Quebec De Lie cycling grand prix takes the bull by the horns

“It’s just incredible”

(Quebec) “Tabernacle! » exclaimed Maxim Van Gils after kissing his teammate Arnaud De Lie, lying in the middle of the Grande Allée, still in shock from having won the Quebec cycling Grand Prix on Friday afternoon.

The Belgian from Lotto Dstny showed off his exceptional power to catch New Zealander Corbin Strong, teammate of Quebecers Hugo Houle and Guillaume Boivin at Israel-Premier Tech, in the final sprint at the last minute.

The two young twenty-somethings managed to subdue the Australian Michael Matthews, double winner in Quebec, who this time had to settle for third place, his sixth podium in his last seven starts here.

At only 21 years old and in his second professional season, De Lie is already a winning machine.

Before arriving in the national capital, where he began to familiarize himself with the vernacular, he had 16 victories to his name. But he had never raised his arms in a race of the magnitude of the Quebec GP, labeled WorldTour.

“Yeah, it’s just incredible,” De Lie commented at a press conference. To be only 21 years old and to win here in Quebec… We know that it is a flagship classic on the WorldTour calendar. There is a crazy level. It’s just amazing. »

Inspired by Philippe Gilbert

Raised on a cattle farm, which earned him the nickname Bull of Lescheret, his village of origin, De Lie is a former mountain biker who took to the road when he began to gain mass at adolescence. One of his inspirations is his Walloon compatriot Philippe Gilbert, winner of the second GP of Quebec in 2011.

De Lie even remembers following Thomas Voeckler’s inaugural victory on television the previous year. He was then eight years old…

At the start of the season, the Belgian sprinter expressed his interest in participating in the Canadian classics. Relegated to the second division like Israel-Premier Tech, Lotto Dstny had to cover the costs of the trip as a guest team.

“The team had to invest to come here,” he stressed. It was me who said at the beginning of the year that I wanted to come. Being able to raise my arms here also means thanking the management who trusted me, because it is a journey that is still expensive. »

A classic

Contested in the heat of the end of summer, the 201.6 km event took place almost entirely in the dry, a “dream scenario” for De Lie, who feared that the acceleration of the peloton would occur earlier in case of downpour.

The plot of this 12^e GP of Quebec was classic, with a long breakaway with four riders, kept at a reasonable distance by teams interested in a sprint, in particular the Jayco AlUla of Matthews.

The Belgian Mauri Vansevenant (Quick-Step), the Italian Gianmarco Garofoli (Astana), the Spaniard David Lozano Riba (Novo Nordisk) and the Czech champion Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) have never been able to raise the gap up to four minutes. The leading quartet, to which the young Quebecer Félix Hamel (national team) tried to join in vain, was caught with 43 kilometers to go.

Apart from Ben Healy, the Irish EF champion, few attacks were attempted until the final lap. The headwind blowing on Champlain Boulevard, along the river, discouraged many, Matthews noted.

Crowned last year after a surprise start in the Côte des Glacis, Benoît Cosnefroy (AG2R Citroën) did it again, but a little earlier this time, in the Côte de la Montagne.

The Frenchman dug a nice hole, before being caught two kilometers further, just after passing Robert Lepage’s Le Diamant.

“I was able to gain a lot of speed”

From there, the Canadian Michael Woods, very leggy, did a colossal job to position his teammate Strong at the front of the peloton for the then predictable sprint. The New Zealander seemed able to take victory, but he was swallowed up by De Lie in the final meters.

“At more or less 500-600 meters, it becomes flatter and I still had Florian Vermeesch and Maxim Van Gils with me,” said De Lie. We were able to pick up speed. I was a little far away, but it was also good: I was in the loop and I knew how to keep my strength for the real finale. I throw from quite a distance, but with the aspiration of others, I was able to gain a lot of speed. »

“These are arrivals that don’t lie. It is often the strongest who wins. Today it was me. »

During his first stay outside Europe, Arnaud De Lie promised to return to “this beautiful country” with the wish to perfect his Quebec accent. Sitting alongside him as the best Canadian (41^e), Guillaume Boivin however advised him against reusing the word “tab…”