Sunday’s GP de Montréal served as a preview of the World Championships. In two weeks’ time, the riders will race on virtually the same course. With sixteen laps, a total distance of more than 214 kilometers and 4,300 meters of elevation gain, it was another gruelling race in Canada. Team Visma | Lease a Bike had already made its mark last Friday, when Jorgenson rode to a solid eighth place in Québec. In Montréal, sports director Robert Wagner’s team once again showed its attacking intentions.

As the race entered its finale, Wilco Kelderman managed to join the leading group. After an attack by, among others, Ben Healy, the Dutch champion dropped back and proved valuable to teammate Jorgenson in the peloton. However, despite several accelerations, the American was unable to bridge across to the elite group and ultimately finished nineteenth. Up front, Isaac del Toro claimed victory in the Grand Prix, beating Paul Seixas in a two-man sprint.

“Unfortunately, we weren’t able to follow the very best riders in the final today”, Wagner says afterwards. “That’s obviously disappointing, but despite that, we all gave everything we had. Victor, who had to abandon early on Friday, was much better today than I expected. I’m very happy with that. It’s unfortunate that we missed Bart in the final after his crash. He could have played an important role there. He abandoned the race, but fortunately he’s doing well despite the crash. In the end, Matteo finished just inside the top twenty today. Looking at the two races together, I’m simply very satisfied. Our riders and staff have had a very good week here in Canada.”