Where the GP of Québec on Friday still made many riders dream of victory, the GP of Montréal in the final was a playground for only a handful of toppers.
The second one-day race in Canada was particularly grueling with more than 4,500 altimeters, a race with the character of a climbing or Ardennes classic.
Perhaps the World Cup in Australia is the golden mean of these two Canadian races and with a 4th and 2nd place Wout van Aert has confirmed that he is (one of the) top favorite(s) for the World Cup.
“I really enjoyed these races,” says Van Aert on the Jumbo-Visma website after his debut in Canada.
“It was a good preparation for the World Cup. The course in Montreal was very challenging and perhaps comparable to that in Wollongong in two weeks.”
“I have shown that I am ready to fight there, but this weekend has also shown that there are a lot of hijackers on the coast.”
(read on below the tweet)
One of those pirates is Tadej Pogacar. The Slovenian drove a very strong final and broke through with Adam Yates Wout van Aert.
“I was able to follow the first gear of Pogacar well, but when Yates decided to take on, I had to pull out all the stops to be there,” our compatriot analyzes the final.
“I was in a group with some real climbers. The fact that I was able to follow them on the climb shows that the form is in good shape.”
“I felt fine during the day, partly due to the strong performance of my teammates.”
“In the final phase I had to throw my forces and maybe that was at the expense of my sprint.”
“I am beaten by a strong rider. Finishing second is certainly no shame here.”
