2019 GP Cycliste de Québec (World Tour), Canada

10th edition: Friday, September 13, 2019

Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec podium history | GP Cycliste de Montréal | Course map & profile | Start list | 2018 edition | 2022 edition (race not run in 2020 & 2021)

201.6 km total distance: 16 laps of 12.6 km

Michael Matthews wins GP de Quebec again.

Weather at Québec City at 2:55 PM, local time: 19C (66F), partly cloudy, with the wind from the east-northeast at 6 km/hr (4 mph). No rain is forecast.

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

As one of the last races on the UCI WorldTour calendar, the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec represented one of the last chances for riders to take a victory after a long and arduous season of racing.

The 201.6km total distance was split up over sixteen laps of 12.6km each, taking place on a street circuit in Québec City. The twists and turns of the criterium-style course would mean the riders had to stay alert over the entire distance, but there were enough short and steep climbs to make the racing even harder, with a final long drag up to the finish line.

From the moment the race started, there were attempts to break away, with the day’s escape forming just 6km in – a group of six attacking on the early climbs and forging ahead up the road, building a lead of five minutes after 20km and this rose steadily, topping out at eight minutes with just 40km of the day complete, before dropping to a more manageable 4:30 once the peloton had been pushed into action to up the pace a little.

The BORA-hansgrohe riders – as always – were driving the pace hard and by the 50km to go point, the break’s advantage had fallen to a little more than a minute, their dropping one of their number meaning it would be even harder to hold the peloton at bay, only for a solo rider to attack off the front with a little under 40km to go and, with the remnants of the break swept up by the chasing bunch, it surely wasn’t going to be long before it was all back together – the catch being made with 26km to go.

There was a fair distance still remaining, and the bunch knew it had to keep the pace high to stop any further attacks. However, the pace in the peloton was fairly leisurely, albeit with Daniel Oss, Marcus Burghardt and Cesare Benedetti keeping watch on the head of the race. As the bell rang for the final lap, it was still together, but the pace was hard and it was clear plenty of teams had their eye on the grand prize.

As a small lead group formed on the final 5km as the peloton stretched out from the high speeds, the winner of the 2017 edition of the race, Peter Sagan, was up there challenging. Responding well to late attacks, Peter found himself in an even smaller group of five with less than a kilometre to go and, with just a few hundred metres left, with the peloton catching, the sprint started after what seemed an eternity – the frontrunners looking at each other nervously to see who would go first.

The uphill slopes making for a painful finale and every single leg muscle burning, using the last of his energy to throw his bike across the line, Peter took second after a strong tactical effort and more than five hours in the saddle.

From the Finish Line:
"The team worked very well today, they kept the race under control, kept me safe and in a good position in the last kilometres. Alaphilippe attacked with about 2km to go, I reacted and we were four or five riders to build a gap in the front. I was there with Alaphilippe, Van Avermaet and Ulissi but the bunch caught us in the final straight. I kicked in when the sprint started but I didn't have enough space to take the win. I felt well today and we'll see what will happen on Sunday, although the race in Montreal is harder." – Peter Sagan

"I think we can be satisfied with today's result, the team did a good job overall. We had to make sure the breakaway was kept under control, so we had Christoph Pfingsten working in the early part of the race. We tried not to spend too much energy because we wanted to keep our powder dry for the final laps. The rest of the guys did a nice job there and Peter was very well positioned prior to the last climbs. He was strong, he showed he had a very good form today and it's a pity he missed victory in the final stretch. It's good to see him at this level again and in my opinion, we can also be optimistic about Sunday's race in Montreal." – Enrico Poitschke, Sports Director  

Complete results:

201.6 kilometers raced at an average speed of 38.643 km/hr

1	Michael Matthews	Team Sunweb	5hr 13min 1sec
2	Peter Sagan	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
3	Greg Van Avermaet	CCC Team	s.t.
4	Diego Ulissi	UAE-Team Emirates	s.t.
5	Jasper Stuyven	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
6	Tom Jelte Slagter	Dimension Data	s.t.
7	Julian Alaphilippe	Deceuninck-Quick Step	s.t.
8	Timo Roosen	Jumbo-Visma	s.t.
9	Tim Wellens	Lotto-Soudal	s.t.
10	Benoit Cosnefroy	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
11	Daryl Impey	Mitchelton-Scott	s.t.
12	Alberto Bettiol	EF Education First	s.t.
13	Kristian Sbaragli	Israel Cycling Academy	s.t.
14	Bauke Mollema	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
15	Hugo Houle	Astana	s.t.
16	Eduard Prades	Movistar	s.t.
17	Michael Woods	EF Education First	s.t.
18	Jelle Vanendert	Lotto-Soudal	s.t.
19	Michael Valgren	Dimension Data	s.t.
20	Oliver Naesen	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
21	Adam Yates	Mitchelton-Scott	s.t.
22	James Piccoli	Canada	s.t.
23	Mathias Frank	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
24	Valentin Madouas	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
25	Davide Villella	Astana	s.t.
26	Jasha Sütterlin	Movistar	s.t.
27	Kasper Asgreen	Deceuninck-Quick Step	s.t.
28	Jack Haig	Mitchelton-Scott	s.t.
29	Simon Geschke	CCC Team	s.t.
30	Rudy Molard	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
31	Sven Erik Bystrøm	UAE-Team Emirates	s.t.
32	Andrey Zeits	Astana	s.t.
33	Nans Peters	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
34	Carlos Betancur	Movistar	s.t.
35	Jay McCarthy	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
36	Matej Mohoric	Bahrain-Merida	s.t.
37	Sonny Colbrelli	Bahrain-Merida	s.t.
38	Marco Haller	Katusha-Alpecin	@ 10sec
39	Nathan Haas	Katusha-Alpecin	14
40	Sep Vanmarcke	EF Education First	21
41	Rui Costa	UAE-Team Emirates	s.t.
42	Anthony Roux	Groupama-FDJ	30
43	Stan Dewulf	Lotto-Soudal	32
44	Brent Bookwalter	Mitchelton-Scott	37
45	Adam De Vos	Rally UHC	s.t.
46	Rui Oliveira	UAE-Team Emirates	s.t.
47	Joey Rosskopf	CCC Team	s.t.
48	Kevin Geniets	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
49	Nathan Brown	EF Education First	s.t.
50	Enrico Gasparotto	Dimension Data	s.t.
51	Alexander Cataford	Israel Cycling Academy	s.t.
52	Olivier Le Gac	Groupama-FDJ	49
53	Alex Howes	EF Education First	56
54	Mikkel Honore	Deceuninck-Quick Step	s.t.
55	Krists Neilands	Israel Cycling Academy	s.t.
56	Jaime Castrillo	Movistar	s.t.
57	Paul Martens	Jumbo-Visma	s.t.
58	Ruben Fernandez	Movistar	s.t.
59	Jan Bakelants	Team Sunweb	s.t.
60	Serge Pauwels	CCC Team	s.t.
61	Simon Spilak	Katusha-Alpecin	s.t.
62	Marc Hirschi	Team Sunweb	1:05
63	Jasper Philipsen	UAE-Team Emirates	1:11
64	Pello Bilbao	Astana	1:26
65	Lucas Hamilton	Mitchelton-Scott	s.t.
66	Christopher Lawless	Team INEOS	s.t.
67	August Jensen	Israel Cycling Academy	s.t.
68	Nickolas Zukowsky	Canada	1:47
69	Vincenzo Nibali	Bahrain-Merida	1:54
70	Davide Ballerini	Astana	s.t.
71	Enric Mas	Deceuninck-Quick Step	s.t.
72	Jonathan Castroviejo	Team INEOS	s.t.
73	Ivan Garcia	Bahrain-Merida	s.t.
74	Laurent Gervais	Canada	s.t.
75	Daniel Oss	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
76	Jurgen Roelandts	Movistar	s.t.
77	Damiano Caruso	Bahrain-Merida	s.t.
78	Jonas Gregaard	Astana	s.t.
79	Rob Britton	Rally UHC	s.t.
80	James Whelan	EF Education First	s.t.
81	Antoine Duchesne	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
82	Lukasz Wisniowski	CCC Team	s.t.
83	Michael Schär	CCC Team	s.t.
84	Richie Porte	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
85	Ryan Gibbons	Dimension Data	s.t.
86	Ryan Anderson	Rally UHC	s.t.
87	Aurélien Paret-Peintre	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
88	Maxime Monfort	Lotto-Soudal	s.t.
89	Cesare Benedetti	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
90	Nikolas Maes	Lotto-Soudal	s.t.
91	Antwan Tolhoek	Jumbo-Visma	s.t.
92	Jai Hindley	Team Sunweb	s.t.
93	Nathan Earle	Israel Cycling Academy	s.t.
94	Lawrence Naesen	Lotto-Soudal	s.t.
95	Daniel Martin	UAE-Team Emirates	s.t.
96	Jonas Vingegaard	Jumbo-Visma	s.t.
97	Geraint Thomas	Team INEOS	s.t.
98	Laurens De Plus	Jumbo-Visma	s.t.
99	Remco Evenepoel	Deceuninck-Quick Step	s.t.
100	Christopher Juul Jensen	Mitchelton-Scott	s.t.
101	Dries Devenyns	Deceuninck-Quick Step	2:18
102	Robert Stannard	Mitchelton-Scott	2:30
103	Christian Knees	Team INEOS	2:33
104	Patrick Konrad	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
105	Michael Gogl	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
106	Nigel Ellsay	Rally UHC	s.t.
107	Toms Skujins	Trek-Segafredo	2:53
108	Jan Polanc	UAE-Team Emirates	3:08
109	Pieter Serry	Deceuninck-Quick Step	s.t.
110	Reinardt Van Rensburg	Dimension Data	3:34
111	Reto Hollenstein	Katusha-Alpecin	3:39
112	Magnus Cort	Astana	4:07
113	Tom Leezer	Jumbo-Visma	4:42
114	Julius Van Den Berg	EF Education First	4:54
115	Jordan Cheyne	Canada	5:21
116	Charles-Etienne Chrétien	Canada	s.t.
117	Marcus Burghardt	Bora-hansgrohe	5:23
118	Leonardo Basso	Team INEOS	7:22
119	Michal Kwiatkowski	Team INEOS	10:44
120	Kristoffer Halvorsen	Team INEOS	s.t.
121	Louis Vervaeke	Team Sunweb	s.t.
122	Julien Duval	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
123	Nicola Conci	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
124	Gavin Mannion	Rally UHC	s.t.
125	Evan Burtnik	Canada	11:02
126	Guy Sagiv	Israel Cycling Academy	s.t.
127	Matteo Dal-Cin	Rally UHC	s.t.
128	Jose Goncalves	Katusha-Alpecin	s.t.

Course map & profile:

2019 GP Quebec map and profile

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Start list with back numbers, September 12, 2019:

	TEAM SUNWEB
1	MATTHEWS Michael
2	VERVAEKE Louis
3	BAKELANTS Jan
4	HINDLEY Jai
5	HIRSCHI Marc
6	KÄMNA Lennard
7	FROHLINGER Johannes
	DECEUNINCK-QUICK STEP
11	ALAPHILIPPE Julian
12	ASGREEN Kasper
13	DEVENYNS Dries
14	EVENEPOEL Remco
15	HONORÉ Mikkel
16	MAS NICOLAU Enric
17	SERRY Pieter
	BORA-HANSGROHE
21	SAGAN Peter
22	BENEDETTI Cesare
23	BURGHARDT Marcus
24	KONRAD Patrick
25	MCCARTHY Jay
26	OSS Daniel
27	PFINGSTEN Christoph
	CCC TEAM
31	VAN AVERMAET Greg
32	CERNY Josef
33	GESCHKE Simon
34	PAUWELS Serge
35	ROSSKOPF Joey
36	SCHÄR Michael
37	WISNIOWSKI Lukasz
	AG2R LA MONDIALE
41	NAESEN Oliver
42	COSNEFROY Benoit
43	DUVAL Julien
44	FRANK Mathias
45	GOUGEARD Alexis
46	PARET-PEINTRE Aurélien
47	PETERS Nans
	BAHRAIN-MERIDA
51	NIBALI Vincenzo
52	AGNOLI Valerio
53	BOLE Grega
54	CARUSO Damiano
55	COLBRELLI Sonny
56	GARCIA Ivan
57	MOHORIC Matej
	TEAM INEOS
61	THOMAS Geraint
62	BASSO Leonardo
63	KNEES Christian
64	KWIATKOWSKI Michal
65	LAWLESS Christopher
66	HALVORSEN Kristoffer
67	CASTROVIEJO Jonathan
	UAE-TEAM EMIRATES
71	ULISSI Diego
72	BYSTROM Sven Erik
73	FARIA Rui
74	MARTIN Daniel
75	OLIVEIRA Rui
76	PHILIPSEN Jasper
77	POLANC Jan
	ASTANA
81	HOULE Hugo
82	BILBAO Pello
83	BALLERINI Davide
84	ZEITS Andrey
85	NIELSEN Magnus
86	VILLELLA Davide
87	WILSLY Jonas
	LOTTO-SOUDAL
91	WELLENS Tim
92	DEWULF Stan
93	NAESEN Lawrence
94	MAES Nikolas
95	MONFORT Maxime
96	VANENDERT Jelle
	GROUPAMA-FDJ
101	DUCHESNE Antoine
102	GENIETS Kevin
103	LE GAC Olivier
104	MADOUAS Valentin
105	MOLARD Rudy
106	BONNET William
107	ROUX Anthony
	EF EDUCATION FIRST
111	WOODS Michael
112	VAN DEN BERG Julius
113	BETTIOL Alberto
114	BROWN Nathan
115	HOWES Alex
116	VANMARCKE Sep
117	WHELAN James
	JUMBO-VISMA
121	VAN POPPEL Danny
122	DE PLUS Laurens
123	LEEZER Tom
124	MARTENS Paul
125	RASMUSSEN Jonas
126	ROOSEN Timo
127	TOLHOEK Antwan
	TREK-SEGAFREDO
131	PORTE Richie
132	CONCI Nicola
133	BERNARD Julien
134	GOGL Michael
135	MOLLEMA Bauke
136	SKUJINS Toms
137	STUYVEN Jasper
	MOVISTAR
141	BETANCUR Carlos
142	CASTRILLO Jaime
143	FERNANDEZ Rubén
144	MAS BONET Lluis
145	PRADES Eduard
146	ROELANDTS Jurgen
147	SÜTTERLIN Jasha
	MITCHELTON-SCOTT
151	YATES Adam
152	BOOKWALTER Brent
153	HAIG Jack
154	HAMILTON Lucas
155	IMPEY Daryl
156	JUUL JENSEN Christopher
157	STANNARD Robert
	KATUSHA-ALPECIN
161	HAAS Nathan
162	BIERMANS Jenthe
163	GONCALVES Jose
164	HALLER Marco
165	HOLLENSTEIN Reto
166	ZABEL Rick
167	SPILAK Simon
	DIMENSION DATA
171	GASPAROTTO Enrico
172	GIBBONS Ryan
173	ANDERSEN Michael
174	VAN RENSBURG Reinardt
175	KREUZIGER Roman
176	MÄDER Gino
177	SLAGTER Tom
	ISRAEL CYCLING ACADEMY
181	BOIVIN Guillaume
182	CATAFORD Alexander
183	EARLE Nathan
184	JENSEN August
185	NEILANDS Krists
186	SAGIV Guy
187	SBARAGLI Kristian
	RALLY UHC
191	TUFT Svein
192	ANDERSON Ryan
193	BRITTON Rob
194	MANNION Gavin
195	DAL-CIN Matteo
196	DE VOS Adam
197	ELLSAY Nigel
	TEAM CANADA
201	PICCOLI James
202	BURTNIK Evan
203	CHEYNE Jordan
204	CHRETIEN Charles-Etienne
205	GERVAIS Laurent
206	ROBERGE Adam
207	ZUKOWSKY Nick