Adam Yates wins explosive edition of the GP de Montreal after thrilling finale

Adam Yates has taken a thrilling victory at an explosive edition of the GP de Montreal for his first one day win in six years!

The second round of the Canadian classics will see the riders head to Montréal, where a circuit around the Mont-Royal will decide the race, which will take place on the 11th of September and conclude the week spent in Canada.

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Perhaps inspired by Arnaud De Lie's victory in Quebec, Lotto Dstny teammate Florian Vermeersch headed up the road in Montreal.

With 100km of racing to go, the Belgian had built up a substantial lead of nearly five minutes over the peloton.

Such a long ride solo might seem like a strange choice, but Vermeersch was clearly confident in his own abilities and felt as if he good legs.

Sadly for the Belgian it did turn out to be a folly move as with 54km remaining he was caught.

As more and more riders began to struggle, the peloton began to become thinner and thinner as the race entered the final 30km.

With multiple riders trying their luck with attacking moves, the likes of Arnaud De Lie and Ben Healy all unsuccessfully attempting to break free.

On the final time up the Camilien-Houde Côte, an acceleration from Adam Yates saw the UAE Team Emirates rider go clear with Pavel Sivakov.

Leading the chase behind was Danish national champion Mattias Skjelmose with French national champion Valentin Madouas and Italian national champion Simone Velasco quickly on to the Dane's wheel.

Into the final 3km, the leading duo were still dangling out front with a lead of just around 7 seconds over the group of chasers.

Despite another counter-attack, this time from Alex Aranburu, Yates and Sivakov remained clear as they reached the 1km to go marker. In the final sprint, Sivakov was the first to make his move but it wasn't to be for him as Adam Yates powered his way to a brilliant victory.

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