Bicycle Race in Quebec City: Julian Alaphilippe clinches intense solo victory through calculated late-race assault, breaking away from the pack
Julian Alaphilippe Wins Grand Prix de Québec
In a thrilling race on the Côte de la Montagne, Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor) claimed victory at the Grand Prix de Québec, marking his first WorldTour win of the season.
The race saw several key moments, starting with an early breakaway consisting of Laurence Pithie (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Nils Politt (UAE Team Emirates), Alaphilippe, Bastien Tronchon (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), and Xandro Meurisse (Alpecin-Deceuninck).
As the race progressed, the peloton found itself 2:35 behind the leaders with 50km remaining. However, the gap began to narrow, reducing to three minutes with 85km and seven laps to go.
Meanwhile, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates XRG) made a break, but was soon joined by teammate Brandon McNulty, Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost), Edoardo Zambainini, and Afonso Eulálio (Bahrain Victorious).
Nils Politt and Laurence Pithie dropped back from the first chase group, but Alaphilippe's group maintained a substantial lead. Another attack came from Tim Wellens with four 12km laps to go, pulling away a small group that included Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek), Tobias Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility), Matteo Cattaneo, Pascal Eenkhoorn (Soudal-Quickstep), Johan Jacobs (Groupama-FDJ), Jan Tratnik (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), and Christophe Laporte (Visma-Lease a Bike).
Matej Mohorič (Bahrain Victorious) also joined this move, and with three laps to go, the leaders had 1:35 on the peloton. With 4.5km to go, McNulty surged, with Girmay and Powless following him up the road.
In the final moments of the race, Alaphilippe surged with 1.5km to go, and despite Alberto Bettiol's best efforts, they couldn't catch him in time, and Alaphilippe celebrated a fine victory. Pavel Sivakov (UAE Team Emirates XRG) finished second, and Bettiol, who belongs to the XDS Astana team, finished third.
Defending champion Michael Matthews (Jayco-AlUla) finished ninth, while Arnaud De Lie (Lotto) won the bunch sprint for eighth place. The race also saw an early escape by Luca Vergallito (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Filip Maciejuk (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Félix Bouchard, and Philippe Jacob (Canada), but they were eventually caught by the peloton.
This win marks a significant comeback for Alaphilippe, who has been struggling with form this season. The Frenchman will now look to continue his resurgence in the final races of the WorldTour season.
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