Uran wins Grand Prix Cycliste de Quebec
Rigoberto Uran times his late attack to perfection, coming home just ahead of the charging peloton in Canadian WorldTour race.
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QUEBEC (AFP) — Etixx-Quick-Step’s Rigoberto Urán won the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec Friday, out-foxing Australian Michael Matthews (Orica-GreenEdge) with a late attack at the end of 16 laps on a 12.6km circuit. Katusha’s Alexander Kristoff rounded out the podium in third.
“For me this is a big relief after a season that was a bit unlucky, with a lot of small problems,” Urán said. “But I never gave up. After Le Tour de France I said ‘ok I have to keep the concentration and effort up.'”
Top 10
- 1. Rigoberto URAN URAN, ETIXX – QUICK STEP, in 5:09:47
- 2. Michael MATTHEWS, ORICA, at :00
- 3. Alexander KRISTOFF, TEAM KATUSHA, at :00
- 4. Tom Jelte SLAGTER, TEAM CANNONDALE – GARMIN, at :00
- 5. Diego ULISSI, LAMPRE – MERIDA, at :00
- 6. Bauke MOLLEMA, TREK FACTORY RACING, at :00
- 7. Philippe GILBERT, BMC RACING TEAM, at :00
- 8. Tony GALLOPIN, LOTTO SOUDAL, at :00
- 9. Warren BARGUIL, TEAM GIANT – ALPECIN, at :00
- 10. Greg VAN AVERMAET, BMC RACING TEAM, at :00
It was Urán’s first win since he claimed the Colombian national time trial championships in February.
An early breakaway included Perrig Quemeneur (Europcar), Cesare Benedetti (Bora-Argon 18), Darren Lapthorne and Wouter Wippert (Drapac), Adam de Vos and Ryan Roth (Canada). The group of six extended their lead to more than eight minutes early in the race.
The last two escapees, Benedetti and Roth, were caught 30 kilometers from the line. Soon, the attacks began to fly, but BMC Racing covered most of the moves, riding on behalf of Belgian Philippe Gilbert.
Julian Alaphilippe attacked with 1.9km remaining, setting up his teammate, Urán for the winning move once the peloton brought him back prior to the final kilometer. Gilbert, and none of the other favorites, could respond to Urán’s attack in the final 800 meters of racing. The Colombian was quickly 50 meters up the road and onto the final, four-percent false flat, narrowly holding off the field to win.
“I tried everything I could, but the circuit was a little bit harder than last year because they pulled out some of the flat sections,” said Kristoff. “I knew the finish was not perfect for me — actually if the finish could have been anywhere else in the parcours, it would have been better than where it was. So with that in mind, I’m pretty happy with a third place.”
Urán, 28, is a silver medalist at the 2012 Olympic Games and winner of two stages in the Giro d’Italia, but Friday was his first victory in a one-day WorldTour race.