Del Toro holds off Seixas in two-up sprint to win GP Montréal in Worlds dress rehearsal

Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) outsprinted Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) to win the 15th edition of the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal on Sunday, in what served as an important dress rehearsal for the World Championships, with the elite men’s road race set to take place on September 27 on many of the same roads.

The winning move was established when Seixas launched a stinging acceleration from a selective group on the Côte Camillien-Houde with 12km remaining. 

He immediately opened a big advantage, but Del Toro remained composed and bridged his way to the Frenchman over the summit. 

Over the final 10km, the duo worked to fend off the chasing group that included the likes of Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5), before contesting the uphill sprint finish. 

Seixas led out the sprint, but it was Del Toro who jumped first, quickly opening a gap on Seixas, who was caught off guard. The Decathlon rider tried to fight back, but it was to no avail, as Del Toro had too much in the tank to claim an impressive victory. 

Behind, it was Del Toro’s teammate and defending champion Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) who managed to sneak away from the chasing group to take third, 27 seconds behind the winner, and just ahead of Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek). Evenepoel finished fifth, 35 seconds behind Del Toro, and Pidcock took sixth.

Ådne Holter (Uno-X Mobility), Robbe Dhondt (Picnic PostNL), Jérôme Gauthier (Project Echelon), Pelayo Sánchez (Movistar), Kieran Haug and Robin Carpenter (Modern Adventure), Anders Foldager (Jayco AlUla), Casper Pedersen (Soudal Quick-Step), Michał Kwiatkowski (Netcompany-Ineos) formed the nine-rider breakaway, which was swept up by the peloton with 100km to go. 

The next significant move saw Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) and Michael Leonard (EF Education-EasyPost) go clear, before Maximilian Schachmann (Soudal Quick-Step) bridged across, then Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost), Maxim Van Gils (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Wilco Kelderman also joined the action. 

There was a crash in the peloton with little over three laps to go that involved Thymen Arensman (Netcomany-Ineos), Bart Lemmen (Visma | Lease a Bike), Derek Gee-West (Lidl-Trek) among others. 

Healy whittled down the leading group with an attack which only Van Gils and Yates could match, as Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5) lit up the action behind in the ever-reducing peloton. 

Eventually, after a flurry of attacks, Pidcock, Afonso Eulálio (Bahrain-Victorious), Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek), Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM), Isaac del Toro and Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) formed a dangerous chase group with around 25km to go, as Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) was notably absent. 

The group caught Yates who, alongside Van Gils, had been distanced by Healy, leaving three UAE riders in the second group.

Evenepoel managed to break clear from the second chasing group, taking Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost) as he looked to close the gap of over 30 seconds with 20km to go.

The Olympic champion and Baudin managed to bridge across to the chasers with 13km remaining, as they passed the finish line for the penultimate time, with Healy 13 seconds in front as the riders hit the Côte Camillien-Houde for the final time.

Seixas pushed the pace on the climb, but there was a stalemate on the Frenchman's wheel. However, the 19-year-old launched an explosive acceleration with under 12km remaining, which only McNulty could even come close to. 

In no time at all, Seixas caught and distanced Healy as he looked to stretch his advantage over the competition. 

Over the top of the climb, Del Toro managed to impressively bridge across to Seixas, and the duo worked together to increase their advantage over the chasers to ensure they would contest for the victory.

As the road rose once more inside the final 4km, Seixas tried another attack, but Del Toro was wise to it, locked on the Frenchman's back wheel.

Behind, Pidcock attacked on the climb to try and split the chasing group, but the victory had slipped from the grasp of the chasers.