Philip
34	ELISSONDE Kenny
35	GOLAS Michal
36	HENAO Sebastian
37	KENNAUGH Peter
38	WISNIOWSKI Lukasz
	TEAM SUNWEB
41	DUMOULIN Tom
42	ARNDT Nikias
43	GESCHKE Simon
44	MATTHEWS Michael
45	PREIDLER Georg
46	TEUNISSEN Mike
47	TIMMER Albert
48	WAEYTENS Zico
	ORICA-SCOTT
51	GERRANS Simon
52	ALBASINI Michael
53	IMPEY Daryl
54	PLAZA Ruben
55	KEUKELEIRE Jens
56	KREUZIGER Roman
57	DOCKER Mitchell
58	HAYMAN Mathew
	MOVISTAR
61	HERRADA Jesús
62	ANACONA Winner Anrew
63	BARBERO Carlos
64	BICO Nuno Miguel
65	CARRETERO Hector
66	DE LA PARTE Victor
67	HERRADA José
68	SÜTTERLIN Jasha
	TREK-SEGAFREDO
71	MOLLEMA Bauke
72	COLEDAN Marco
73	BEPPU Fumiyuki
74	DANIEL Gregory
75	FELLINE Fabio
76	GUERREIRO Ruben
77	REIJNEN Kiel
78	STUYVEN Jasper
	AG2R LA MONDIALE
81	NAESEN Oliver
82	BAKELANTS Jan
83	BAGDONAS Gediminas
84	FRANK Mathias
85	GAUTIER Cyril
86	GASTAUER Ben
87	RIBLON Christophe
88	VUILLERMOZ Alexis
	KATUSHA-ALPECIN
91	SPILAK Simon
92	LAMMERTINK Maurits
93	KISERLOVSKI Robert
94	KUZNETSOV Vyacheslav
95	PLANCKAERT Baptiste
96	RESTREPO Jhonatan
97	VICIOSO Angel
98	ZABEL Rick
	CANNONDALE-DRAPAC
101	URAN Rigoberto
102	BETTIOL Alberto
103	CRADDOCK Lawson
104	HOWES Alex
105	LANGEVELD Sebastian
106	SLAGTER Tom Jelte
107	VANMARCKE Sep
108	BROWN Nathan
	LOTTO NL - JUMBO
111	WYNANTS Maarten
112	BATTAGLIN Enrico
113	CASTELIJNS Twan
114	LEEZER Tom
115	MARTENS Paul
116	ROOSEN Timo
117	TANKINK Bram
118	VERMEULEN Alexey
	UAE-TEAM EMIRATES
121	ULISSI Diego
122	LAENGEN Vegard Stake
123	CONTI Valerio
124	DURASEK Kristijan
125	MARCATO Marco
126	PETILLI Simone
127	RAVASI Edward
128	SWIFT Ben
	LOTTO-SOUDAL
131	WELLENS Tim
132	BAK Lars Ytting
133	BENOOT Tiesj
134	DE BIE Sean
135	DE BUYST Jasper
136	GALLOPIN Tony
137	VAN DER SANDE Tosh
138	VANENDERT Jelle
	BAHRAIN-MERIDA
141	GASPAROTTO Enrico
142	ARASHIRO Yukiya
143	BOLE Grega
144	BOZIC Borut
145	BRAJKOVIC Janez
146	COLBRELLI Sonny
147	HAUSSLER Heinrich
148	PIBERNIK Luka
	ASTANA
151	FUGLSANG Jakob
152	GRIVKO Andriy
153	CATALDO Dario
154	GATTO Oscar
155	KOZHATAYEV Bakhtiyar
156	MOSER Moreno
157	TIRALONGO Paolo
158	ZEITS Andrey
	FDJ
161	DEMARE Arnaud
162	KONOVALOVAS Ignatas
163	LADAGNOUS Matthieu
164	LE GAC Olivier
165	REZA Kévin
166	REICHENBACH Sébastien
167	VAUGRENARD Benoît
168	VINCENT Leo
	DIMENSION DATA
171	CUMMINGS Stephen
172	BERHANE Natnael
173	FARRAR Tyler
174	HAAS Nathan
175	JANSE VAN RENSBURG Reinardt
176	O'CONNOR Ben Alexander
177	SBARAGLI Kristian
178	VENTER Jacobus
	EQUIPE CANADA
181	DUCHESNE Antoine
182	ANDERSON Ryan
183	BURKE Jack
184	COTÉ Pier-André
185	COWAN Alexander
186	DAL-CIN Matteo
187	LANGLOIS Bruno
188	SOUCY Marc-Antoine
	ISRAEL CYCLING ACADEMY
191	BOIVIN Guillaume
192	DEMPSTER Zakkari
193	NEILANDS Krists
194	PERRY Benjamin
195	RÄIM Mihkel
196	SAGIV Guy
197	VAN WINDEN Dennis
198	WILLIAMS Tyler