2012 Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec

Course

The race consisted of 16 laps of a circuit 12.6 km in length, with exactly the same course as the 2011 edition. The circuit was well-suited for climbers and puncheurs, since the finish was situated on an uphill climb, located on the Grande-Allée street, in the heart of Old Québec and the course featured steep climbs. The final stretch was a wide, straight line with a regular 4% gradient. The total vertical climb of the race was 2976 m. The major difficulties were:

• Kilometre 9: Côte de la Montagne: 375 m with an average gradient of 10%, with a pass of 165 m metres at 13%
• Kilometre 10: Côte de la Potasse: 420 m with an average gradient of 9%
• Kilometre 11: Côte de la Fabrique: 190 m with an average gradient of 7%
• Kilometre 11: Climb to the finish line: 1000 m with an average gradient of 4%

It is worth noting that the Côte Gilmour descent included a technical passage, 2 successive left bends of 90 degrees each, the first of which was negotiated while the descending slope had a gradient of more than 10%. After the last of the two bends, the riders were rolling on the Boulevard Champlain on the Saint Lawrence River's shores for 4 km which were exposed to the wind.

Teams

As the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec was a UCI World Tour event, all 18 UCI ProTeams were invited automatically and obligated to send a squad. There were also three wildcard invitations, which were UCI Professional Continental teams: two French squads ( and ) and a Canadian one (). A Canadian national squad also competed in the race, and as such, formed the event's 22-team peloton.

The 22 teams that competed in the race were:

• Canada (national team)

Race summary

The start was given by the mayor of Quebec City, Régis Labeaume, and the former French Prime Minister Alain Juppé. During the second lap of the 16 laps race, eight men went clear of the peloton, they were soon joined by a sizable number of riders and were brought back 45 km into the race. On lap 4, another escape group formed, initiated by Thomas Rohregger (), who was chased by Vladimir Gusev (), both men had been part of an earlier breakaway. The group ballooned to eight riders when the chasing group made contact, and the escapees sailed to a maximum lead of 6' 10". With six laps remaining, and took the lead of the bunch and worked to bring the dangerous break back, which they ultimately did with only two laps to go, on the steep Côte de la Montagne.

Soon thereafter, 's Chris Anker Sørensen and Canadian national team member Bruno Langlois tried their luck and built a small 20 seconds gap by the start of the penultimate lap. Langlois was ultimately dropped and replaced by Dries Devenyns () near the finish line as the bell sounded the last lap. The pair held on, but was caught on the Boulevard Champlain with 4 km to go. Greg Van Avermaet () attacked in the Côte de la Montagne, soon followed by Simon Gerrans (). 's Peter Sagan made a move in a bid to catch the two men, but fell short after approaching to 30 m of the duet and was swallowed by the charging bunch in the final kilometre. While the surging chase group was on their heels, Gerrans out sprinted the Belgian Van Avermaet to take the victory. Rui Costa of was the faster man of the chase group and took third place.

Quebecer François Parisien of survived a fall in the first lap of the race to finish in tenth position, the best placed Canadian of the race only 4 seconds in arrears of Gerrans, Pre-race favourite Ryder Hesjedal had a difficult day, finishing with a 5' 18" deficit. Gerrans stated after the race: "This is some of the hardest racing on the calendar. It's fantastic racing in Québec on an exciting circuit with great crowds and great ambience."

Results

References

References

1. Atkins, Ben. (7 September 2012). "Simon Gerrans takes breakaway sprint victory in GP Québec". VeloNation LLC.
2. (7 September 2012). "Gerrans stakes his claim in Quebec". Future Publishing Limited.
3. (7 September 2012). "Gerrans wins 2012 GP Cycliste Québec City with late attack". Competitor Group, Inc..
4. (7 September 2012). "Gerrans wins GP de Quebec". [[TF1 Group]].
5. "Official hotel". Grand Prix Cycliste Québec-Montréal, 2010-2011.
6. "Parcours". Grand Prix Cycliste Québec-Montréal.
7. "List of teams entered for the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec". Grand Prix Cycliste Québec-Montréal.
8. "Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec 2012 start list". Future Publishing Limited.
9. (8 September 2012). "Québec: la victoire de Garrans, l'exploit de Parisien". La Presse Canadienne.
10. Alexandre Mignot. (7 September 2012). "Gerrans domine Van Avermaet". 2008-2012 - Cyclism'Actu - Swar-Agency..
11. "Résultats 2012". Grand Prix Cycliste Québec-Montréal, 2010-2011.