The sun is shining as the Pro Continental peloton roll out of the start, and straight from the gun some riders see an opportunity to try and get away. Appleby leads an attack, followed by Dufrasnes, Klemme and Balinski.
The Britain manages to get away, riding away from the other attakers and getting a minutes gap over a peloton that seems uninterested in chasing at this stage.
He is then joined by three others, namely Salas, who is riding on home turf, Dufrasnes and Gate. Those four pull out a good gap and form the day's breakaway.
Behind, the peloton, which is controlled by the favourites' teams, sets a relaxed pace, regulating the gap as it grows to around six minutes at the mid-point of the race.
Into the final third of the race, the gap has started to come down. Dufrasnes is on the front as the gap comes below the 5 minute mark, after exceeding 6'30" at one point.
Rothaus, Prio and Amex are the trio of teams raise the pace further in the bunch through the 50kms to go mark, bringing the gap down to 3'30". They've done a good job for their leaders so far.
That high pace doesn't deter the first non-breakaway attacks though, with Petrie-Armstrong putting in a small effort on the third-to-last lap.
Vespa's strategy seems to be attack at this point in the race, which shows when Petrie-Armstrong's inability to get a good gap triggers another offensive move by the Italian team, with Pagoto the next to make a move.
Back at the front, these attacks have brought the gap back further to below 2 minutes with 25kms left. With Appleby and Dufrasnes sensing that the other two riders aren't as strong as them, they decide to set off alone and attack.
Behind, the peloton has reeled in Pagoto and is all back together bar the breakaway again. But then, suddenly the chasing stops! Could this give the breakaway another chance of staying away?
Salas has pulled Gate back to the front two once again as we go back to the front, making it a group of four at the front again.
The stopping of chasing behind has seen the quartet's gap go up again past 2 minutes, and with the race moving towards its final circuit, a surprise victory could be on!
Across the line with one lap to go, the breakaway four still have just over a 2 minute gap. Could they stay away in the remaining 15kms?
Back in the peloton, Rothaus finally manage to put together a chase, sending Geschke to the front on the descent to set a rapid pace in an attempt to catch up.
This high pace causes a small group of nine to be dropped, which includes Jaguar leader here Bennett. He won't be able to get a result today.
At the front, the four escapees are inside the final 5kms and it is still uncertain if they will stay away. Can they hold the peloton off?
It looks like it! Passing the same point, the bunch has slowed with riders preferring to prepare for the sprint instead of chasing.
Geschke is putting Bellis into a good position at the front, with Haussler and Rovny also well positioned. However, if no chase is put in the best that he will be able to achieve is fifth!
With no chase, the leading quartet's gap goes up again to above a minute. It looks as if they will contest the victory!
Going into the final kick, Appleby has been forced to lead out the sprint. Gate sits well-placed in his wheel, with Salas and Dufrasne behind, which could not be a bad thing.
Geschke remains on the front of the peloton ahead of Bellis, who are both well-positioned going into the sprint to at least rescue a top ten here for Rothaus. As well as Haussler and Rovny being up there, Ventoso is now moving into a good position.
The home crowd roars as Salas is the first to kick in the front group, surprising the rest of his breakaway comrades and moving into the lead. Appleby immediately tries to respond.
Hitting a steep rise in the road as the road kicks up once more, those two have opened a small gap over the other two. Seeing that Gate is looking tired, Dufrasnes decides to go now and sets off in pursuit.
Into the final kilometre, Appleby has moved into the lead! The Brit looks to have this, unless the fast-moving Dufrasnes can catch him!
Back in the battle for fifth, Ventoso leads under the kite. Geschke is surprisingly going well just behind after all his work for Bellis, while Haussler is also doing well.
Up at the front once more, Dufrasnes has passed Salas! Can he catch the Brit now or is it too late?
It is! Appleby won't be caught, and claims a brilliant surprise victory for struggling Continental team ANC-Halfords. It's a deserved one after he was the most agressive today.
Dufrasnes takes a strong second, giving BPost a boost in the race for promotion. Salas also makes it onto the podium, giving the home crowd something to celebrate, while Gate takes fourth behind.
Meanwhile, Geschke has overtaken Ventoso and looks to be on course to complete the top five.
That is indeed the case, with the German outsprinting the Spaniard for the last top five spot. Ventoso takes sixth, but for these two it could have been so much better.
Bellis is next to finish in seventh, which gives Rothaus another highly placed rider here, to make sure they stick with BPost in the rankings. Haussler, Davis and Kozontchuk complete the top ten here in Canada.
