Pello Bilbao was the best of the mortals at the GP Montreal, finishing in solo second behind only Tadej Pogacar. The Bahrain - Victorious rider, after a complicated season in which in general he has not done as well as in 2023, has arrived in top form at the end of the campaign and hopes to be able to perform at the World Championships in Zurich;
He acknowledged that, despite not winning, he was very happy with second place and that he is leaving Canada in high spirits:
"It's not a victory but it's pretty close. We came from a bad streak where nothing was going our way, but after Tour of Britain, having won and having regained sensations I came with a lot of confidence, with a great block and a perfect course for my characteristics and, well, this podium at the end of the season, at the gates of the World Championships, gives us a lot of morale and, well, the truth is that I really enjoyed these two races that I love, I think it will give me a great morale."
Pogacar's attack helped him interpret what he had to do if he wanted to finish in the box:
"I saw that Pogacar was going to be unreachable but his move showed me a little weakness in the group, I could see that when someone created that gap behind it was going to be difficult to organize, so I was very attentive to any movement because any movement that opened a minimum gap could be good and in the last climb I decided to go at my pace, I saw that I had a good margin that I could keep until the finish. It was difficult to organize behind, Tadej was unreachable, I kept the pace to the finish and great, we have enjoyed this experience."
On the World Championships, positive:
"I think they are big words, there are a lot of people who are going to be in the World Championship, it gives me a lot of morale, it will be a race similar to this one and if I was today (yesterday) to make the podium, I hope that the World Championship will not be far from the medals," he concludes.
🇨🇦 #GPCQM 👏 @PelloBilbao1990: "It feels amazing! The guys did an incredible job for me. They believed in our chances, and everything went perfectly. This podium finish at the end of the season is a huge morale boost for the upcoming races." @GPCQM 🔗 bit.ly/3XtKTl1
