GP De Quebec Favourites
*** Thabo Jango Sithembile Sky
*** Rui Costa Movistar
*** Vincenzo Nibali Astana
*** Peter Sagan Cannondale
** Philippe Gilbert BMC
** Ryder Hesjedal Garmin
** Sergio Henao Sky
** Christian Schroder Europcar
* Simon Gerrans Orica
* Jelle Vanendert Lotto
* Richie Porte Sky
* Tejay Van Garderen BMC
Preview:
This is the fourth edition of the GP De Quebec. It is 201km long. The race is a real puncheurs race which takes to a 13km circuit. which 3 tough climbs each lap. The favourites include Portuguese rider Rui Costa who will be looking to improve on 3rd place last year, Vincezo Nibali is representing Italy and the Shark could use his attacking punch to escape the bunch. Thabo Jango Sithembile, won't be let done by a strong squad and Peter Sagan will hope to reach the finish in a bunch, to unleash his sprint. Philippe Gilbert is hot off his Wallonie win and the world champion will be looking to add this Canadian race to his palmares. Ryder Hesjedahl is the home favourite, who could bring it home for his fans and Christian Schroder is Europcar's favourite, who will gain strong support from Thomas Voeckler, those two will be a force too be reckoned with. Simon Gerrans has a fast finish and an attackive punch, so he could win a small bunch sprint. Van Garderen will support Gilbert but the oppourtunity may present itself and the same can be said for Sergio Henao and Richie Porte but they may get away. A break doesn't look too likely today, as the course will really tire any early attackers, but of course it isn't out of the question. This is really anyone's race.
The start of the 5th edition of the GP de Quebec, Sagan, Costa and Porte have already placed themselves near the front.
Gretsch (Argos) begins the racing with the first attack. Van Leijen (Lotto), Le Bon (FDJ), Tuft (Orica), Dodi (Lampre), Van Poppel (Vaconsoleil), Xu (Champion) and Bazzana (UHC) follow, these riders will hope to make the break stick.
Petacchi (Omega) want to join the break.
After a few attacks from other riders, Bazzana (UHC), Stromberg (Garmin), Van Poppel (Vaconsoleil), Gretsch (Argos), Petacchi (Omega), Van Leijen (Lotto), Dodi (Lampre), Le Bon (FDJ) and Tjallingii (Belkin) are off the front.
Stromberg attacks his companions and the rest get caught by the peloton, Stromberg begins to pull away, he has 1 minute on the peloton, 160km left to race.
Juraj Sagan (Cannondale) upends himself, hopefully this won't have a large affect on his brother.
150km left, but Gutiérriez (Movistar) and Steegmans (Omega) attack in an attempt to join Stromberg. The Swede at the front has 2 minutes and 30 seconds on the peloton.
With 145km left, the 3 riders in front of the peloton are on level terms. They have 2 minutes 43 seconds on the peloton.
100km left for the break, about 7 laps to go. They have a 5 minute and 40 second gap.
The lead of the break peaks at 6 minutes with 90km to go. The peloton begins to pull them back.
50km left, 4 laps to go. The break has a 3 minute lead.
Louder (UHC) hits the deck. His race is over.
3 laps and 39 km to go. The break has only 2 minutes left, so it looks bleak for them.
The favourites start to race! Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) attacks, he is chasing the break who still have 1 minute on the peloton. 30km to go.
Sagan sets off in pursuit of Voeckler. Despite having a man in the break, Movistar controls the peloton.
Stromberg senses the end, so he goes in an attempt to hold the peloton off. 2 laps left, 26km to go.
Meanwhile, not far down the road, Sagan catches Voeckler, they are 30 seconds down on Stromberg and 30 seconds in front of the peloton.
Voeckler and Sagan reach Steegmans and Gutiérrez, the latter of which refuses to work, as Movistar are desperately chasing. This group need to catch Stromberg who has pulled out a 40 second gap on them.
16km left and all but Stromberg are together, as Verboven (Euskatel) launches a fruitless attack, nobody want to be left out of a group at the front.
Stromberg against a 60-man peloton, with 15km left, he only has a 20 second gap.
Gerrans (Orica) goes right pass Stromberg, Naudhaug (Belkin), Verboven (Euskatel), Sagan (Cannondale), Kakhi (Champion), Voeckler (Europcar), Vanendert (Lotto), Schroder (Europcar) and Gilbert (BMC) chase behind. Astana and Sky desperately try and bring Nibali and Sithembile back into the race. 14km left
1 lap left! It's the peloton vs. Gerrans now, with Stromberg just being caugh, Gerrans has 28 seconds on the pack.
Gerrans hits 10km to go!!! But you can see Gilbert and Sagan attacking.
Gilbert drops Sagan and catches Gerrans! But the peloton are just behind. 8km to go.
DISASTER FOR SKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sithembile and Porte bite the dust! 7km left, hopefully Henao can save Sky's chances, but he may have to help relay Sithembile back, it doesn't look like they'll make it though.
Gerrans gets caught but Stybar (Omega) goes. Gilbert, Nibali, Gerrans, Sagan, Costa and home favourite Hesjedal chase. 5km left.
Costa jumps across the gap and catches Stybar! The peloton latch onto the back of the others. 2km left.
Costa winds up his sprint. Can he make it?!
Almost there! Costa is at the front but the others are catching!
Costa approaches the line! He looks to have it won but anything can happen!
Aside from Sky riders, all the favourites are up there in the bunch, Nibali leads, Sagan follows then, Kakhi, Hesjedal, Gerrans, Gilbert, Kessiakoff... Brouwers and Kristoff are also here, so they might be able to sprint past.
COSTA WINS!!!!! The Portuguese rider wins the 5th GP De Quebec! After his third place last year!
Stybar deservedly holds onto 2nd. A great attack, but some bad luck.
Nibali rounds out the podium, Kakhi just misses out in fourth, followed by a tired Sagan, next is home favourite Hesjedal, no doubt disappointed not to win for his home fans. They are followed by Gilbert, Gerrans and Kessiakoff.
Congratulations to all the riders who managed to hold onto the front group.
Henao leads the Sky team across the line, after the crash, the team sent everyone back to help, it turned out to be a bad decision. Sky's eight riders finish together from 36th-43rd, 2 mintues behind Costa.
Rui Costa, the champion of the 5th GP de Quebec. A great effort by him today.
Movistar is the fastest team as well, with two riders in the top 10. Their chasing all day really paid off.
Results:
| Rank | Name | Team | Time |
| 1 | Rui Costa | Movistar Team | 4h58'25 |
| 2 | Zdenek Stybar | Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team | + 17 |
| 3 | Vincenzo Nibali | Astana Pro Team | s.t. |
| 4 | Rajesh Kakhi | Champion System Pro Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 5 | Peter Sagan | Cannondale Pro Cycling | s.t. |
| 6 | Ryder Hesjedal | Garmin - Sharp | s.t. |
| 7 | Philippe Gilbert | BMC Racing Team | s.t. |
| 8 | Giovanni Visconti | Movistar Team | s.t. |
| 9 | Simon Gerrans | Orica - GreenEdge | s.t. |
| 10 | Fredrik Kessiakoff | Astana Pro Team | s.t. |
Spoiler
| 11 | Rudy Verboven | Euskaltel - Euskadi | s.t. |
| 12 | Thomas Voeckler | Team Europcar | s.t. |
| 13 | Jelle Vanendert | Lotto Belisol | s.t. |
| 14 | Alessandro Ballan | BMC Racing Team | s.t. |
| 15 | Alexander Kristoff | Katusha Team | s.t. |
| 16 | Simon Geschke | Team Argos - Shimano | s.t. |
| 17 | Maxim Iglinskiy | Astana Pro Team | s.t. |
| 18 | Christian Schroder | Team Europcar | s.t. |
| 19 | Nick Nuyens | Garmin - Sharp | s.t. |
| 20 | Tejay Van Garderen | BMC Racing Team | s.t. |
| 21 | Esteban Chaves | Colombia | s.t. |
| 22 | Paul Martens | Belkin Pro Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 23 | Lars Petter Nordhaug | Belkin Pro Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 24 | Tanel Kangert | Astana Pro Team | s.t. |
| 25 | Taylor Phinney | BMC Racing Team | s.t. |
| 26 | Po-ding Kim | Team Europcar | s.t. |
| 27 | Luca Paolini | Katusha Team | s.t. |
| 28 | Willem Brouwer | Belkin Pro Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 29 | Thor Hushovd | BMC Racing Team | s.t. |
| 30 | Enrico Gasparotto | Astana Pro Team | s.t. |
| 31 | Eros Capecchi | Movistar Team | s.t. |
| 32 | Nicklas Stromberg | Garmin - Sharp | s.t. |
| 33 | Andrey Amador | Movistar Team | s.t. |
| 34 | Sergey Lagutin | Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 35 | Iván Gutiérrez | Movistar Team | + 1'32 |
| 36 | Sergio Henao | Sky Procycling | + 1'57 |
| 37 | Kanstantsin Siutsou | Sky Procycling | + 2'05 |
| 38 | Dario Cataldo | Sky Procycling | s.t. |
| 39 | Geraint Thomas | Sky Procycling | s.t. |
| 40 | Richie Porte | Sky Procycling | s.t. |
| 41 | Thabo Jango Sithembile | Sky Procycling | s.t. |
| 42 | Jonathan Tiernan-Locke | Sky Procycling | s.t. |
| 43 | Vasil Kiryienka | Sky Procycling | s.t. |
| 44 | Fabio Aru | Astana Pro Team | s.t. |
| 45 | Giampaolo Caruso | Katusha Team | s.t. |
| 46 | Marcus Burghardt | BMC Racing Team | s.t. |
| 47 | Luke Durbridge | Orica - GreenEdge | s.t. |
| 48 | Janez Brajkovič | Astana Pro Team | s.t. |
| 49 | Bart De Clercq | Lotto Belisol | s.t. |
| 50 | Nicki Sørensen | Team Saxo - Tinkoff | s.t. |
| 51 | Wesley Sulzberger | Orica - GreenEdge | s.t. |
| 52 | Cayetano Sarmiento | Cannondale Pro Cycling | s.t. |
| 53 | Alex Dowsett | Movistar Team | s.t. |
| 54 | Fabio Sabatini | Cannondale Pro Cycling | s.t. |
| 55 | Leigh Howard | Orica - GreenEdge | s.t. |
| 56 | Alessandro Petacchi | Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 57 | Gert Steegmans | Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team | + 2'42 |
| 58 | Fumiyuki Beppu | Orica - GreenEdge | s.t. |
| 59 | Francisco José Ventoso | Movistar Team | s.t. |
| 60 | Morgan Lamoisson | Team Europcar | s.t. |
| 61 | Mikel Nieve | Euskaltel - Euskadi | + 3'25 |
| 62 | Filippo Pozzato | Lampre - Merida | + 3'54 |
| 63 | Daniele Bennati | Team Saxo - Tinkoff | s.t. |
| 64 | Francis Mourey | FDJ.fr | s.t. |
| 65 | Bob Jungels | RadioShack - Leopard | s.t. |
| 66 | Björn Leukemans | Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 67 | Laurent Didier | RadioShack - Leopard | + 4'44 |
| 68 | Matthieu Ladagnous | FDJ.fr | s.t. |
| 69 | Marco Marcato | Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 70 | Matti Breschel | Team Saxo - Tinkoff | s.t. |
| 71 | Gediminas Bagdonas | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 72 | Mattia Cattaneo | Lampre - Merida | s.t. |
| 73 | Andreas Klöden | RadioShack - Leopard | s.t. |
| 74 | Karsten Kroon | Team Saxo - Tinkoff | s.t. |
| 75 | Manuele Mori | Lampre - Merida | s.t. |
| 76 | Tiago Machado | RadioShack - Leopard | s.t. |
| 77 | Jarlinson Pantano | Colombia | s.t. |
| 78 | Luka Mezgec | Team Argos - Shimano | s.t. |
| 79 | Cameron Meyer | Orica - GreenEdge | s.t. |
| 80 | Yauheni Hutarovich | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 81 | Sep Vanmarcke | Belkin Pro Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 82 | Winner Anacona | Lampre - Merida | s.t. |
| 83 | Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg | Team Argos - Shimano | s.t. |
| 84 | Julien Bérard | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 85 | Tom Slagter | Belkin Pro Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 86 | Alexandr Kolobnev | Katusha Team | s.t. |
| 87 | Sérgio Paulinho | Team Saxo - Tinkoff | s.t. |
| 88 | Hugo Houle | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 89 | Axel Domont | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 90 | Matteo Trentin | Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 91 | Pablo Urtasun | Euskaltel - Euskadi | s.t. |
| 92 | Jay McCarthy | Team Saxo - Tinkoff | s.t. |
| 93 | David Veilleux | Team Europcar | s.t. |
| 94 | Nathan Haas | Garmin - Sharp | s.t. |
| 95 | Miguel Mínguez | Euskaltel - Euskadi | s.t. |
| 96 | Lloyd Mondory | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 97 | Lue Khamse Khamphan | Team Europcar | s.t. |
| 98 | Bert-Jan Lindeman | Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 99 | Naveed Alinejad | RadioShack - Leopard | s.t. |
| 100 | Guillaume Boivin | Cannondale Pro Cycling | s.t. |
| 101 | Jure Kocjan | Euskaltel - Euskadi | s.t. |
| 102 | Nikolas Maes | Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 103 | Ahmed Al Mohney | Lampre - Merida | s.t. |
| 104 | Richard Löwenherz | Katusha Team | s.t. |
| 105 | Lachlan Morton | Garmin - Sharp | s.t. |
| 106 | Juan José Oroz | Euskaltel - Euskadi | s.t. |
| 107 | Pello Bilbao | Euskaltel - Euskadi | s.t. |
| 108 | Mads Christensen | Team Saxo - Tinkoff | s.t. |
| 109 | Tosh Van der Sande | Lotto Belisol | s.t. |
| 110 | Ricardo García | Euskaltel - Euskadi | s.t. |
| 111 | Wesley Kreder | Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 112 | Craig Lewis | Champion System Pro Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 113 | Kristof Vandewalle | Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 114 | Bryan Coquard | Team Europcar | s.t. |
| 115 | Philip Deignan | UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 116 | Grégory Rast | RadioShack - Leopard | s.t. |
| 117 | Emilien Viennet | FDJ.fr | s.t. |
| 118 | Stijn Vandenbergh | Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 119 | Chad Beyer | Champion System Pro Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 120 | Kenny Dehaes | Lotto Belisol | s.t. |
| 121 | Federico Canuti | Cannondale Pro Cycling | s.t. |
| 122 | Jeffry Romero | Colombia | s.t. |
| 123 | Johan Vansummeren | Garmin - Sharp | s.t. |
| 124 | Juan Pablo Valencia | Colombia | s.t. |
| 125 | Tom Leezer | Belkin Pro Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 126 | Tony Gallopin | RadioShack - Leopard | s.t. |
| 127 | David Tanner | Belkin Pro Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 128 | Ben Day | UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 129 | Cameron Wurf | Cannondale Pro Cycling | s.t. |
| 130 | William Bonnet | FDJ.fr | s.t. |
| 131 | Maarten Tjallingii | Belkin Pro Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 132 | Ryota Nishizono | Champion System Pro Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 133 | Jens Debusschere | Lotto Belisol | s.t. |
| 134 | Mickaël Delage | FDJ.fr | s.t. |
| 135 | Patrick Gretsch | Team Argos - Shimano | s.t. |
| 136 | Joost Van Leijen | Lotto Belisol | s.t. |
| 137 | Maurits Lammertink | Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 138 | Alessandro Bazzana | UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 139 | Danny Van Poppel | Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 140 | Svein Tuft | Orica - GreenEdge | s.t. |
| 141 | Edwin Ávila | Colombia | s.t. |
| 142 | Alex Fischer | Lotto Belisol | s.t. |
| 143 | Steve Chainel | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 144 | Ryan Roth | Champion System Pro Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 145 | Yohan Offredo | FDJ.fr | s.t. |
| 146 | Vyacheslav Kuznetsov | Katusha Team | s.t. |
| 147 | Marc De Maar | UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 148 | Juraj Sagan | Cannondale Pro Cycling | s.t. |
| 149 | Evgeni Petrov | Team Saxo - Tinkoff | s.t. |
| 150 | Jordan Lewis | BMC Racing Team | s.t. |
| 151 | Pengda Jiao | Champion System Pro Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 152 | Thomas Rohregger | RadioShack - Leopard | s.t. |
| 153 | Maxim Belkov | Katusha Team | s.t. |
| 154 | Robert Förster | UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 155 | Mirko Selvaggi | Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 156 | Johann Nokkvason | Team Europcar | s.t. |
| 157 | Gatis Smukulis | Katusha Team | s.t. |
| 158 | Sébastien Minard | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 159 | Manuel Quinziato | BMC Racing Team | s.t. |
| 160 | Ángel Madrazo | Movistar Team | s.t. |
| 161 | Matteo Bono | Lampre - Merida | s.t. |
| 162 | Sam Bewley | Orica - GreenEdge | + 7'02 |
| 163 | Jürgen Van de Walle | Lotto Belisol | s.t. |
| 164 | Thomas Damuseau | Team Argos - Shimano | + 7'34 |
| 165 | Yann Huguet | Team Argos - Shimano | s.t. |
| 166 | Alan Marangoni | Cannondale Pro Cycling | s.t. |
| 167 | Gang Xu | Champion System Pro Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 168 | Biao Liu | Champion System Pro Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 169 | Julien Vermote | Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 170 | Johan Le Bon | FDJ.fr | s.t. |
| 171 | Luca Dodi | Lampre - Merida | s.t. |
| 172 | Tobias Ludvigsson | Team Argos - Shimano | s.t. |
| 173 | Martijn Maaskant | Garmin - Sharp | s.t. |
| 174 | Diego Johnson | Astana Pro Team | s.t. |
| 175 | Andreas Klier | Garmin - Sharp | + 8'36 |
| 176 | John Murphy | UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team | + 8'46 |
| 177 | Cheng Ji | Team Argos - Shimano | + 9'12 |
| 178 | Massimo Graziato | Lampre - Merida | s.t. |
| 179 | Michael Rodriguez | Colombia | + 10'31 |
| 180 | Juan Pablo Suarez | Colombia | + 11'05 |
| 181 | Martijn Verschoor | Team Novo Nordisk | + 11'15 |
| 182 | Andrea Peron | Team Novo Nordisk | + 12'01 |
| 183 | Juan Esteban Arango | Colombia | s.t. |
| 184 | Dominique Rollin | FDJ.fr | s.t. |
| 185 | Joe Eldridge | Team Novo Nordisk | + 13'37 |
| 186 | Fabio Calabria | Team Novo Nordisk | + 14'12 |
| 187 | Christopher Williams | Team Novo Nordisk | + 14'53 |
| 188 | Jeff Louder | UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team | + 15'17 |
| 189 | Martyn Irvine | UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 190 | Stephen Clancy | Team Novo Nordisk | s.t. |
| 191 | David Lozano | Team Novo Nordisk | s.t. |
| 192 | Kevin De Mesmaeker | Team Novo Nordisk | + 17'24 |
Combativity:
1. Nicklas Stromberg
2. Zdneck Stybar
3. Alessandro Petacchi
![imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg](https://imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg)
Good reports anyway, both of them 
Or wait..
