MONTREAL – Tadej Pogačar of UAE Team Emirates celebrated a team victory at the Montreal Cycling grand Prix on Sunday, dedicating the win to teammate Brandon McNulty. Pogačar, returning to competition after a break following the Tour de France, praised McNulty’s ability to rejoin the lead group, stating, “When I was alone, he (McNulty) was able to return. And from that moment, it was clear that was going to be the winner!”
The UAE team’s success marks their 85th victory of the season, tying a record previously held by the Columbia-HTC team in 2009. Pogačar highlighted the team’s consistent performance, saying, “It’s an exceptional season for the team.The guys seize all the occasions. Almost everyone has a victory this year and we are really proud of it.” Pogačar himself has secured 16 victories in 2023.
During the 209.1 km race, featuring 4,573 meters of elevation gain, Frenchman Julien Alaphilippe, winner of the Quebec Cycling Grand Prix, finished 97th out of 161 runners. Canadian Hugo Houle was the top Canadian finisher, placing 45th, 15 minutes and 1 second behind the leader, while Michael Leonard finished last in 55th. A total of 106 riders, including eight other Canadians, did not finish the challenging World Tour stage.
Houle acknowledged the race’s difficulty, stating, “It was a vrey, very challenging day, we left at a fairly strong speed. at first,I tried to follow a few strokes,in vain,we got caught up. I was really not well today. At first,I suffered a lot,I was not able to do anything. I managed to hang on, but at some point it was too much,” but expressed satisfaction with completing the race.
