An Israel-Premier Tech rider had St-Hubert ribs in the lead-up to the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec

The day before the 2023 edition of the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec, I asked Hugo Houle if he planned on introducing any of his non-Canadian teammates to poutine. Apart from the four Canucks on the Israel-Premier Tech squad (Houle, Michael Woods, Guillaume Boivin and Derek Gee), there is an Aussie (Simon Clarke), a Kiwi (Corbin Strong) and Daryl Impey from South Africa.

“No poutine yet. Maybe Monday,” Houle said, offering the day after the Montreal GP as a possible poutine day. “Before the races, I don’t think it’s good.”

I countered his point. With all the calories that are in a serving of poutine, surely there’s enough to fuel a rider for a good chunk of Quebec’s 202 km covered on the 12.6-km city circuit over 16 laps or Montreal’s 221 km featuring 18 runs of the 12.3-km loop.

“Yeah, but poutine can be heavy in the stomach,” he said.

Then, he offered a shocking revelation.

“I’m not going to say the name of the rider, but someone has eaten some good ribs from St-Hubert, on the way back from Maryland,” he said. The previous Sunday, the squad raced the Maryland Cycling Classic. Houle was in the breakaway and took third on the day. On the way to Quebec City, one the riders dined on ribs from the restaurant chain that is throughout Quebec and parts of Eastern Ontario and New Brunswick. (It’s like Swiss Chalet, but that comparison will raise the ire of St-Hubert fans.) I pressed Houle for more details.

“I said I wouldn’t give any more information,” he replied.

I went for a softer approach, musing that it must be one of the Canadians. But Houle didn’t give away anything. So, we spoke about the Quebec races. Which race, the one in Quebec City or the one in Montreal, was his preferred course?

“For me, I’m kind of in between,” he said. “In Quebec, if I come to the final sprint in a group of 20, OK, I’m probably not the fastest. In Montreal, the course is a bit hard for me, but if I have the legs, I can be there. And with Montreal, it’s hard to say because I’ve never been there at the level I’m at now. At my top level, I believe I can play in Montreal. Since Wout van Aert and Tadej Pogačar aren’t there, maybe the race won’t be so fast and maybe I can be there.

“Montreal has almost 5,000 m of climbing. It’s a hard race no matter your rider profile. Quebec you can do more with experience and positioning. Power-wise, you might not have the best day, but if you’re where you need to be when it’s time, you can make a difference. But Montreal, there’s no way to hide. You need the power.”

Houle mentioned that the climbs in Quebec City—which twist and turn and lead through streets that narrow, some with cobbles—make the course more technical than Montreal. Even if a rider can’t keep up with the fastest climbers on Côte de la Montagne, Côte de la Potasse/Des Glacis and the kicker called Montée de la Fabrique/Des Jardins, he could possibly make up time when the route levels out. Also, if the riders in the lead hesitate for a moment, the race dynamics can change once again on the streets of Quebec City.

Shortly after my conversation with Houle, I spoke with his teammate Guillaume Boivin. “It’s a team secret,” he said when I brought up St-Hubert. Boivin had mostly recovered from a crash he sustained at the Renewi Tour in Belgium almost two weeks prior. He wasn’t sure how he would be in the latter laps of the races, but his role was to support Corbin Strong for as long as he could in Quebec. In Montreal, Boivin would ride for Michael Woods. It would be Boivin’s 10th appearance at the Quebec GPs. He raced their first editions in 2010. The events honour the best Canadian at each race. Ryder Hesjedal holds the record: he’s been the best Canuck eight times. Boivin is second to Hesjedal with six best Canadian placings.

Derek Gee has raced with Boivin and Houle in Maryland. The Osgoode, Ont., rider had been whisked away to another interview by the time I was on the hunt for the St-Hubert diner from Israel-Premier Tech. But I had spoken to Gee earlier. He was looking forward to the Quebec races. In 2010, at the age of 13, he and a group from Ottawa rode to Montreal to catch the Grand Prix. “Thomas Voeckler had won in Quebec,” Gee said. “In Montreal, he gave me his French champion’s gloves, and I still have them. I asked for his autograph and he just gave me his gloves.

“These races are really special to me. I’ve watch them every year. This year, they weren’t originally on my calendar, but as soon as I started getting results at the Giro I asked to do Quebec/Montreal.”

Perviously, the pandemic frustrated his attempts to ride the GPs. Usually a promising young rider like Gee can get a spot on the national team that’s assembled for the signature Canadian races. Up-and-comers get valuable experience racing with the world’s best roadies. The Grand Prix races were cancelled in 2020 and 2021, and returned last year when Gee was on Israel-Premier Tech’s development team. This year, he truly gets to learn about the races. (He did ride the Montreal circuit once in 2010.)

Since Gee’s stellar performance at the Giro d’Italia in May (most combative rider, second in four stages, second in the mountains classification, second in the points classification), he has been careful about making any declaration about what kind of rider he’s becoming, but he did say that he does want to be competitive in races like Quebec and Montreal. He thinks Montreal might be the better course for his abilities. “Quebec is very punchy and I don’t think that suits me as well as the longer efforts of Montreal,” he said. “But I think it depends on how it is raced. Last year, Montreal was raced so hard from so far out that it was really a pure climber’s race. It’s the hardest edition I’ve ever watched.”

In Quebec City, there is a St-Hubert on the route of the Grand Prix near the start/finish by the Parc de la Francophonie. In Montreal, there’s a St-Hubert Express about 1 km from the start/finish on avenue Park.