The 22-year-old, who had not made the best impression two days earlier at the sister race in Québec – finishing only 55th – has now put himself back in contention for the World Championships in two weeks’ time at the same venue with his first victory in a WorldTour one-day race. Québec winner Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe) had already missed out on joining the leading group, had to chase the pack for a long time and eventually finished in fifth place.

Quinn Simmons (Lidl – Trek) and last year’s winner Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates – XRG) had battled it out for third place, half a minute behind Del Toro – with Del Toro’s team-mate coming out on top. The race in Montreal covered 214 kilometres, spread over 16 laps.

“We tried to field a strong line-up in the final. We then found ourselves in a pretty good position, and my team put me in a position where I could win,” said Del Toro after his twelfth win of the season, the 33rd of his career. “It was a bit strange because so many big teams went on the attack so early on. I felt a bit uncomfortable with that, but in the end we managed it quite well.”

Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal – 2026 Results

How the 2026 Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal unfolded

Michał Kwiatkowski (Netcompany INEOS) and Ådne Holter (Uno-X Mobility), the first breakaway riders in Montreal, were joined after a few kilometres by seven other professionals, including Anders Foldager (Team Jayco AlUla) and Pelayo Sánchez (Movistar Team) and built up their maximum lead of just over three minutes by the fourth of 16 laps.

107 kilometres from the finish, exactly halfway through the race, the breakaway riders were caught again. On lap nine, a new group of breakaway riders set off. Derek Gee (Lidl – Trek), Paul Lapeira (Decathlon CMA CGM), Andrew August (Netcompany INEOS) and Sean Quinn (EF Education – EasyPost) set off, but were then caught 85 kilometres from the finish.

Immediately afterwards, Juan Ayuso (Lidl - Trek) and Michael Leonard (EF Education - EasyPost) made their move. The pair maintained a narrow lead of less than half a minute over the peloton. Twenty kilometres later, Maximilian Schachmann (Soudal Quick-Step) closed the gap on the stage’s biggest climb, the Côte Camillien-Houde, which is just under 2,000 metres long with an average gradient of just over seven per cent.

Van Gils, Healy and Yates break away from the front group

With four laps to go, Wilco Kelderman (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) and Ben Healy (EF Education - EasyPost) then used the same climb to break away. However, with just under 50 kilometres to go, their lead stood at only 15 seconds. Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates – XRG) and Maxim Van Gils (Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe) were the next riders to catch up with the leaders.

Red Bull then eased off the pace slightly, meaning the gap on the clock exceeded 30 seconds for the first time. And when Healy attacked from the front with 40 kilometres to go and only Van Gils and Yates were able to keep up, the gap widened further and approached one minute.

As time went on, the rain – which had been in the air all day – intensified considerably. The riders set off on the final two laps on wet roads. There, Healy initially left Yates and Van Gils behind. At the back, however, things started to get serious from within the peloton. When Quinn Simmons (Lidl – Trek) made his move on the climb, he immediately had Brandon McNulty and Isaac Del Toro hot on his heels, with Yates also latching on again. Seixas went with them too, and shortly afterwards Giulio Ciccone (Lidl - Trek), Afonso Eulalio (Bahrain - Victorious) and Tom Pidcock (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) caught up.

Young duo battle it out for victory

Top favourite Evenepoel had missed the breakaway and was battling half a minute behind Healy’s pursuers, who, for their part, were unable to close the ten-second gap for a long time. When the Irishman heard the bell for the final lap, his lead was still a few seconds greater. By that point, Evenepoel had also managed to bridge the gap to the leading group of chasers.

Towards the end of the climb, Seixas launched a full-throttle attack, quickly caught up with Healy and left him behind. Shortly afterwards, Del Toro moved up to join the Frenchman, whilst behind them McNulty and Pidcock closed in on Healy; however, Ciccone and Evenepoel were also able to catch up again. Seven kilometres from the finish, the pair of youngsters had a lead of just under 30 seconds over the chasing pack.

Seixas and Del Toro worked well together, subsequently extending their lead and riding side by side into the home straight. A good 200 metres from the finish, the Mexican then emerged from the slipstream and left his rival with no chance. Simmons and McNulty battled it out for third place, with last year’s winner coming out on top. Evenepoel then won the sprint from the larger group, finishing fifth.