Team Canada roster announced for the GP Quebec and Montreal

Six members of Silber Pro Cycling and national road champion Bruno Langlois amoung those selected to race in WorldTour races

Philippe Tremblay August 26, 2016

Since their inception in 2010, the Grands Prix Cyclistes de Quebec and Montreal have invited Canada’s national men’s team to race on the challenging urban circuits against the highest caliber teams in the world. The seventh edition of the World Tour GP Quebec and Montreal take place on September 9 and 11, and Cycling Canada have announced their selection for the national roster for the races.

Bruno Langlois, Ben Perry and Will Routley — Bruno Langlois, the winner of the 2016 Canadian national road race title and Perry (left) will ride for Team Canada at the GP Montreal and Quebec

The team is comprised of eight riders who together have amassed an impressive palmares in 2016 with 21 UCI race podiums and five national championship titles between them. Riding for Team Canada will be Bruno Langlois of Quebec, (Garneau-Quebecor), Ryan Roth of Cambridge, Ont. (Silber), Guillaume Boivin of Longueuil, Que. (Cycling Academy), Alex Cataford of Ottawa, (Silber), Matteo Dal-Cin of Ottawa (Silber), Nigel Ellsay of Victoria, B.C. (Silber), Nicolas Masbourain of Montreal, Que. (Silber) and Ben Perry of St-Catharines, Ont. (Silber).

Ryan Roth of team Silber Pro Cycling wins the 2016 White Spot Delta Road Race. Photo: Scott Robarts

The team is anchored by veterans Langlois who won the 2016 Canadian national road race and Roth who is national time trial champion. Boivin’s season has been hampered by injury but the 2015 national road champion hopes to make his return to racing in time for the duo of WorldTour race. Silber Pro Cycling have six riders on the national team after accumulating consistent results since the beginning of 2016. The team sits second in the UCI America standings after wins at the Tour de Delta, Winston-Salem Classic and GP Saguenay with Roth in 2016 while Alex Cataford of Ottawa (Silber Pro Cycling) placed second overall at the Tour of the Gila and in the national ITT. Perry won his third consecutive U23 national road title in June while Masbourain was third. Ellsay placed second overall at the Joe Martin Stage Race while Dal-Cin became the first Canadian to win the Redlands Bicycle Classic.

Dal-Cin, the winner of the Redlands Cycling Classic

Kevin Field, Cycling Canada’s men’s road manager, will be the directeur sportif for the two races. “We’ll be looking to repeat our king of the mountain win at the Quebec City race, and will be aggressive in Montreal,” he says. “These races are a key preparation tool for Cycling Canada’s UCI road world championships team. All eight Canadian riders have qualified for the selection pool for this event. These races are especially important for Nic (Masbourain), Ben (Perry) and Nigel (Ellsay). It’s a fantastic advantage for Canada to have the unique opportunity to expose our best U23 riders to World Tour competition this close to the world championships. We are indebted to Serge Arsenault and the entire GPCQM organization for providing us with this opportunity.”

Marcel Leblanc, vice-president of Grands Prix Cyclistes de Québec et de Montréal said, “The Grands Prix Cyclistes have always been committed to supporting the development of road racing in this country and encouraging the next generation of local cyclists. A few of our initiatives include inviting Team Canada as well as various pro continental squads to our events as wild-card entries since 2010, the creation of the Critérium National de Montréal last year, or our recent partnership with the Quebec Cycling Federation to financially support the Coupe du Québec Espoirs road race series,” Leblanc notes.