Rui Costa looked strong in the Grand Prix Quebec when he launched a strong attack the final time up the Cote de la Montagne. Unfortunately, he was held up behind Arthur Vichot's crash in the sprint and so didn't manage to achieve a top result.

Like last year, Rui Costa is finalizing his preparations for the World Championships in the Canadian WorldTour races. Yesterday he was one of the strongest riders in the finale of the Grand Prix de Quebec but bad luck in the finale prevented him from mixing it up with the best in the sprint.

"It's a pity for me I could not obtain a better result, because the team had been perfect," he said. "I had good legs and I was trying to move up in the sprint, but I had to brake because I hit Vichot's bike. It was really nice to see how my teammates did what we had planned in the meeting with the sports director: Jan [Polanc] was in the breakaway and it helped us to save energy in the bunch. It was the same when Rafael [Valls] was on the attack in the final laps. 

"I received a perfect support in the final lap in the run-in to the climbs but later chaotic movements forced me to loose some positions, so I focused my energies on the final sprint. Unfortunately, I could not hit my target because of the crash that occurred in the bunch.

"I'll try to do better in Montreal, in order to give satisfaction to the team, to my teammates and to all the fans that has been giving me a warm support here in Canada".