Grand Prix Montreal: 6th and 7th for Costa and Ulissi

Former world champion Rui Costa and winner of the 2017 edition, Diego Ulissi placed sixth and seventh in the Canadian WorldTour race.

The GP Montreal covered 12.2km over 16 circuits for a total of 195.2km and 4528 meters of climbing. On the two climbs, in the second and sixth kilometer, the organizer added another kick of 800 meters with a 4% section at three kilometers to race, but that didn’t stop a sprint with the Australian Michael Matthews (Sunweb) winning ahead of Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-Merida) and Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing).

“Sunweb and BMC raced for the sprint finish,” said Rui Costa, “and it was practically impossible to do something else with success. I had good legs and tried to do something in the sprint. I came out of the last curve well and did well.”

“We didn’t get the selection we wanted in the final,” said last year’s winner Ulissi. “There were people still left with energy and those with more kick than us. We tried to make things happen with Polanc in the final to mix it up, but Sunweb controlled it well.”

A five-man move led for most of the race with Charles-Etienne Chretien and Adam Roberge (Team Canada), Owen Doull (Sky), Hugo Houle (Astana) and Nigel Ellsay (Rally Cycling). The head group was pulled back with two laps to race by a trio with Mohoric (Bahrain), Muhlberger (Bora) and UAE Team Emirates’s Jan Polanc. The three riders were a little fresher and could hold on at a fast pace until a move by Tim Wellens (Lotto), James Knox (Quick-Step) and Jakob Fuglsang (Astana). Benoit Cosnefroy attempted the last move with 2 km to go, but it wasn’t enough to avoid the group sprint.

Results:

1 Michael Matthews (Aus) Team Sunweb 5:19:27

2 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida s.t.

3 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team s.t.

6 Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates s.t.

7 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates s.t.