It wasn’t quite as easy to get rider autographs this year as it was last year, but meeting up with a couple of local friends from last year, getting to watch the race with Hermano and Wifey, and with a strong field contesting the win, it was bound to be a great day regardless of autographs.
From AG2R: Jean-Christophe Péraud and Romain Bardet.
Cannondale’s Jean Marc Marino.
Tom Danielson.
BMC’s Greg Van Avermaet and Brent Bookwalter.
Mick Rogers.
Smiles from Simon Geschke.
Several riders who had signed for me last year signed again this year, including Joe Dombrowski.
Fresh off their impressive results at the Tour of Alberta, Simon Yates and Daryl Impey autographed my shirt.
Lots of Belkin autographes: Steven Kruijswijk, Sep Vanmarcke, and Bauke Mollema.
Rui Costa is just as friendly now as he was this time last year, shortly before he put on the rainbow jersey for the first time.
I never miss a chance to say hi to Lieuwe Westra!
My favorite Ryans in the peloton: Ryan Roth and Ryan Anderson.
The morning air was still chilly but the sun stayed out all day.
Katusha practiced their GQ posing while waiting for their turn to sign on.
Costa joked around with the photographers.
OPQS.
Tejay Van Garderen struck his usual waiting pose as the minutes ticked down until the race start.
And they’re off!
With eleven laps of the circuit on schedule for today, we had plenty of opportunities to see the peloton in action. Right after the start, we rushed down a few blocks and positioned ourselves just a short ways from the crest of the King of the Mountains climb. We even managed to catch the peloton still on their first lap!
11 laps to go
A four man break was steadily building up an advantage.
The peloton was happy to let the break go as none of the riders were favorites.
Geraint Thomas, Ted King, and Phil Gaimon.
10 laps to go
No change in the break and they had already gained a couple of minutes. In the peloton, teammates Christian Meier and Michael Albasini had come to the front with Phil Gaimon and Jesus Herrada just behind.
A strong BMC team stayed organized to support Van Garderen and Van Avermaet.
9 laps to go
The bunch continued to ride tempo up the 9% climb while the break added to its respectable lead.
8 laps to go
The escapees had close to eleven minutes over the peloton! There was still plenty of time to reel them in, but it was an impressive gap nonetheless. Below: Katusha were riding for Alexander Kristoff.
6 laps to go
Christian Meier of Orica and BMC’s Pete Stetina set a good pace at the front and, with a bit of help from a few other teams, the gap quickly began to tumble.
4 laps to go
To be sure we’d have a clear view of the finish, the three of us legged it up the steep city streets. With the peloton hot on their heels, the break was caught before much longer.
Stetina and Meier still on the front.
3 laps to go
Break? What break? Stetina had pulled off the front while Meier remained and had a few moments to breath when Garmin came to the front.
2 laps to go
There wasn’t so much of a break as a big group sitting just off the front of the peloton.
Meanwhile, just before the end of the lap, a deeply frustrated Simon Gerrans, winner of the 2012 Quebec race, suffered a mechanical and stood idly by the side of the road and waited waited waited….and waited for a mechanic to retrieve a new bike from the team car’s roof rack. I don’t know why it took so long, but the two times I saw a rider switch bikes today, the mechanics, normally fast as lighting, were achingly slow. With just 20k left in the race, I expected Gerrans to make it back to the peloton with the help of a few teammates but how much energy would the effort cost him?
1 lap to go! The bell lap!
That big group was still just off the front and the peloton, who had happily let them linger aimlessly there, started to pull them back. It was brutal to watch, knowing that one of my favorites was in the break while the peloton was getting organized.
A Katusha rider tried to bridge to the break.
Austrian champion Riccardo Zoidl lead the peloton’s chase.
We turned our attention to the big screen behind us. Sure enough, the break didn’t last much longer and we could see a handful of strong riders fight for position.
The finish!
Rather than watch on the screen, I leaned out and squinted my eyes to see the riders charging up the finish. At first I could just make out colors…yellow…someone in black…I think blue on the far side…
As they stormed towards the line, they came into focus and an unmistakable Gerrans threw his fists in the air, easily winning with a jubilant celebration.
Tom Dumoulin threw his bike over the line and finished second, losing in the final meters to an Orica rider…for the second time in less than a week.
Coming in third, a spent Ramunas Navardauskas eased off the pedals.
With the podium done and dusted, the peloton was content to roll in.
Most riders stopped briefly to grab a drink or a jacket from their soigneur before carrying on to their nearby hotel.
Gerrans may not be the biggest of riders, especially not when he’s sandwiched between Dumoulin and Navardauskas, but he timed his sprint to perfection and came out on top.
(Insert witty caption here.)
The final podium.
Finishing in 27th place, Ryan Anderson picked up the best Canadian prize after also claiming it at the Tour of Alberta just this past Sunday.
Interestingly, he was the only rider to receive a bottle of champagne!
Today’s 23 autographs came from: 1 Rui Costa, 7 Nelson Oliveira, 21 Jean-Christophe Péraud, 22 Romain Bardet, 25 Blel Kadri, 31 Mick Rogers, 61 Bauke Mollema, 64 Steven Kruijswijk, 68 Sep Vanmarcke, 72 Brent Bookwalter, 78 Greg Van Avermaet, 87 Lieuwe Westra, 103 Simon Geschke, 115 Joe Dombrowski, 128 Tim Wellens, 134 Daryl Impey, 138 Simon Yates, 147 Laurent Pichon, 152 Tom Danielson, 164 Jean Marc Marino, 181 Bruno Langlois, 182 Ryan Anderson, and 187 Ryan Roth.
2 Responses to 2014 GPCQM Quebec