Benoot and Hagenes in the top five of GP de Québec
Team Visma | Lease a Bike delivered a solid team performance in the GP de Québec. In the race won by Michael Matthews, Tiesj Benoot (fourth) and Per Strand Hagenes (fifth) finished among the best. Matteo Jorgenson also played a key role with an attack in the final.
After some work in front by Jan Tratnik in the closing phase, Matteo Jorgenson was quick to respond to an attack by Belgian rider Tim Wellens. The American from Team Visma | Lease a Bike initially neutralized the attack and later went on the offensive himself. Jorgenson opened a gap of about fifteen seconds and rode solo in the lead for a while but was caught just a few kilometers before the finish.
As is often the case in Québec, a sprint from a reduced peloton became inevitable. For a moment, Benoot reached out for the victory. The Belgian rider pulled up alongside Matthews, who had launched his sprint early, but Benoot ultimately couldn’t crown the strong work of Team Visma | Lease a Bike with victory. He gave it everything until the line, resulting in a fourth-place finish, just ahead of teammate Hagenes.
"This was a really strong race from the team"
"This was a really strong race from the team," Benoot said. "When Matteo launched his attack, it created a great situation for us. We were able to sit back and let it play out. I didn’t want to start my sprint too early because of the headwind. Suddenly I saw Matthews start his sprint, and I felt like I still had something left, so I decided to go for it. Unfortunately, my effort stalled about a hundred meters from the line. I think I could have finished on the podium if I had stayed in the slipstream a little longer, but I chose to go all-in. Per also managed to sprint well behind le. I think we can be satisfied with having two riders in the top five. This strong team performance gives us confidence heading into the GP de Montréal on Sunday."