(Quebec) With 19 participations under their belt, no one can claim to know the Quebec and Montreal Grand Prix Cyclistes better than Guillaume Boivin and Hugo Houle, the two teammates of Israel-Premier Tech.
Boivin, who will be at his 11e Departure on the Grande Allée on Friday morning, knows very well the scene that will await him at the same place some five hours later at the end of the 16 laps of 12.6 km (201.6 km in total).
“Nobody crosses the line fresh as a daisy,” he described in a press briefing on Thursday afternoon. “The last four kilometers are so demanding that everyone is gasping for air at the finish.”
This temporary hypoxia could be accentuated if ever a certain “Mr. Pogačar”, as the Quebecer identified him, feels in shape for his return to competition after his third triumph in the Tour de France, in July.
“I was reading the summaries of yesterday’s press conference [mercredi] and he still seemed pretty motivated to try to win both [épreuves]noted Boivin. With the team he has, it could make for a more difficult race than what we’ve seen in other years in Quebec.”
Houle, who will set off for the 10e times at home, fully agrees with his colleague’s words. He expects Tadej Pogačar’s UAE to have a “major impact on the strategy and direction of the race.”
“They definitely have a very, very strong team here,” agreed the Sainte-Perpétue native. “I wouldn’t be surprised to see them ride very fast, very early. That’s going to make the race even more difficult for us. In my opinion, the best strategy for them is to toughen up the race as early as possible, which will favour Tadej. For us, it’s going to be about hanging on.”
One more year for Boivin
It wasn’t planned that way, but, at the risk of getting a “slap on the wrist,” Boivin took advantage of his presence in Quebec to announce a one-year contract extension with Israel-Premier Tech. The 35-year-old cyclist will therefore be competing in his 10e season with the team of which he is now the longest-serving representative. “I still have the flame and the motivation to go at least to the 2026 World Championships” in Montreal, explained the three-time Canadian champion, forced to abandon the last Tour de France due to a COVID-19 infection, as in 2022 when he missed the final stage on the Champs-Élysées.
“Focused on the goal”
Barring a particular turnaround, both Boivin and Houle will have the task of supporting their teammates Corbin Strong, the New Zealand puncher who was second behind Arnaud De Lie last year, and possibly Stevie Williams, freshly crowned in his local tour crown in Great Britain.
“We still have a big team here and I think it’s because we have a great attachment to Quebec, to Canada, with Premier Tech and Sylvan Adams [les copropriétaires]said Boivin. So these are important races for us. The names of the riders at the start show that.”
Houle considers himself “privileged” to be able to display to his family the collective subtleties of the profession that he practices all year round in Europe.
“There are sometimes opportunities that arise. We know how to seize them, but the fact remains that it is a very important race with the WorldTour points. [en jeu]. So we are focused on the objective.”
Either that or the one to pick up the bouquet at the end, Pogačar or not. “I don’t think we aspire to win ourselves, but if one of our teammates won at home, it would really be something memorable,” Boivin pointed out. We hope to achieve that [vendredi]. »
Words that resonate
Not only is Tadej Pogačar impressed by Quebec’s cycling facilities, he also respects red lights.
On Rue Saint-Joachim on Thursday morning, the Tour de France champion patiently waited forty seconds before the light turned green to set off on Avenue Honoré-Mercier with his UAE Team Emirates teammates, on their way to training.
A few minutes later, at a press conference, Mayor Bruno Marchand did not hide his satisfaction at reading the Slovenian’s glowing comments the day before in The PressPogi noted an increase in the number of cyclists and paths and an improvement in the courtesy of motorists since his passage two years earlier.
“Different mobility” is a real standard for the mayor of the capital, both for the fluidity of travel and for its effects on public health, the safety of all road users and even economic development.
“To hear Pogačar say it, it’s music,” confided Bruno Marchand, who had sensed doubts when he had stated, during the same exercise a year earlier, that he wanted to make Quebec “the Belgium of cycling.”
When will there be women’s classics?
Another plea from the mayor last year: the organization of a women’s version of the Grand Prix cycling races, as we now see almost everywhere in Europe for men’s WorldTour level events. The best Quebec female riders called for it with one voice in an article in The Press in April. Apart from the expression of good intentions, the idea does not seem to have progressed much since then.
Grand Prix president Sébastien Arsenault himself spoke about it during his speech, saying it would be “an immense privilege” to be able to hold two races for women. “We are working very, very hard for this,” he assured, adding that the International Cycling Union was behind his organization “200%” for such a project.
In the same breath, the promoter reiterated that the costs would not be less. The budget would represent “92%” of that of the men’s events which amounts to 7.5 million, he specified to The Press.
Sports Minister Isabelle Charest, for whom women’s sport is “a priority”, was open and explained that discussions in this regard have already been held with the GPCQM.
“There is really a whole development that needs to happen before that,” the minister stressed. “They have never asked us for funding.”
“It’s certain that if there are developments, we will analyze them and we will be there,” continued Isabelle Charest, who understands that there are “still a lot of steps to take” with the International Cycling Union on the part of the GPCQM to be able to offer a “sustainable and lasting” event.
When asked about this again, Sébastien Arsenault said he would be ready to prepare a grant application file “if there is a real political will” upstream. “I just want to know: are you interested, do you have the financial capacity? If so, we will put in the time, the effort and we will set up the budgets.”
Mayor Marchand sees “an opportunity to seize” to hold the first women’s WorldTour event in America. “We want to be the first. Quebec is ready for all eventualities. As soon as it is possible, we are ready, and we will be there.”
Matcha break
PHOTO SIMON DROUIN, THE PRESS
Axel Laurance and Gianni Vermeersch enjoy a matcha on the terrace of a coffee shop in the Saint-Jean-Baptiste district.
Frenchman Axel Laurance and Belgian Gianni Vermeersch took advantage of a break to chat over matcha tea on a terrace on Rue Saint-Jean on Thursday morning. The Alpecin-Fenix teammates are making their first visit to Quebec after competing in their first Tour de France alongside Jasper Philipsen, who won three stages in a sprint. “The course is tough, huh,” said Laurance, the reigning under-23 world champion. The 23-year-old from Brittany has high hopes for the GP de Québec, but a tooth infection that has been affecting his sleep has him a little worried. The first gravel world champion in 2022, Vermeersch is another strong contender for Alpecin, having finished sixth in Paris-Roubaix.