Cycling Canada announces roster for the 2017 Grand Prix Cycliste Québec-Montréal

For the eighth edition of the Grand Prix Cycliste Québec-Montréal, Cycling Canada will be entering a team of eight athletes from four provinces to race in Canada’s only two WorldTour races. The Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec takes place on Friday, Sept. 8 while the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal is on Sept. 10.

The team will be headed by UCI pro continental riders Ryan Anderson and Anoine Duchesne. The pair race for Team Direct Energie. Duchesne was a member of Team Canada at the Rio Olympic and won the king of the mountains jersey at the 2016 Paris-Nice. Anderson earned second at Poly Normande in 2016 and has two top-10 places at the Tour of Alberta. Both have been racing for two years with the French pro continental squad.

Three Canadian national champions will be racing for the national team. Elite men’s champion Matteo Dal-Cin of Rally Cycling won a thrilling race in Ottawa back in June in front of a home crowd to earn the elite road championship title. Marc-Antoine Soucy who started the second with Garneau-Quebecor and then moved to Silber Pro Cycling ahead of the Tour of Utah finished second behind Dal-Cin earning the under-23 road title. Soucy also won a stage of the Grand Prix Cycliste de Saguenay. Pier-André Côté of Silber Pro Cycling is only 20-years-old but he is elite criterium champion and he finished third in the national’s road race.

The team is completed by 22-year-old Jack Burke whose had an impressive season with strong results at North American stage races, 20-year-old Alec Cowan of Silber Pro Cycling who lead the 2017 Tour de Beauce until the final stage after winning the time trial, and veteran Bruno Langlois who was 2016 Canadian national road champion and finished on the podium at the Winstom-Salem Cycling Classic.

Since the inaugural edition of the GPCQM, Canada have been invited to enter a national team in order to give riders the chance to experience the highest calibre of racing alongside riders from the UCI WorldTour. This year’s team is a balance between experienced riders and young riders looking to continue their development in the sport.

“We’re thrilled to be back again this year,” said Cycling Canada road head coach Kevin Field. “Marcel [Leblanc], Serge [Arsenault], Sebastien [Arsenault] and the whole team at GPCQM are awesome to work with. We have a strong team, and we think Antoine, Ryan and Matteo can be strong riders for the finishes – especially in Quebec.”

Last year, Nicolas Masbourian infiltrated the breakaway in Quebec while in Montreal Dal-Cin and Ben Perry worked together to secure the king of the mountains prize taken home by Perry who now rides for the Israeli Cycling Academy.

“We are again bringing our U23s to gain critical experience before the world championships. Like past years, we’ll look to animate the race and be aggressive in breakaways in both Quebec and Montreal,” Field’s explained. “Racing at home at this level of race is extremely motivating for our athletes, they can’t wait for the opportunity.”

Team Canada for the GPCQM

Ryan Anderson – Spruce Grove, Alta.
Jack Burke – Squamish, B.C.
Alec Cowan – Calgary
Pier-Andre Cote – St-Henri de Levis, Que.
Matteo Dal-Cin – Ottawa
Antoine Duchesne – Saguenay, Que.
Bruno Langlois – Quebec City
Marc-Antoine Soucy – Amos, Que.