Simon Gerrans wins the GP de Quebec 2012
Simon Gerrans of Team Orica GreenEdge continued his splendid form and filled his bag with yet another victory at the first Canadian race, Grand Prix Cycliste de Quebec 2012.
The cyclist completed the 201.6 kilometre chase at the Grande Allee in an impressive time of 4 hours, 53 minutes and 4 seconds and restricted the race favourites.
The victory will definitely boost the Australian’s confident for the next big race of the season, the UCI Road World Championships in Limburg, Holland.
Gerrans attacked in the final 4 kilometres of the race and never really looked back. He overcame the pre-race favourite Peter Sagan, who could not secure any better than the 26th overall position.
The 32-year-old opened his 2012 winning account with a first place finish at the Santos Tour Down Under and also filled his bag with a first place finish at the Milan-San Remo, Grand Prix Cycliste de Quebec and the National Road Race Championships.
He rode brilliantly during the Clasica de San Sebastian but could not match the likes of Luis Leon Sanchez and had to settle for the second spot after the race.
“There are quite a few races that suit me at this time of year,” Simon briefed after the Grand Prix Cycliste de Quebec. “I have put a lot of emphasis to do well at this time of year”.
“It was pretty nerve wracking. Both Greg and I worked had to build that gap and we couldn’t really slow down,” he continued.
“We had one of the best riders in the peloton chasing us, Peter Sagan. It could have gone either way and I’m glad it went my way.”
Greg Van Avermaet was dissatisfied with his performance, “I’m disappointed because I thought I could win the race and I had the legs to do it,” he noted.
Tom Jelte Slagter of Team Rabobank, Diego Ulissi of Team Lampre-ISD, Thomas Voeckler of Team Europcar, Fabian Wegmann of Team Garmin-Sharp, Gerald Ciolek and Francois Parisien of Team Spidertech Powered By C10 occupied the fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth positions in the respective order.
Gerrans is now eyeing the second Canadian race, GP de Montreal scheduled on September 9th, 2012 and the cyclist is optimistic to repeat his performance at the coming event.
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