The sprint portion of the classic race was held in the streets of the capital city of Quebec, and the Slovenian rider came in first place overall at the finish line.
The cycling equivalent of Belgium did not reach capacity. Wout Van Aert came dangerously close to taking first place in the Montreal Grand Prix just a few hours after Remco Evenepoel triumphed in the Tour of Spain. Except for the fact that the ravenous Tadej Pogacar, who was the strongest in the sprint after 221 kilometers of exertion, passed the Belgian from Jumbo-Visma right before they crossed the finish line. Therefore, the Slovenian is in the first place, followed by “WVA” and Andrea Bagnoli from Italy (Quick-Step).
The Slovenian from the UAE Emirates team was the strongest in a group of five led first by David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ), who was the first to attack 500 meters from the finish line. Jonas Vingegaard took away the Tour de France title that the Slovenian had previously held. Benoit Cosnefroy, a friend of the Breton’s, won the Grand Prix de Québec on Friday, but the Breton will have had less luck than his friend. After the race, Gaudu finished in fifth place, one spot behind Adam Yates (Ineos Grenadiers) and one spot ahead of Romain Bardet (Team DSM, eighth) and Warren Barguil (Arkéa-Samsic, tenth) among their fellow countrymen who were in the top 10.
Full confidence before the Worlds
Pogacar is sending a serious message to the competitors, and in particular to Van Aert, who is the favorite to win the race in Wollongong. The World Championships will take place in Australia on September 25, and Pogacar is doing so two weeks before the event. “Pogi” takes the place of Belgian Greg Van Avermaet atop the list of winners of the competition in Quebec, which was postponed for two years in a row owing to the pandemic.