Montreal - Slovenian rider Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) won Sunday's Montreal Grand Prix. The two-time Tour de France winner bested Belgium's Wout van Aert and the Italian Andrea Bagioli in the final sprint.

"It was not just the sprint, the whole race was hard, and the team worked super good. It was perfect," Pogačar said according to French news agency AFP.

"In the end, it was difficult because we know that Wout is one of the best sprinters in the world, but this is a tough finish. I believed in myself, gave it everything, and I succeeded."

The Monteral race came two weeks before the World Championship in Australia and Pogačar said it was just what he needed to prepare.

"It was one of the hardest races in the calendar, you have to be in shape here," he said.

"After the Tour I was not in good shape, I was relaxing and building up to this final part and today was a super good day so I'm really happy and confident to go to the World Championships."