The route in Québec consisted of 209 kilometres on a circuit to be completed 20 times, with a climb at the end of each lap. The decisive phase began as the race entered its final third. Evenepoel wasn’t quite in the thick of the action at that stage, but as the race progressed, he fought his way further and further up the field.

The decisive moment came when he made his move 27 kilometres from the finish, catching up with the race leader at that stage, Alberto Bettiol (XDS Astana Team), alongside Ciccone, Charmig and Alessandro Pinarello (NSN Cycling Team). The chasing group behind, led by Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM), Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates – XRG) and Tom Pidcock (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) and their teams were never able to close the gap, which remained fairly steady at 20 seconds.

Evenepoel, Ciccone and Charmig then rode together up the 1,600-metre-long final climb. Whilst the Dane fell behind right at the start of the climb, Ciccone stuck to Evenepoel’s wheel, hoping for a sprint, which he ultimately failed to win.

Evenepoel is sticking to his tried-and-tested formula for success

“I didn’t really feel great during the first part of the race. But luckily, I found the right strength in my legs again towards the end, so I was able to win the sprint,” said Evenepoel after the race. “One lap after we broke away, we’d built up a nice lead. On the final climb, I lacked the explosive power needed to really shake off the other two, but I carried on and had faith in my sprint – and it was the right decision to go for the sprint.”

For Evenepoel, Québec was his first race following a long break from competition. His last race had been the Clásica San Sebastián – and had won there. It seems to be the Belgian’s recipe for success; even before the Tour de France, which he finished in second place, he had taken several weeks off from racing.

Winners on every continent

Particularly with the World Championships in mind, the 26-year-old already seems to be in good form, unlike his supposed title rivals Del Toro and Seixas. However, there are still a good two weeks to go before the Montreal road race. In the time trial, a week beforehand, Evenepoel is the clear favourite anyway.

The big World Championships dress rehearsal takes place on Sunday at the sister race to Québec, in Montreal. The circuit there will also provide the stage for the battle for the rainbow jerseys. But even before Evenepoel takes up this challenge, he has achieved something special once again with his 78th career victory. Having now won in North America as well, he has ticked off every inhabited continent. He had previously won at least one race in Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa and South America.

Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec – 2026 Results

How the 2026 Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec unfolded

After several attempts to break away, the day’s leading group formed at the start of the second lap. Jonas Rutsch (Lotto Intermarché), Nikias Arndt (Bahrain – Victorious), Aivaras Mikutis (Tudor Pro Cycling Team), Storm Ingebrigtsen (Uno-X Mobility), Frank van den Broek (Team Picnic PostNL) and Samuel Boardman (Modern Adventure Pro Cycling) made up the six-man breakaway, which built up a lead of just over three minutes at its peak and dictated the pace of the race until the final third.

Decathlon and Red Bull shared the chasing duties and, with 80 kilometres to go, had reduced the gap to one and a half minutes. At around the same time, towards the end of the twelfth lap, another group broke away from the peloton, featuring Quinn Simmons and Derek Gee-West (both Lidl – Trek), Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates – XRG), Ben Healy (EF Education – EasyPost) and Maxim Van Gils (Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe). There were twelve professionals in the group in total. However, they did not work together very well, so the group did not get very far.

However, this also signalled the end for the original breakaway group. On the climb of the 14th lap – the Côte de la Montagne, which always features in the final stages – their hopes were dashed. Yet there was no let-up from then on. Attacks came thick and fast; the new 14-man leading group included, amongst others, Maximilian Schachmann (Soudal Quick-Step), Giulio Ciccone (Lidl - Trek) and Jhonatan Narváez (UAE Team Emirates - XRG), as well as Alberto Bettiol (XDS Astana Team) and Rutsch once again.

Evenepoel goes on the attack early on

The group had managed to open up a lead of up to one minute over the peloton. However, with four laps to go, the favourites got serious. A group led by Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM), Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates – XRG), Tom Pidcock (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) and Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe) brought the chasing pack back into contention.

Bettiol then broke away from the new leading group to ride solo. With 27 kilometres to go, Evenepoel, Ciccone, Charmig and Alessandro Pinarello (NSN Cycling Team) were the first to catch up with Bettiol. The group built up a lead of a good 20 seconds over the chasing pack. However, with two laps to go, Bettiol and Pinarello lost contact; the remaining trio crossed the finish line 15 seconds ahead of the chasing pack.

By the penultimate lap, the gap had widened slightly. Pidcock then put the pressure on on the climb, but the gap didn’t really get any smaller. As the bell rang for the final lap, the gap stood at just under 20 seconds, before attempts to break away began, as Seixas and Del Toro didn’t have the legs. Simmons then tried his luck on his own, with Michael Matthews (Team Jayco AlUla) following suit, but neither of them managed to break away.

With 1,600 metres to go on the final climb, Evenepoel then shook off Charmig, but he couldn’t shake off Ciccone. So it came down to a sprint. Evenepoel, leading from the front, managed to keep the Italian behind him.