Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec | Boivin: “I was missing the little tooth of champions”

(Quebec) Deprived of their team’s two main assets, Guillaume Boivin and Hugo Houle did their best to revive the hopes of Israel-Premier Tech (IPT) at the Grand Prix cyclisme de Québec on Friday.

Boivin was the best, crossing the line in the 31st^e place, at the same time as the winner, Michael Matthews, to whom he paid tribute after having again received the prize of first Canadian runner at the end of the event that he cherishes above all.

“Michael is an inspiring guy,” commented the 35-year-old Quebecer, who shared the podium with the Australian at the World Championships in Geelong in 2010, winning bronze in the U23 road race won by Matthews.

“The fact that he is in great shape at the Grand Prix of Quebec and Montreal demonstrates above all his passion and professionalism. Year after year, he is always at the top in September. It shows his seriousness because the seasons start in January and it is not necessarily easy to still be in shape at this time and to stay motivated all summer long while being far from the family.”

After the early retirement of New Zealander Corbin Strong, who finished second last year but has been struggling with stomach problems since Monday, IPT has turned to its second option in Stephan Williams, who has failed to find the legs that carried him to victory in the Tour of Britain last week.

Winner of the Flèche Wallonne in the spring, the Briton himself withdrew before the final battle in Old Quebec, forcing his sporting director Steve Bauer to throw the game plan overboard and invite Boivin, Krist Neilands (40^e) and Jakob Fuglsang (65^e) to play their own card to the best of their ability.

“It didn’t necessarily affect the rest of my race,” Boivin said. “My work was concentrated in the last three kilometres. If Corbin had been in good shape, I think I had the legs to help him in the sprint. Personally, I was missing that little bit of edge that champions have in the last 300 metres.”

For his part, Hugo Houle got stuck just before the wall on Rue des Glacis, 2 km from the line. He finished the race at 67^e echelon, 49 seconds behind Matthews.

“As I had already made efforts to place the riders a little, I was distanced on the Côte de la Potasse,” said Houle, surprised by the return of heat that affected the entire peloton during the day. “I had a little cramp, but I had already done my work. So I’m happy.”

IPT is therefore turning its eyes towards the Montreal GP on Sunday, where Michael Woods, crowned with his third stage success at the Vuelta, will come to lend a hand to the troupe of Quebec businessmen Sylvan Adams and Jean Bélanger.

“Mike is extremely motivated and we’re going to hope that today’s race will allow Stevie to get back into shape a bit,” said Boivin. “He was obviously in exceptional shape last week. That doesn’t disappear overnight. Let’s face it, today was ordinary for us. We’re going to try to get back into shape in Montreal. It’s a new day, with more pressure and motivation to perform!”

The daydream of Félix Hamel

Félix Hamel was still floating on cloud nine more than an hour after the conclusion of the Grand Prix de Québec on Friday afternoon.

In his second participation, the 20-year-old cyclist rode some 130 kilometres in a breakaway, hanging on to the powerful Dutchman Frank van den Broeke (dsm-firmenich PostNL) and the young American Artem Shmidt (Ineos Grenadiers), his last two companions in a breakaway that began with six riders.

The sextet joined by Canadian Jonas Walton opened up a maximum gap of just over five minutes on the peloton led mainly by New Zealander Logan Currie (Lotto Dstny), Arnaud De Lie’s teammate who would have deserved the Jacques-Beauchamp trophy for his self-sacrifice.

Even though he suffered, Hamel lived a kind of waking dream by spending more than half the day at the head of the race in front of a crowd that did not hold back its cheers.

“I have no regrets, I recommend it to everyone!” Hamel laughed when The Press found him with his national team colleagues in the queue at Subway. “Since I was the local rider, everyone was cheering me on up the Côte de la Montagne. I was a little emotional. It was really incredible.”

The rider who finished third in the Mont Mégantic stage of the last Tour de Beauce under the colours of Ecoflo Chronos was able to measure the full power of the WorldTour cyclists. Van den Broeke, who largely contributed to the spectacular victory of his teammate Romain Bardet in the first stage of the Tour de France, particularly impressed him.

“You could see he was better than everyone else. When there were still six of us, he sometimes shot for half the laps! It was impressive.”

Hamel will conclude his season on Sunday at the Montreal GP, where he still hopes to stand out.