September 11/23 12:26 pm - Adam Yates Wins GPC Montreal, Woods Top Canadian in 15th
Posted by Editoress on 09/11/23
Adam Yates brought UAE Emirates their second consecutive win on Sunday at the GP Cycliste de Montreal, one year after team mate Tadej Pogacar. Adams beat Pavel Sivakov (Ineos Grenadiers) in a two-up sprint at the end of a gruelling race of attrition that saw over 100 riders abandon. Michael Woods (Israel Premier Tech) was the top Canadian in 15th place, with team mate Derek Gee the only other Canadian to finish, in 47th place.
Two days after racing in Quebec City, riders lined up what is considered the harder of the two WorldTour events in Montreal, where they faced 18 laps around the legendary Mont Royal circuit. Heavy cold rain fell for the first three laps and, while the rain stopped for the rest of the race, it remained cold, grey and windy for the rest of the day.
Arnaud de Lie, solo break of 170km
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A solo break by Arnaud de Lie (Lotto Dstny) lasted an incredible 170 kilometres before he was pulled back with less than three laps to go. Israel Premier Tech had taken a role in keeping the gap to under six minutes, before UAE accelerated at the front to explode the field. Riders like Julien Alaphilippe (Soudal Quick Step) and Michael Matthews (Jayco Alula) were yo-yoing off the front group, attesting to the pace.
Matthews tried to attack with a lap and a half to go, but was brought back by the UAE team, and then Yates attacked, with only Sivakov able to respond. The duo rode away, with Yates doing the majority of the work, while the group behind splintered into twos and threes, struggling to just finish the race. In the final kilometre Yates and Sivakov were still together, and on the last rise in the remaining 500 metres, Yates just rode away to take the win, his fifth of the year with his new team.
"I'm having a great season. I'm very happy to win this race, which suits me better than Québec City," stated Yates afterwards.
Mike Woods
Woods was visibly disappointed with his result, after having stating in pre-race press briefings that he was targeting a win in Montreal: "It's always nice racing on home roads and I was really looking forward to this race all year, especially having not raced here for a while. I'm really disappointed with the result, and I expected more. Unfortunately, I just didn't have the legs in the final lap. I had been feeling good, even with the bad weather at the start, but I just didn't have the legs at the end. But it was great to be here for [team mate] Daryl Impey's last race [before retiring] as well, it was really special."
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