WorldTour bike racing heads to Quebec

The top teams in the world are heading to Canada for the Grand Prix Cycliste de Quebec City on September 7 and Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal held on September 9. Belgium’s Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing) will not be on the start line to defend his title in Quebec City, however, Portugal’s Rui Alberto Faria da Costa (Movistar) will be aiming to win again on the streets of Montreal.

Notable riders from each of the 22 teams invited to participate include Canadians Ryder Hesjedal from Garmin-Sharp, who won the Giro d’Italia this spring, national champion Ryan Roth from SpiderTech p/b C10, David Veilleux from Europcar, Michael Barry from Sky Procycling, Christian Meier from Orica-GreenEdge and Sebastien Salas from Team Canada.

International riders that are known for their one-day race successes are Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale), Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma-QuickStep), Alexandre Kolobnev (Katusha), Janez Brajkovic (Astana), Marco Pinotti (BMC Racing), Chris Horner (RadioShack-Nissan), Luis Leon Sanchez (Rabobank), Maarten Neyens (Lotto Belisol), brothers Gorka and Jon Izaguirre Insausti (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Matthew Lloyd (Lampre-ISD), Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil-DCM), Sandy Casar (FDJ-BigMat), Mathieu Perget (AG2R-Mondiale), Karsten Kroon (Saxo-Tinkoff) and Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis).

The classic-style circuits play into the hands of one-day specialists. Grand Prix Cycliste de Quebec will offer the field 16 laps of a 12.6 km circuit for a total of 201.6 km. The race travels parallel to the Saint Lawrence River and through the historical downtown. It is a well known cycling route previously used at the Canadian National Championships and Tour de Beauce.

“I only really know the Quebec City circuit but I think both circuits should prove to be very challenging,” said Christian Meier. “Montreal has great pedigree from hosting a top level event for many years, with the women’s and men’s World Cups in the past.”

Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal is 17 laps of a 12.1 km circuit for a total of 205.7 km. Each lap includes a climb over Mont Royal, a section of the course used in the 1974 World Championships, 1976 Olympic Games and the former men’s and women’s World Cup events.

“They’re ideal on many levels,” said Michael Barry. “They’re hard enough that the racing is exciting and as they are set in the city centres they’re ideal spectacles.”