Live coverage replay – 2012 Grand Prix Cycliste de Quebec

After travelling along the Boulevard Champlain, the peloton will climb back up into the historical downtown along the Cote de la Montagne, a very steep and decisive climb. They will race through the city and back toward the start finish.

Canadian cycling fans will recognize this course. It’s a well-known cycling route where versions have been previously used at the Canadian National Championships and Tour de Beauce.

And the race has officially started!

Sebastien Salas is an up and coming talent. He is relatively new to cycling but has had an impressive season racing with the American team Optum-Kelly Benefit Strategies. He won the King of the Mountain competition at the Amgen Tour of California in May. Today he is racing with the Canadian National Team.

A few days before the race Salas said, “the Canadian National team has only been invited to the Quebec Grand Prix [not Montreal], so that will have to do. I am familiar with the course from the Tour de Beauce. It’s a challenging course that has windy sections as well as a tough climb leading through the start finish. It’s a good course for me and I will be looking at getting into the early move. I have had a little bit of rest over the last couple of weeks and I am just ready to go!”

There is a lot of activity at the front of the race. Many riders are trying to form an early breakaway. But the gaps are small, only a second or two.

The men are racing along the Saint Lawrence River on the Boulevard Champlain. It’s not just famous for bike racing, but also whale watching. If the international riders are lucky they’ll spot a big one. No harm in a little sightseeing on the job.

The Canadian riders are working very hard in the opening lap of the race.

Sebastien Salas is being very aggressive. On a less fortunate note, Francois Parisien of SpiderTech has just crashed. He seems to be OK and is on his bike working his way back up to the main field.

The field is all together but strung out in single file. The pace at the front of the peloton is very fast as riders try to get away on the small hills and technical sections.

Michael Barry and his Sky Procycling teammates were all smiles this morning. Barry announced his retirement from the sport a few days ago. He will compete today and at the Grande Prix Cycliste de Montreal on Sunday. His last race will be at the Tour of Beijing in October.

The average speed of the first lap was 34.44 km/h.

The peloton is all together and they are back down on the Boulevard Champlain.

Frenchman Thomas Voeckler of Europcar is a very popular popular rider in Quebec City. He won the race two years ago.

There is a seven-rider breakaway that looks promising.

The field is partway through lap two. The riders in the breakaway are Romain Bardet (AG2R), Maarten Wynants (Rabobank), Karsten Kroon (Saxo-Tinkoff), Stefan Denifl (Vacansoleil), Jose Ivan Gutierrez (Movistar), Gert Dockx (Lotto-Belisol).

The peloton is starting the third lap. The main field is right on the heels of the seven-man breakaway, it looks like they’re not going to get too far.

There is another breakaway forming, approximately 12 riders.

And here is the man of the year, Ryder Hesjedal racing for Garmin-Sharp. Hesjedal won the Giro d’Italia in May. The crowds went nuts for him this morning at the sign-in stage.

There are now 22 riders in the breakaway

Some of the riders in the move are Valerio Agnoli (Liquigas), Jose Ivan Gutierrez (Movistar), Angel Madrazo Ruiz (Movistar), Romain Bardet (AG2R), Karsten Kroon (Saxo-Tinkoff), Gert Dockx (Lotto), Maarten Wynants (Rabobank), Sebastien Turgot (Europcar), Martin Velits (Omega Pharma), Michael Matthews (Rabobank) and Manuele Mori (Lampre).

Australia’s Michael Matthews was one of the final contenders in the street sprints last night. Also in the finale were Australia’s Matt Goss and Canadians Zach Bell and Remi Pelletier-Roy. Bell won.

It looks like yesterday’s Challenge Sprint Pro might have been a good warm-up for Michael Matthews.

The 12-man breakaway is well represented with riders from most of the heavy-hitting teams.

Nine riders have joined the front group including Ryder Hesjedal.

Also in the move is Cyril Gautier of Europcar, who just attacked his companions and is trying to go the distance alone.

Europcar meeting before the start of the race.

Our bet is they are working for previous winner Thomas Voeckler and Canadian talent David Veilleux, who just one a big race in Italy called Tre Valli Varesine.

There are a number of very talented Canadian riders in the race including Ryan Roth from SpiderTech p/b C10, the newest Canadian National Champion.

Voeckler was the winner of the inaugural GPC de Quebec and he did so wearing the French champion’s jersey. Last year, Philippe Gilbert won in Belgium’s colours. If there is a trend developing here, I’d say it would be a national champion who’s going to win today. Maybe Boasson Hagen? Ryan Roth?

The main field was not happy with that breakaway and the peloton is all back together.

The crowds are getting bigger along the Cote de la Montagne. They can practically touch the riders as they struggle up the steep ascent.

This is a race of attrition and riders will fall of pace and drop out as the race goes on. The course is very challenging with several climbs and a long uphill drag through the start-finish line. It will take its toll nearing the end of 16 laps.

Sylvain Chavanel of Omega Pharma-QuickStep brought his climbing legs today. He blasted over the Cote de la Montagne and set a fast pace over the top.

There are 12 laps to go and the peloton is all together.

They riders seem content to roll together for a little while. We can expect another round of attacks coming soon.

Cote de la Montagne has a 10% grade, with a section of 13%. Chavanel still has to go up that and the leg-sapping 9% grade of Cote de la Potasse 12 more times.

Riders are starting to pull out of the race. Not only is it a difficult course but it is at the end of a very long season. Some of these riders have already raced 100 races or more this year.

Liquigas rider Peter Sagan has had an incredible season winning several stages at the Tour de France. He is a very talented one-day racer too and a favourite to win this race today.

There are two riders clear of the peloton: Vladimir Gusev (Katusha) and Thomas Rohregger (RadioShack-Nissan).

There are also a small group of riders about to bridge across including American Lucas Euser who races with SpiderTech p/b C10, Danilo Wyss of BMC and Thomas Leezer from Rabobank.

There is a good size gap of just over one minute between the breakaway and the main field. If there is a one minute gap or more, directors who have a rider in the breakaway are permitted to drive behind them to give them water, food and instructions.

Michael Barry’s teammate Edvald Boasson Hagen is having some trouble with his bike. He is trying to ride back up to the peloton after being serviced. Barry told us that the Sky team is working for him today.

BMC riders here will be happy to know that their teammate Philippe Gilbert, winner of Grande Prix Cycliste de Quebec last year, just won stage 19 at the Vuelta a Espana.

Barry dropped behind the field to help Boasson Hagen get back into the field after his mechanical.

Danilo Wyss is doing the majority of the work on the front of this breakaway

Marsh Cooper, who is racing for the Canadian National Team, is a part of a five-man chase group that is trying to get across to the lead breakaway.

Marsh Cooper normally races with Sebastien Salas on the American team Optum-Kelly Benefit Strategies during the season. The pair were very happy to get a spot on the national team to compete at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Quebec.

The riders are starting to take water bottles and food from team cars and in the feed zone.

The breakaway is gaining a lot of time on the field, using the technical sections to their advantage. They can travel faster through tight corners and narrow roads than the bigger group behind.

Teams are starting to get organized at the front of the field. Liquigas-Cannondale, SpiderTech p/b C10 and Garmin-Sharp are working together to try and reduce the time gap to the breakaway.

They breakaway has more than five minutes on the field. That is a good lead but there is still a long way to go before the end of the race.

Just to recap, the eight riders in the breakaway are Lucas Euser and Hugo Houle (SpiderTech), Marsh Cooper (Canada), Vladimir Gusev (Katusha), Danilo Wyss (BMC), Thomas Rohregger (RadioShack-Nissan), Tom Leezer (Rabobank) and Sandy Casar (FDJ-BigMat).

The average speed for lap 6 was 39 km/h

Ryder Hesjedal is back in the peloton surrounded by his Garmin-Sharp teammates. He looks very relaxed. Although he won a grand tour, he is also a very good one day racer having placed second at Amstel Gold a couple of years ago.

As expected Garmin-Sharp is at the front of the field keeping the breakaway at what they feel is a manageable time gap of five minutes.

Yes in 2010.

The peloton is on lap 7 and the crowds are getting bigger. They are cheering very loud and ringing bells all along the course.

To recap, there are a total of 22 teams competing today.
Of those teams there are 18 ProTour teams Ag2R La Mondiale, Astana, BMC, Euskatel-Euskadi, Garmin-Sharp, Orica-GreenEdge, Katusha, Lampre-ISD, Liquigas-Cannondale, Lotto Belisol, Movistar, Omega Pharma-QuickStep, Rabobank, RadioShack-Nissan, Sky Procycling, Sano-Tinkoff and Vacansoleil-DCM.

There are also three Wild Card teams including SpiderTech p/b C10, Europcar and Cofidis, and the Canadian National Team was also invited to participate.

There was a dramatic finish to last year’s race with Philippe Gilbert winning the race ahead of Robert Gesink and Rigoberto Uran. None of them are back this year. Gilbert just won stage 19 at the Vuelta a Espana.

Cooper just stretched his legs over the Cote de la Montagne and beat his breakaway companions to the top of the climb.

SpiderTech’s Lucas Euser, who is in the breakaway, will be looking for a top place today. He finished in the top 20 at the USA Pro Cycling Challenge and showing good form right now.

SpiderTech is Canada’s only Professional Continental team. They’re aiming to be ProTour in the future. Manager Steve Bauer recently signed U.S. National Champion Timmy Duggan for next year. Duggan is racing for Liquigas-Cannondale today.

Garmin-Sharp is not the only team keeping the breakaway in check, so are Euskaltel-Euskadi, Sky and Europcar.

Casar and Euser are taking their turn pulling the breakaway, which has more than six minutes on the peloton.

Breakaway rider Danilo Wyss from BMC has raced in Canada before. He won a stage of the Tour de Beauce in 2009.

Also in the move is Sandy Casar of FDJ-BigMat, a very accomplished rider who has won stages at the Tour de France and has stood on the overall podium at Paris-Nice.

The breakaway riders are working well together but the gap has dropped from six minutes down to five.

Thomas Voeckler is organizing his Europcar teammates at the front of the field to help reduce the gap to the breakaway.

Hi Mike, there are 18 Canadian riders in the race today.

Peter Sagan (Liquigas) has been very quiet during the race today. We just spotted him tucked in the peloton saving his energy.

The riders are approaching the halfway point of the race, 100 km done.

Danilo Wyss from BMC is doing a lot of work in the breakaway

Europcar is still patrolling the front of the main field. The riders are taking a breather and getting drinks and food from team cars and from the feed zone.

Hugo Houle from SpiderTech is another rider who surprised cycling fans this year, doing very well at the Tour de Beauce. He placed second overall to Australian Rory Sutherland and won the event’s young rider competition.

Garmin-Sharp is on the front of the field now, with Europcar. They will likely try to reduce the time gap during the last half of the race.

The gap is slowly falling and the riders in the breakaway are starting to get tired.

There are just over 70 km of bike racing to go.

Riders are continuing to eat and drink, taking water bottles and musette bags from their team staff in the feed zone. They’ll need the calories and fluid to survive the rest of this race.

The main field is flying through the start finish line, just over 4 minutes behind the breakaway. The crowds are cheering loud as they catch a glimpse of Ryder Hesjedal near the front of the field.

The peloton is descending through the Plains of Abraham park and turning left onto Boulevard Champlain. By now the breakaway is already on the Cote de la Montagne.

The speeds are clearly getting faster, the first lap was 34 km/h but the average speed for the duration of the race so far is almost 42 km/h.

Ryder Hesjedal was fourth at this race two years ago. He attacked the field many times during the closing laps and played a big part in the outcome of the race. Voeckler ended up winning in the end. But Hesjedal earned the Most Aggressive Rider award.

The breakaway riders will need to continue to work together if they want to stay ahead of the field. The peloton is looking very organized now and the big teams are chasing.

It looks like Sandy Casar is falling off the back of the breakaway, not sure why but we will have more on that soon.

The field is on the Cote de la Montagne led by none other than Johnny Hoogerland of Vacansoleil. He was one of the riders hit by a media car at the Tour de France a couple of years ago and got tangled up in barbed wire.

Hugo Houle is attacking the breakaway

He has about 5 seconds on the others.

Sandy Casar has called it a day and is off the back of the field now.

There are now seven riders in the breakaway Houle, Gusev, Wyss, Rohregger, Euser, Leezer and Cooper.

Garmin-Sharp is back on the front of the field, after the big climb. They are working hard to bring back the seven-man move up ahead.

Euser is leading with KOM points.

Garmin-Sharp have reduced the gap to 3:20 minutes now.

Edvald Boasson Hagen of Sky has fallen off the back of the field. It looks like he will not be contesting the win for today.

The peloton is riding through the start-finish line on Grande Allee led by Europcar and Garmin-Sharp.

There are five Europcar riders and two Garmin-Sharp riders working together at the front of the field.

Although this race has ended in a dwindled group sprint in the past, it isn’t really a course for the pure sprinters.

Riders who don’t want to race anymore can just veer left into the luxurious Chateau Frontenac entrance.

The Chateau Frontenac is the official race hotel where all the teams are staying this weekend.

Boasson Hagen is not giving up that easily, he has clawed his way back into the peloton. But can he hang on for 6 more laps?

Gap is down to 2:15.

Boasson Hagen is off the back again. Things just aren’t going as smoothly as hoped for him today.

The breakaway is back together

Cooper and Euser battling for the KOM. Euser seems to have the stronger legs.

A chase group forming, which as Steina and Veilleux.

Tom Leezer is leading the breakaway riders along the Grande Allee

Euser currently first in KOM with 14 points. Cooper second with 10.

The breakaway riders have stopped attacking one another and are now working well together.

Boasson Hagen seen pulling into the Chateau Frontenac. His race is done.

There is a chase group one minute behind the breakaway riders.

Remi Pelletier-Roy, who was second in the sprint challenge yesterday, has fallen off pace.

The chase group includes Peter Stetina (Garmin), David Veilleux and Anthony Charteau (Europcar), Manuel Quinziato (BMC) and Tim Wellens (Lotto Belisol).

Nicolas Vogondy and Jose Ivan Gutierrez (Movistar) have launched off the peloton to try and catch the case group.

Gutierrez is looking very strong chasing the front group. He is less than one minute of the back of the breakaway.

It looks like Gutierrez is now gone back at the front of the field helping the main chase, perhaps called back by his team.

Hugo Houle looks like he’s suffering a bit on the Cote de la Montagne.

The race is going to start heating up during the final laps.

Some of the breakaway riders are showing signs of fatigue and starting to struggle with the pace.

Cooper has fallen out of the break.

Riders from the Movistar team are attacking the front of the field over the climb.

Only 35 sec. between the breakaway and the peloton.

The race is about to come back together thanks to the efforts of Europcar and Garmin-Sharp.

Peter Sagan is mid pack. Hesjedal is near the back of the pack at the moment.

Charteau and Soupe are trying to get away

We are anticipating a flurry of attacks during the final three laps. This is where the race is won or lost.

The pair of chasers have been caught. There will no doubt be several counter attacks coming soon.

The peloton is down on the Boulevard Champlain. Movistar, BMC and Lampre riders are at the front of the field.

The four breakaway riders are seeing 32 km to go.

Leezer is on the front of that small group in a time trial position.

Soupe is hanging onto a small lead of the peloton, chasing the breakaway.

Movistar is looking very organized at the front of the field. They have the entire team lined up working for last year’s Grande Prix Cycliste de Montreal winner Rui Faria da Costa.

But Movistar has another rider who can potentially win this race, Francisco Ventoso, who is a decent climber and a very fast sprinter.

The breakaway is now three. Wyss has dropped out of the breakaway on the decisive climb.

And the breakaway has been caught. Veilleux near the front.

Ryan Anderson of SpiderTech is falling off pace.

Bruno Langlois racing for Team Canada is in a two-man move with Chris Anker Sorenson of Saxo-Tinkoff

Lucas Euser is leading the KOM competition with 20 points after being in the day’s decisive breakaway.

Langlois is in great form right now. He recently placed on the podium at the prestigious American criterium Chris Thater Memorial.

Saxo-Tinkoff and Omega Pharma-QuickStep riders are attacking

Movistar is back on the front of the peloton. Two riders are chasing Langlois and Sorensen

BMC riders are also at the front of the peloton

Christophe Kern (Europcar) and Jerome Pineau (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) are the two riders chasing Langlois and Sorensen.

BMC is trying to get organized at the front of the field

Langlois and Sorensen have a 30-second advantage, Pineau and Kern are close behind.

Langlois and Sorensen are on the Cote de la Montagne. Sorensen is leading the way. They are both out of their saddles climbing.

The peloton is also on the climb, right behind the breakaway

There are two SpiderTech riders falling off pace.

Langlois is now leading Sorensen through the narrow city streets.

Six riders have emerged out of the peloton on the climb and have formed a chase group.

Langlois is now tied with Euser in the KOM competition with 20 points each.

There is a lot of activity on the front of the peloton as riders try desperately to chase the breakaway riders, Langlois and Sorensen

LAST LAP!!!

The riders have 12.8 kms to go

Langlois and Sorensen are hanging on with a 25-second advantage

BMC and Saxo-Tinkoff are teams that are very aggressive right now

Sorensen is now with Dries Devenyns (Omega Pharma-QuickStep)

Veilleux attacks in the final lap!

He needs to catch Devenyns and Sorensen. Hesjedal seems a bit too far back of the action.

The race favourites are now moving to the front of the field, riders like Peter Sagan and Simon Gerrans

David Veilleux is working very hard right now. He has attacked the peloton and is causing splits in the field behind him.

There are 8 km to go and Sorensen and Devenyns are working together

The race is travelling along the Boulevard Champlain and heading into the last climb over Cote de la Montagne.

Jurgen Reolandts is chasing the two breakaway riders

Ryder Hesjedal is off the back of the peloton

Sorensen and Devenyns have a small gap over Roelandts.

The riders are seeing 4.9 km to go

Movistar is at the front of the field heading into the Cote de la Montagne

The peloton is back together over the Cote de la Montage. It’s going to be an exciting finish

Greg van Avermaet BMC has just attacked

Simon Gerrans Orica-GreenEdge is chasing

van Avermaet and Gerrans are together off the front, but not by much!

Peter Sagan of Liquigas has moved to the front.

Thomas Lovkvist of Sky is putting in an effort to bridge to the two breakaway riders

Peter Sagan has just launched his attack