Wilco Kelderman and Robert Gesink placed sixth and eighth in the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal. Tim Wellens (Lotto – Soudal) was able to stay clear of what was "complete war."

“It was a good race for our men," sports director, Mathieu Heijboer said. “It was a complete war for 120 kilometres. I haven’t seen anything like that this year. There were groups of riders breaking away all the time.

"Jos van Emden was in one of those groups. They stayed out of the clutches of the peloton for about three laps. They kept pushing in that part of the race and only half of the peloton was still in the race halfway. It was spectacular.

"It was our plan to save Robert Gesink and Wilco Kelderman for the final lap of the race, but they had to deliver already earlier. At one moment, Orica GreenEDGE started to control the race and that was when Robert and Wilco were able to focus more on the race final.”
 
Good result
They were in the right place when that decisive part came. “They did the best they could," Heijboer continued. “You always want more, but this result is good. Wilco just wasn’t able to follow Adam Yates (Orica GreenEDGE) and Wellens, and Robert waited for the sprint. He won that sprint, but there were seven riders ahead of him, unfortunately.”

Exploded
“It was a very tough race," Kelderman added after the race. “It was raining from the start and it was racing at the highest level all the time. The race exploded totally in the final lap. I was able to break away with a small group of riders. Yates and Wellens escaped from us on one of the climbs and I was just able to bridge to them. We were giving everything in the chase afterwards. I was hoping that we were getting closer on the final climb, but we didn’t. I’m satisfied with my sixth place. These are the heaviest races there are.”