Three-time Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar pedalled to a resounding victory at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal on Sunday.
The UAE Team Emirates leader crossed the finish line 24 seconds ahead of Spain’s Pello Bilbao of Bahrain-Victorious to win the demanding 209.1-kilometre race on a sunny, 28 C day in Montreal. France’s Julian Alaphilippe of Soudal Quick-Step was third.
Ottawa’s Michael Woods (Israel Premier-Tech) placed eighth, tying his career-best in the city two weeks after claiming a stage at the Spanish Vuelta.
Pogacar also won in Montreal in 2022 and joined Greg Van Avermaet of Belgium as the only multi-time winners at the event.
The 17 repetitive climbs up and down Mount Royal near downtown lasted five hours 28 minutes 15 seconds for Pogacar.
He made his attack with 23.3 kilometres left to take the lead — and never relinquished it.
It’s Pogacar’s latest win in a dominant year that includes victories at the Tour de France and Giro d’Italia.
Australia’s Michael Matthews won the Quebec City GP for a record third time on Friday, where Pogacar was seventh. The two races are the only North American events on the UCI World Tour.
Ottawa’s Derek Gee, who placed ninth in this year’s Tour de France, finished 48th in Montreal, three spots ahead of Israel Premier-Tech teammate Hugo Houle of Sainte-Perpetue, Que.
Michael Leonard of Oakville, Ont., and Gil Gelders and Dries De Bondt of Belgium broke away from the peloton during the second lap.
Leonard led the majority of the race before losing pace with 45 kilometres to go.
Next up, the riders will head to the world championships in Zurich, Switzerland from Sept. 21 to 29.
Pogacar will try to join Eddy Merckx (1974) and Stephen Roche (1987) as the only men to win three major titles in a season — known as the Triple Crown.
