Rui Costa showed that he will again be a serious contender for the World Championships when he completed an aggressive showing by sprinting to second in the Grand Prix Montreal. Having tried to make the race hard for big favourite Simon Gerrans, the world champion was proud to have honoured his jersey until the end.

Rui Costa proved that he is ready for his title defence at the Worlds when he finished second in the GP Monreal, the penultimate race in the rainbow jersey. However, he came up against an unbeatable Simon Gerrans in the uphill sprint from a select group.

Knowing that Gerrans would be faster in a sprint, Costa tried to make the race hard by going on the attack on the final lap. However, he was unable to get rid of the Australian champion but still had enough left in the tank to do a great sprint.

"As in Quebec City, Lampre-Merida did a perfect race here in Montreal," he said. "Polanc was great in the breakaway, all my teammates supported me even better than I could have imagined, so I really want to thank them  because their help allowed me to honor the race and the rainbow jersey in the best way. My legs were good so I wanted to make the race more demanding. I also attacked in order to try to anticipate Gerrans but he's in a very good shape and he deserved the victory.

"I was hoping that Gerrans wasn't great in the finale because I knew it'd be difficult to beat him in the sprint. That's why I tried to make the race hard by having a teammate up the road and that's why I attacked on the last last lap and again on the last short climb at the University.

"It didn't work out and so then I tried to find some last energy for the sprint. I tried my best and got second place, so I'm quite happy. We raced as we planned and got a result. It's been a good race for us. I'm not disappointed. This is good result for me.

"I'm satisfied with the second place, I am pleased to have honored the rainbow jersey until the end and I'm glad to have taken good results in this Canadian experience."

His teammate Jan Polanc did an excellent performance, being the longest surviving member of the early breakaway.

"My role, as in the GP Quebec, was to attack in the early part of the race and so I did," he said. "The cooperation was good and it gave us the opportunity to lead the race for most of the time. I was in the lead for more than 190 km.

"With 5 laps to go, I also believed I could manage to hold off the bunch, but the group intensified the chase in the final laps. I'm satisfied with my performance and I'm happy Rui could obtain a top result."