The Canadian World Tour premiere of BORA – ARGON 18 was held today at the Grand Prix Cyclistes de Québec. The peloton had to complete 16 laps of 12.6 kilometers. Almost 3,000 meters of altitude made the course quite challenging and added some classic profile.

Already in the first kilometers after the start, a breakaway group of six riders was able to attack from the field. Again Cesare Benedetti, who already spent half of the total distance of the Tour of Alberta in breakaways, was part of the day’s group. The leaders created a lead of over nine minutes before the chasers steadily reduced it.

When the chasers were within striking distance, Benedetti attacked in the lead group shortly before the KOM of the twelfth lap. A rider was able to close the gap, with 30 Kilometers to go more chasers bridged and Benedetti had to pay the price to the long day in front. On the final lap, the field was split in many little groups but BORA – ARGON 18 was always present in the peloton’s front positions. While Rigoberto Uran (Etixx-QuickStep) scored the day’s victory, Paul Voss rode to 17th as part of the first chasing group.

"Because of its proximity to the World Championships in Richmond, the two races in Quebec and Montreal play a particularly important role this year. Some of the best puncheurs in the world do some fine-tuning here for the championships. That ‘s why our performance today was great and enjoyable. The 17th place of Paul Voss is a solid one, the team's performance was awesome and the fighting spirit of Cesare Benedetti simply admirable. I am looking forward to racing in Montreal on Sunday. Maybe we can turn the good performance finally in a top result – just in the hometown of our co-naming partner Argon 18. The guys deserve it”, Sport Director Christian Pömer commented the race.