Isaac Del Toro won the 15th edition of the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal this Sunday, outsprinting Paul Seixas at the line. American Brandon McNulty, Del Toro’s teammate and the defending champion, rounded out the podium.
Montréal, September 13, 2026 – A new generation takes over. At just 22, Isaac Del Toro became the youngest-ever winner of the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal this Sunday, outsprinting 19-year-old Paul Seixas. The Frenchman may have looked like the stronger rider on the circuit that will also host the UCI Road World Championships in two weeks, but Del Toro was the one who had the final say.
The Mexican looked to be in trouble at first, after the Decathlon CMA CGM Team climber attacked on the final ascent of Camillien-Houde—the 16th of the day—where the two riders broke clear of the rest of the favourites. He was on the brink of cracking as he clung to Seixas’s wheel through the steepest pitches of Avenue Pagnuelo, four kilometres from the finish. But he held on, then caught his rival off guard with a decisive surge 200 metres from the line.
Like the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec two days earlier, this 15th edition was raced at a blistering pace, setting a new speed record of 41.064 km/h.
Nine riders opened the day’s racing: Canadian champion Jérôme Gauthier, Poland’s Michal Kwiatkowski (Netcompany INEOS), Americans Kieran Haug and Robin Carpenter (Modern Adventure Pro Cycling), Danes Anders Foldager (Team Jayco AlUla) and Casper Pedersen (Soudal Quick-Step), Spain’s Pelayo Sanchez (Movistar Team), Norway’s Adne Holter (Uno-X Mobility), and Belgium’s Robbe Dhondt (Team Picnic PostNL). But the peloton, driven largely by Quinn Simmons’s Lidl–Trek squad, kept the gap in check.
The break was caught with 107 kilometres to go, just as the main favourites started making their moves. Attacks came in waves before Spain’s Juan Ayuso (Lidl–Trek) and Michael Leonard (EF Education–EasyPost) tried their luck 84 kilometres out. Maximilian Schachmann (Soudal Quick-Step) bridged across the following lap, followed by 2023 Montréal winner Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates XRG), Maxim Van Gils (Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe), and Ben Healy (EF Education–EasyPost). Healy then slipped away solo a few kilometres later, just as Simmons stirred things up again—drawing an angry reaction from Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe).
With 15 kilometres to go, the favourites were all back together, setting up a breakneck final lap fuelled by attack after attack from Seixas. None of it worked. The Frenchman came up against a stronger rider and could only watch as Del Toro claimed his 12th win of the season.
The rematch won’t be long coming: these two rising stars, along with Remco Evenepoel, winner of Friday’s Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec, will meet again on this very course in two weeks at the UCI Road World Championships.
Isaac Del Toro (Mexico, UAE Team Emirates XRG), winner of the 2026 Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal:“I’m really proud of this win at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal. I want to thank my whole team. It was a strange first half of the race, we couldn’t really figure out what the other teams were up to. We stuck to our own rhythm. Having numbers in the finale was the team’s goal. We always had a few cards to play.
I wasn’t feeling as good at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec on Friday. Today was a different story. This 2026 season has been completely crazy. It means a lot to my country, Mexico, to win this race. Now I can’t wait for the World Championships here in two weeks.”
Paul Seixas (France, Decathlon CMA CGM Team), runner-up at the 2026 Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal: “Isaac Del Toro rode a really good race. He caught me off guard 200 metres out—I was actually looking for the sign to see where we were. He was simply the stronger rider at the end. It’s still a great day overall; my team did a great job positioning me. I wasn’t feeling particularly good during the whole race, so I made do with what I had. I’m hoping I still have some room to improve before the World Championships.”
Brandon McNulty (United States, UAE Team Emirates XRG), third at the 2026 Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal: “It was a different kind of race without Tadej Pogačar. Really tactical all day. The win stays in the team, which is great. We were all strong as a group, everyone in good shape. With two weeks to go until Worlds, that’s a good sign.”
RESULTS
- Isaac Del Toro (Mexico, UAE Team Emirates XRG), 214.4 km in 5:13:16 (average: 41.064 km/h)
- Paul Seixas (France, Decathlon CMA CGM Team) s.t.
- Brandon McNulty (United States, UAE Team Emirates XRG) at 27″
- Quinn Simmons (United States, Lidl–Trek) at 30″
- Remco Evenepoel (Belgium, Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe) at 35″
- Tom Pidcock (Great Britain, Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) at 36″
- Giulio Ciccone (Italy, Lidl–Trek) s.t.
- Ben Healy (Ireland, EF Education–EasyPost) s.t.
- Afonso Eulálio (Portugal, Bahrain Victorious) at 39″
- Lennert Van Eetvelt (Belgium, Lotto Intermarché) s.t.
BY THE NUMBERS: 5
With Isaac Del Toro’s win this Sunday, UAE Team Emirates XRG has now won the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal five years running. Tadej Pogačar took the title in 2022 and 2024, Adam Yates in 2023, and Brandon McNulty last year. Diego Ulissi also delivered the team’s first win in the race, back in 2017.
