Etixx – Quick-Step had another successful season in 2015, with 54 road wins alongside 69 other podium places. Over the next weeks we will look back on the 10 biggest moments for the team in the 2015 season. Our previous moments focused on the likes of Niki Terpstra, Michal Kwiatkowski, Julian Alaphilippe or Tony Martin. Our next best moment is Rigoberto Uran becoming the first Colombian rider to win the Grand Prix Cycliste de Quebec.
On Friday, September 11th, the pack lined-up along the Grande Allée for the sixth edition of the Grand Prix Cycliste de Quebec, a 201.6 km-long event consisting of 16 laps of 12.6 kilometers. The challenging race put on the table four ascents – Côte de la Montagne, Côte de la Potasse, Montée de la Fabrique and Montée du Fort – a course which was very much to the liking of those capable of attacking and keeping the tempo on short and intense climbs.
As soon as the flag dropped in Quebec for the penultimate one-day World Tour race of the season, a six-rider group went clear from the peloton, who was content to give them a reasonable margin of eight minutes which was easy to control. As a result, the pace wasn’t high until the last 50 kilometers of the race, when the pack began to ride full gas and as a consequence to reduce the advantage of the escapees, the last two being caught with only two laps to go, in the final 30 kilometers.
Fresh attacks followed shortly, but the peloton reacted each and every time, which led to a compact group once the cyclists hit the final lap. Then, with just two kilometers remaining, Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe accelerated, setting up Rigoberto Uran, who went clear on the final uphill, with just 500 meters to go, and managed to take a couple of seconds in hand, which in the end proved to be enough for him to narrowly keep the field off and record the first World Tour one-day race victory of his career, ahead of Michael Matthews and Alexander Kristoff.
"For me this was a big relief after a season that was a bit unlucky, with a lot of small problems. Despite these, I never gave up. After the Tour de France I said 'ok, I have to keep the concentration and effort up'. I worked hard to be ready for the Canadian races, and the result is there with a victory. I knew this race well, as I was third in 2011. I knew with this parcours that there is a chance to anticipate in the last kilometer, and I did it. I kept going on, gave everything and arrived first at the finish line. To have finally won a one-day World Tour race felt really great", said Rigoberto Uran of his victory in the Grand Prix Cycliste de Quebec.