The Canadian experience of LAMPRE-MERIDA ended the 3rd place for Rui Costa in the GP Montreal, the second Canadian World Tour race. The Portuguese champion was on the podium for the second year in a row (in 2014 he was 2nd, in 2011 he won the race).

The riders covered the demanding circuit of 12,2 km under the pouring rain 17 times for a total lenght of 205,7 km and a total altitude difference of 3893 meters: four riders (Voeckler, Quinziato, Vervaeke and Grivko) led the race from the 150th km after different groups of attackers had been in front in the early part (Ulissi and Bono were in two different attempts).

The breakaway was neutralized just before the start of the final lap, during which Rui Costa and 5 riders (Bakelants, Bardet, Adam Yates, Kelderman and Wellens) escaped on the Cote Camillie-Houde, obtaining an advantage of 15" on the peloton.

Yates and Wellens counter-attacked and they got good advantage which allowed them to enter the upfill finshing straight still leading the race: they sprinted and Wellens beat Yates while Rui Costa did a long sprint which allowed him to take 3rd place, 

"The performance of the team was good, despite the difficult weather conditions and the fact that the first part of the race was very intense," sports director Simone Pedrazzini commented. "We were great in the first 100 km in analyzing every attack attempt in order to evaluate if it could have been dangerous or not and in deciding weather to join it or not: Bono and Ulissi were in two breakaways, but the situation was not definitive and the plot of the race was fixed only after 100 km. 

"In that moment, we began to focus our energy on the support to Rui, who was skillful in joining the decisive attack in the last lap. When Yates and Wellens counterattacked, a higher contribution by AG2r would have been necessary, but it wasn't so and Rui tried the chase in the final kilometer, obtaining a well deserved place on the podium."

"THANKS #Lampre #Merida and all sponsors for your support. A big Hug to You all, my friends. It was a hard race because of the weather but I am happy with this 3rd place, it feels like 1st," Costa wrote on his Facebook page.