Lambert-Lemay wins the Grand Prix IGA Ste-Martine
The second event in the Tour de la Montérégie comes down to a sprint
Simon Lambert-Lemay (Garneau-Quebecor) won the senior men’s field of the Grand Prix IGA Ste-Martine on Sunday. After attacking in the opening lap, Lambert-Lemay was able to join a move of eight riders. Each of the major local squads had a representative in the break. They established a gap quickly, which worked well until the final two laps of the race. Once the serious attacks began, gaps formed and the breakaway started to split apart. Lambert-Lemay emerged with two others, teammates Matteo Dal-Cin and Stephen Keeping from Stevens Racing powered by The Cyclery. The pair did their best to use their tactical advantage over Lambert-Lemay, but the Garneau-Quebecor rider was too strong.
“They started to attack one after the other trying to drop me,” said Lambert-Lemay, “but I was able to hold on.”
In the exciting finale, the two Stevens riders were left with no choice: they had to try their luck in a sprint.
“On the last stretch, Matteo led us out and I was able to win the race in the sprint,” Lambert-Lemay said.
The Grand Prix IGA Ste-Martine was held in Ste-Martine, Que., southwest of Montreal. The event was second stop of the 11-race Tour de la Montérégie. The local Quebec series is an important one as many of the top teams target it as one of their season’s goals. The next race is the Grand Prix Cycliste de Brossard, a criterium on May 5.
