The Grand Prix Cyclistes de Québec and Montréal are the only World Tour races in North America. According to the various riders we met on Tuesday, this long detour has its place on the calendar.
“It’s nice to come to a new continent. We’re not used to racing here and the races are very well organised. We’re very well received and we can really take advantage of our form to prepare for the Championships. [du monde] “They’re coming. And they’re very well-designed courses,” said Valentin Madouas, silver medalist at the Paris Games in the road race, as he got off the flight chartered by the organizers at Montreal-Trudeau International Airport.
The Frenchman from the Groupama-FDJ team, fourth last year in Montreal, is eager to get back on the course.
“We have a team that can compete in both races. The goal will be to get a podium in one of these races,” he said.
Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Dstny), winner in Quebec last year, recalled that the stakes are high for the peloton, which will also count on Tadej Pogacar, Julian Alaphilippe, Michael Woods, Derek Gee, as well as Quebecers Hugo Houle and Guillaume Boivin.
“Firstly, it’s the World Tour, these are two important races on the calendar,” De Lie noted. “Then, the atmosphere is very different from that of Europe and we race there with a lot of pleasure.
“At the end of the season, we set goals for the next one and Quebec was one of those goals for me. I hope to have a good race and why not, raise my arms at the end,” added De Lie, who said he remembers his victory in the Old Capital “as if it were yesterday.”
Veteran Romain Bardet, who will retire at the end of the season, talks about races that riders are looking forward to preparing for.
“These are great events. They are also races that allow us to position ourselves with the World Championships approaching.
“For my part, Montreal is a race that I really like. […] It’s quite unusual to do a race in the heart of a city. For the sport, it’s good, it’s a quite different format.
“Physically, Montreal is possibly the most demanding race of the year. There is also a good technical dimension. Since the circuit is quite short and the climbs are repeated one after the other, it gives a certain uncertainty about when the race will start.”
Precisely, on the sporting side, the difficulty has been increased by a notch this year due to the participation of Pogacar, number 1 in the world.
The winner of the 2020, 2021, 2024 Tour de France, the 2024 Giro d’Italia and the 2022 Montreal Grand Prix will compete in his first race since winning the last Grand Boucle.
“It doesn’t make things easier,” De Lie admitted. “I hope that in Quebec, he will be particularly nice to us. He remains the best cyclist in the world and he can change the course of a race.”
“He is unpredictable, that will change the race,” confirmed Madouas. “We will have to prepare for all types of scenarios. Either a faster race or a more latent one. He has a very good team around him.”
“I believe that [le Suisse] Mark Hirschi [son coéquipier chez UAE Team Emirates] and he are the favorites. The team’s tactic will be to counter them and ensure that they don’t end up dictating their law and that we are only spectators of their race, explained Bardet. The other teams will have to try something before they dictate the race.”
The Grand Prix of Quebec will be held on Friday. The Montreal event will take place on Sunday.