EARLY BIRD CATCHES THE WIN
UAE Emirates built a victory in Montréal by hitting hard in numbers early
Diego Ulissi was soundly beaten by Greg Van Avermaet and Peter Sagan in 2016’s GP de Montréal. The gently rising finish played more to their strengths than his. This time, Ulissi and the UAE Emirates team blindsided all the favourites and put the Italian in company where he was the fastest finisher, by creating a split earlier than most other teams expected and Ulissi duly won the sprint.
The Montréal circuit has a habit of turning nasty, late. In its modern incarnation, there’s the erosion of the field over a parcours that cumulatively climbs almost 4,000m in 205km of racing. Then at some point on the final circuit there’s a crack, a hesitation or dead wheel behind, and the winner disappears up the road. Sometimes they’re alone, like Robert Gesink in 2010 or Peter Sagan in 2013 (he attacked on his hoods that time, 5km out), or as part of a small group like in 2011 or 2015. Only once, in 2012, did a break enter the bell lap with a gap. It didn’t collaborate efficiently and was swallowed by a chase group. Another round of selection ensued.
Before this year’s race, then, Tim Wellens probably wasn’t the only rider who thought that the optimal strategy was to sit tight for 16 laps and then assess the lay of the land on the final circuit.
The Canadian champion Matteo Dal-Cin, riding for the Canadian composite team, and his compatriot Ben Perry, of the Israeli Cycling Academy, were out of sight before the peloton had climbed the circuit’s chief difficulty, the Côte CamillienHoude, which was contained within the first 2km of the course. Their lead stretched out to more than five minutes. This was the status quo for the body of the race. There was a brief stirring when the peloton split on a
Ulissi put his shoulder to the wheel with disproportionate frequency to stave off the bunch
mid-race ascent of the CamillienHoude, and again when Peter Sagan chipped off the front on the mildly technical descent of the Côte de la Polytechnique. That precipitated the end of the break at around 40km to go. The next 25km were characterised by skirmishing at the front. Alberto Bettiol had a foray and a nine-man counter attack moved clear. While this dangerouslooking move was packed with riders doing the bidding of principal favourites – Lukas Pöstlberger for Sagan and Dylan Teuns for Van Avermaet – Sunweb for Michael Matthews and Lotto-Soudal for Wellens were not. The move was neutralised with 20km to go.
The Ag2r man Jan Bakelants knows this course well. In 2013 he was 10th. In 2015 he was fourth when he was simultaneously outfoxed and outgunned by Tim Wellens and Adam Yates attacking early on the final lap. Rui Costa mopped up the remaining podium slot. So when Bakelants forced his way off the front halfway around the penultimate lap, he too was trying to ensure that the mix that went to the line contained fewer sure-fire winners like Sagan, Van Avermaet and Michael Matthews.
He found like-minded allies in the resulting 16-man break. Men such as Ulissi, Simon Geschke, Michael Albasini and Tom-Jelte Slagter knew that they had to go long and early too. They had 23 seconds by the time it hit the bell and 31 seconds shortly after the start of the Camillien-Houde thanks to the pace setting by UAE Emirates rider Marco Marcato.
Here, Ulissi’s sparkling form took over. With Marcato spent, Ulissi put his shoulder to the wheel with disproportionate frequency to stave off the bunch. Some stern acceleration from breakaway companion Bauke Mollema had the added benefit of splitting the group and divesting Bakelants of his team-mate Mathias Frank. At one point, TV images showed a direct drag race between Tom Dumoulin in the service of Matthews in the bunch, and Ulissi in the break. Wellens tried to bridge the 30-second gap but even when he combined with Sergio Henao the move lacked vitality. Sagan also tried to move clear over the top of the Côte de la Polytechnique, but his accelerations were shadowed by Van Avermaet, a move that fits the trend of groups leaning on the Slovakian rather than working with him. (Sagan repaid the compliment with an ironic round of applause at the finish.)
By the time the race reached the final 2km the groups were well defined if only separated by 8-12 seconds. Of the six up front – Tony Gallopin, Mollema, Jesús Herrada, Bakelants, Ulissi, Slagter– the first two favoured a long range attack while the latter four would wait for the sprint. Gallopin duly ground his way clear under the flamme rouge. He took the final 180-degree turn with a slim margin but he inevitably faded. Bakelants went too early and dropped to fourth. Meanwhile Ulissi, Herrada and Slagter measured their effort more appropriately and led home the field to the finish line.
The high velocity short-range climbers had outfoxed the big guns and added a new page to Montréal’s tactical outcomes in the process.