Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) announced his place as a major favourite for the upcoming World Championships after claiming victory at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal on Sunday.
Held on the same course as the elite men’s road race Worlds course set to take place on September 27, Del Toro attacked his rival Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) with 300 metres to go on the uphill drag to the finish line to take the prestigious victory.
The pair had cleared a reshuffling breakaway on the last lap and traded pulls all the way to the finish. Seixas led the way onto the Avenue du Parc and into the last 500 metres of the race, but Del Toro launched his sprint just 300 metres out and crossed the line first.
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“We tried to have numbers in the final. At the end, we got pretty much a good situation for us; they just put me in the place to try to fight for the victory,” Del Toro said.
“I’m super proud to have these guys around me. They support me so much, and I feel glad to be on the team with them, and this is thanks to them.”
Behind them, Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) outsprinted his compatriot Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) to secure the last spot on the podium.
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Rolling out of the start under damp but mild conditions for 214km of racing, the attacks started as soon as the flag was dropped in Montréal, and after a few moves went and were caught, it didn’t take long for one to stick.
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It was Michal Kwiatkowski (Netcompany Ineos) and Ådne Holter (Uno-X Mobility) who got away on the first lap and built a gap, soon joined by seven chasers to make it nine in the lead: Casper Pedersen (Soudal-QuickStep), Anders Foldager (Jayco AlUla), Pelayo Sánchez (Movistar), Robbe Dhondt (Picnic PostNL), Robin Carpenter, Kieran Haug (both Modern Adventure) and Canadian national champion Jérôme Gauthier (Canada).
By the end of the second lap, the leaders had a gap of a minute, and at first, UAE Team Emirates-XRG seemed to want to limit the gap, but eventually the peloton settled and slowed, and the gap grew to three minutes.
The calm didn’t last for all that long, though, and soon the peloton were setting a high pace again, bringing the gap down to 1:30 after only five laps with UAE, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, Pinarello-Q36.5 and Decathlon CMA CGM all contributing to the pace-setting.
With 135km to go – still 10 laps – the gap dropped back below a minute for the first time, and it became clear that the break’s day out front would be cut relatively short. The eighth time up the Côte Camilien-Houde eventually spelled the end, and despite their best efforts, all nine riders had been caught with 107km to go, a big final pull from Lidl-Trek sealing the deal.
This meant there was something of a reset starting the ninth lap, with Lidl-Trek coming to the fore to open up the next phase of racing. There was a brief respite as the peloton got a handle on things, but the counter-attacks started again quickly, with Lidl once again the animators: first Derek Gee-West got away in a group of four, and then when they were caught, Juan Ayuso and Michael Leonard (EF Education-EasyPost) escaped the bunch.
This pair built a better lead than the Gee-West group had, pulling out a 30-second gap over the next two laps, and they were joined by Maximilian Schachmann (Soudal-QuickStep) with 65km to go. Despite now being three in front, they still held only a relatively small gap, with Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe taking up the role of chasing behind and keeping the break in check.
At the back, every lap saw riders dropped, and with the circuit nature of the race, many of them pulled out as they went through the finish line.
With 53km to go, on the Côte Camilien-Houde, Wilco Kelderman (Visma-Lease a Bike) was the next rider to try to bridge the leaders, despite the gap now shrinking to closer to 10 seconds on the climb. As a result, he did just about make it to the leaders, but they were caught by attackers from the bunch just moments later over the top of the climb.
Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) used the catch to make his move, linking up with Leonard and pulling out a small group with Kelderman, Schachmann and Ayuso, but also Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Maxim Van Gils (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe). This group of seven had a small gap, with the peloton easing the chase as most of the main interested teams were represented in front.
By this point, going into the final three and a half laps, the bunch had shrunk substantially, now comprising fewer than 40 riders as Red Bull kept things under control – not chasing, as Van Gils was up the road, but keeping the pace ticking over as the break built a 30-second gap. Sensing that this group was dangerous, Decathlon CMA CGM soon stepped in to chase as the main team without a rider up front.
With 41km to go, a crash in the bunch saw Gee-West, Thymen Arensman (Netcompany Ineos), Bart Lemmen (Visma-Lease a Bike), Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost) and Clément Braz Afonso (Groupama-FDJ United) hit the tarmac heavily on a flat part of the course. Braz Afonso remounted and was able to carry on quickly, and Lemmen got up to ride to the support zone and climb off, but the others stayed sat on the ground for longer.
Up ahead, the break hit the climb again, and it was time for Healy to push the pace, putting Ayuso out the back of the break.
Van Gils was the only rider who could follow the Irishman’s acceleration, and the pair were joined by Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates-XRG). The trio gained 30 seconds on the reduced field with just 25km remaining.
Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) surged from the group on the Côte Camilien-Houde, with Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) in tow. Their efforts were short-lived as the field quickly reeled them back in.
McNulty surged again, bridging across with his teammate Isaac del Toro, and rivals Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM), Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek), Afonso Eulálio (Bahrain-Victorious) and Tom Pidcock (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling). They reconnected with Yates, but by then Healy had gone solo.
Healy held a slim 12-second lead as he entered the last lap, with the chase group behind him reshuffling to include Grand Prix de Québec winner Remco Evenepoel, along with Alex Boudin (EF Education-EasyPost).
As Healy was caught, a new front duo formed with Seixas and Del Toro on the descent, and the pair pushed their lead out to more than 25 seconds inside 10km to go. Behind them, McNulty, Yates, Evenepoel, Ciccone, Eulálio, Healy, Baudin and Pidcock.
The victory was certainly to come between these two riders, who carried 45 seconds into the last four kilometres on the fast descent back toward the finish. Seixas put in one big attack but could not rid Del Toro.
The pair then swapped pulls all the way into the final two corners and back on to the Avenue du Parc. Seixas led them into 500 metres to go along the left side of the road, up against the fencing.
But Del Toro launched his attack wide and to the right, opening a gap on the uphill drag to the finish line, and claimed the victory.
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