Remco Evenepoel is not disguising his Montreal Worlds intentions.

The Belgian beat Giulio Ciccone in a two-up sprint at the top of the Côte de la Montagne on Friday to take the 206-kilometer Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec, his 11th win of the season and his first since Clásica San Sebastián.

Anthon Charmig of Uno-X Mobility, part of the winning move, was distanced on the final ascent of the 1.6-kilometer climb and hung on for third.

“We had a nice gap after a lap, I did most of the work and I had to manage my effort because I didn’t really have the explosivity on the final climb to drop the two others, but I was confident in my sprint,” Evenepoel said after the finish.

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A gambled sprint from the front

Evenepoel launched the winning move with about 27 kilometers left, joining a select group at the front that eventually thinned to himself, Ciccone and Charmig. When Charmig came off the pace on the last time up the climb, Evenepoel opened the sprint himself, gambling on the headwind to blunt Ciccone’s kick.

“I gambled a bit to start from the front, with the headwind it was difficult, but once he tried to come over he also felt the wind on the face and I managed to keep my advantage, so I’m super happy,” he told reporters.

Tom Pidcock and Paul Seixas launched late chases from the group behind and could not close.

The Worlds double firmly in view

Quebec was the opener of a Canadian block that ends at the UCI Road World Championships in Montreal, which run from 20 to 27 September. The elite men’s time trial is on the opening Sunday, 20 September, and the road race closes the championships on Sunday, 27 September. No male rider has ever won both titles at a single Road Worlds, and Evenepoel, the reigning time-trial world champion, has openly targeted the pair.

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“I think I need to stay calm and take it day by day,” he said, ticking off Sunday’s Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal, the time trial the following weekend, and the road race after that.

Sunday’s Montreal follow-up did not go his way. Isaac del Toro of UAE Team Emirates went clear on the final lap with Seixas and beat the French teenager in an uphill sprint; Evenepoel was caught behind a split and finished fifth.

Worlds week in Montreal begins on Sunday, 20 September, with the time trials.

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